Hot! No backpay for post allowance recipiets

[palmdale]

The post allowance fiasco is entering it´s second month and is the topic of nearly all of the full time associates conversations when the boss isn´t around. I will not get it because I am part-time, but the full timers at my food facility have all been notified that it will be in their next pay check. According to the memo written by KEN MOON, AAFES has solicited the assistance of other organizations to fight against the DOD regulation that requires post allowance payments. Because AAFES is a master at deceiving the public and it´s employees as timid as sheep (due to the high success rate of retribution within AAFES) they will likely succeed once again and their will be
NO RETROACTIVE PAYMENT OF POST ALLOWANCE.

[Disgruntled]

Not to mention you won't see that $65 dollar (after taxes) bonus next year, either.

[palmdale]

[AAFES POSITION:   

Paying PA to associates who AAFES did not cause to be assigned to a foreign overseas location is contrary to the basic intent of a PA. PA is required only for full-time U.S. citizen employees who are recruited elsewhere and then transferred into an overseas position. Such a requirement will place an undue financial burden on AAFES that will result in taking away funding from scheduled dividends and capital expenditures programs.  In addition, AAFES will be forced to cut expenses by reducing overall staffing levels and services provided, converting full-time employees to part-time, and replacing U.S. citizen employees with local nationals.

quote][/quote]

This is taken from the AAFES document written by Senior Vice president KEN MOON.


Do you folks really believe prices will get cheaper by hiring more Local nationals?

[TheRealDeal1]

Check this thread

http://aafessucks.com/index.php/topic,229.msg1776/topicseen.html#new

[palmdale]

Well people you can say you heard it here first!!!

A long time friend of mine and legal beagle has informed that AAFES is waiting for their full time associates to swallow the hook before they reel back on the PA issue. AAFES knows that their employees are strapped for cash and that by paying them the allowance before denying backpay will be fine for most. You should begin to see more traffic on this subject on or after 9 May. The AAFES legal team is well aware of the threats of a class action suit, but also aware of the fact that AAFES associates do not have the ability to join forces effectively. If you are a RFT employee and receive the allowance next week, DO NOT SPEND IT!!!  You may need it to pay back later if the appeal is approved. If you are an Army NAF worker stationed oversees, WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF AAFES!!!

 

[TheRealDeal1]

Palm, got to give more details.  Are you saying that the DOD has said that they are revoking the PA for all NAF?  Or the DOD is not going to enforce their own ruling on back pay?  Or Both? 

First, I find it hard to beleive that they will reverse their own decision.  They would look like a**es. 

Second, (about holding onto that paycheck)  It is illegal to force a payback for a policy that is in effect at the time of the payment. 


Although I do agree their will be every effort and probable success by certain NAF agencies stop or alter payment of PA.  I beleive it will be extremley difficult and long fight.  This involves so many different agencies and obvious discrepancies between those agencies.  Repealing this policy affects way too many people to simply withdraw it.

I found this article in the Army times that shows a little bit of what Congress is thinking.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/military_NAF_postallowance_042708w/

[palmdale]

Saying that AAFES wanted to be first to show compliance by the mandated date of 5 May and that they will ask for DOD to reconsider. They have a few aces up their sleeve (message traffic between DOD and AAFES from 1995-2006) and you will see this in the next couple weeks. For the most part AAFES employees are not very interested in the outcome, but they ought to be. I wish I would have taken the offer for RFT, but am quite happy as a part time retiree. I would not hold my breath waiting on backpay if I were a RFTimer, IT WILL NOT COME. Take your $250 a month and enjoy a nice dinner at your local gasthaus.

[TheRealDeal1]

Unfortunatley at times like these, with $250 about all you get is a nice dinner at the gasthaus with the family.    One thing I do not get is why no one is hemming up the Air Force for their little shenanigans in PAC.

Too say AAFES employees are not interested, is just not true.  There is a lot of interest in the subject.  The problem is the fear of retribution and being labeled with the "gotta get mine" attitude.  AAFES has a stranglehold on their current local hire RFT employees.  If they lose a job their is no other agancy that you can get hired onto so quickly.  Plus the employess are so few and far between that actually benefit from the decision.  From the employees that are affected I have talked too.  No one is holding their breath for backpay.
I really do not understand AAFES stance on this position.  Those few and far between local hire RFT employees have a real effect on their corporation.  If they really cared about their employees and wanted the best employees "to serve the best customers in the world" they would have been paying this allowance.  They lose out on quality employees to DECA, Post office or whatever other job that offers a stability compared to the exchange rate.  Maybe that is too much deep thought for AAFES.

(By the way for those who think that NAF employees do not deserve it, Let me remind you that you pay the PA in your taxes to the Appropriated funds jobs, while NAF agencies pay it from what they make.  If you want to see how your money is spent then Google COLA and check out the recommendations made on those forums on how to spend your tax money. If you are too lazy to do that, then I will tell you here.  New Car, New house so on )

[palmdale]

Sad to say but you are correct about getting only one meal for $250. I was here in the early 70s and we had a great time downtown in those days and people were glad to get our dollars. Today the story is much different, most establishments frown on dollars as they are an inconvenience. I think you may be wrong about the RFT employees being concerned, from what  have seen, there is very little interest in the subject. There are no letters to the editor or any other complaints voiced ANYWHERE. I think for the most part that RFT employees should get this allowance as long as they are good performers. I think AAFES is making a big mistake by fighting the employees on this issue.

[Disgruntled]

You can't say there are no letters to the editor. Those letters are screened and I would bet anything the pressure has been put on the S&S NOT to publish the sad truth about AAFES. I guess they don't want a flame war on their pages.

However, I do know that there are some things going on behind the scenes to make AAFES obey the regs (and that includes stateside locality pay and regular annual living adjustments).

[TheRealDeal1]

On letters to the editor for S&S, the problem is no anonymity.  My opinion is that most employees are afraid of retribution, hence no letters to print.  S&S has been good about sticking it to AAFES whenever they get a chance.  Annual living adjustments for management stopped in 2003, but continues today for HPP and PFP employees?  I guess management's annual living cost does not go up.

[Disgruntled]

Actually, the PFP employees do not get living increases, either. General Frost, before she retired, issued a command directive that put the decision granting the increases on the GMs. I only know of a handful of GMs who dared to grant any raises because of the pressure to keep labor costs down. So there are no living increases, for the most part.

HPPs (warehouse and food) only get an increase because they are under a different pay system than the rest of AAFES employees. Of course, AAFES wants to follow what DeCA is trying and make everyone in the store the same grade with the same title so they can work the employees anywhere and everywhere, no matter what the job. They want a stocker/laborer to be able to run registers and a cashier to be able to unload trucks. All for just a tad about minimum wage! 

[palmdale]

I guess the RFTimers will have to settle that fight themselves. In the beginning I thought that all employees would get the PA. I have said enough about the issue for now, There ought to be some new news at the end of the week in the Stars & Stripes (no one else cares about this story as it only effects the NAF employees). Does anyone out there remember the DODDS teacher housing allowance case?

[alan1973]

what about that case??

[Disgruntled]

The cut-backs are starting:

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54811

There are some letters getting through:

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=54478