The Honor Roll

July 2011 NWP “Hot Sheet”

Sisters and brothers,

Yet another month goes by and yet another month of NATCA reps/activists rolling up their collective sleeves in order to improve various facets of FAA operations and training. We asked and asked to be involved and engaged and now we are doing just that. Our employer has asked for our help and we have answered the call. As such, it’s very important that we do everything we can to get our members engaged and involved. Please do not attempt to do everything by yourself. Not only does this not promote activism, ownership, or a sense of accomplishment by your members, but it can also
contribute to rep burn out and a general feeling that, “they don’t need my help”.

There are many talented individuals among our membership that would be willing to step up, if they are engaged, given an objective, given guidance and direction, and given the autonomy to contribute to change. Please talk to your respective members, engage them, enlist their help, and give them the support they need to help your local and our union succeed.

Aside from a host of issues being worked at the regional level such as the LAX Tom Bradley Construction, RNO to NCT MOU and bonus, several hardships, disciplinary cases out of ZLA, P50 Mid-Shift staffing/operation, staffing at CMA, CRQ space issue, etc. here are some of the additional issues that we have been working on your behalf:

Debt Ceiling

I sent out an email yesterday clarifying that if the Congress is unable to break the current deadlock with the debt ceiling negotiations and the Government defaults on its obligations that no controllers/staff specialists/TMCs will be furloughed.

Unfortunately, many of our brothers and sisters in Region X have been furloughed as a result of the Congress not extending FAA Reauthorization due to politics. The NEB is currently looking at any and all options to help our brothers and sisters in need.

Flight Deck Training (FDT) MOU/Notice Briefing

The FDT briefing/Q&A will take place tomorrow morning at 830am Pacific Time. A revised call-in number has been sent to all facility reps. Since there are limited lines for the telcon, all reps are
encouraged to sit down with their management counterparts and call into the telcon together. If you have any questions on Flight Deck Training, please send it to the following email address: fdt@faa.gov

Fatigue MOU

Our team is meeting all of next week with the FAA in order to come up with appropriate guidance for the 2012 Basic Watch Schedule. As soon as we get any information on this issue, we will absolutely
share it with you. Meanwhile, if you have any questions on the MOU, please contact Mike Hull or me.

NATCA Academy

I continue to work with our terrific team to address many of our training courses at the NATCA academy; Carolyn Kamara (NATCA National Office), Jay Barrett (MIA), Chris Boughn (ZDC), Mike Hull (SCT), and Gretchen McMullen (NATCA National Office).

We have finalized our plans to conduct an Advanced Representative Training beta-class on December 5-8, 2011 in Orange County, California. We hope to have the advanced rep curriculum along with the instructor/participant guide finalized by March 2012. There are a limited number of slots for the class in December. If you are interested in attending this class, please contact Mickela. In order to be considered for this class, you must have attended the old Basic FACREP Class or the new Basic Representative Training (BRT).

Basic Arbitration Training- Basic Arbitration Training is now called Arbitration Advocate Training I. The new course content is much different than what we have previously taught at the NATCA Academy. The focus of AAT-I is on arbitrating conduct and discipline cases. Advanced Arbitration Training is now called Arbitration Advocate Training II. The focus of this class will be arbitrating Contract interpretation cases. Once we finalize the development of the Advanced Rep class, we will be completely overhauling both arbitration classes.

Basic Rep Training- Based on the overwhelming demand for Basic Rep Training (BRT) in the Great Lakes region, we are in the process of adding a second BRT class in Minneapolis to run concurrently with the first class (September 12-16, 2011). Once we have finalized all arrangements regarding this class, we will share the information with all of you.

NATCA Academy Automation- We have put together a team (Sallie Sullivan, Carolyn Kamara, Jeff Richards, Mike Robicheau, and myself) to look at automating the NATCA academy sign-up process. Our goal is to make the sign-up process more efficient and user friendly. The team will forward its recommendations to the National Executive Board.

FAA Training

Our NATCA National Training Rep, Garth Koleszar has been quite busy working with ATO Training on many issues impacting FAA training. We are currently involved in quite a few programs that hold tremendous promise for the future of ATC training. Here are some of the programs that we are working on:

Air Traffic Basics Course (FAA Academy), Basic Tracon course (FAA Academy), Enroute Stage II-IV redesign, On-the-job Training Instructor course, Controller Refresher Training, Training Communications, etc.

As the NEB Training Lead, I talk to Garth on a weekly basis on the overall status of these workgroups and any other training related issues. Having a NATCA National Training rep present in Washington, D.C. has greatly helped us in not just managing these various projects but providing real time expertise to many of the folks in ATO Training that do not have any operational experience.

September Western Pacific Regional Membership Meeting “San Diego”

Please do not wait until the last minute to sign up for our membership meeting in September (Sept 19-20, 2011). This will probably be our biggest event to date and there are limited rooms available at the hotel in San Diego. You can find the agenda for the meeting on our regional website at http://nwp.natca.net under the “membership meeting” tab.

New Facility Reps

On behalf of the entire NATCA Western Pacific team, I would like to welcome the following new NATCA Facility Reps to our team:

Courtney Beal (BFL), Andy Fancher (GCN), Brian Fox (DVT), Lisa Hogan (SBA), Jaime Jimenez (LGB), Kiernan McArdle (VGT), Tatchron Turner (SCK), and Nicole Voracka (RHV)-welcome aboard and thank you for stepping up to be a NATCA Facility Rep.

Please remember that help is only a phone call, text, or email away. As always, please do your best to first contact your Regional Labor Relations advocate that is assigned to your facility. Our LR Reps are there to help you with any question. If you need to know who your LR advocate is, that information is also on the NWP Website under the “Labor Relations” tab.

Regional Website

I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the importance of the NWP website. There is a wealth of information available on the website to assist you with a host of issues.

As an example, if you are dealing with a Training Review Board(TRB), you can go to the regional website, http://nwp.natca.net and read all about the TRB process under the “Labor Relations” tab. Just click on the LR Chronicles search button and then click on #22. If one of your members has received an overpayment letter from the DOI, just click on the “Forms Library” tab and you will find a sample letter that you can fill out on behalf of your member to ask for a hearing. Please remember, if you believe the debt is valid, ask for a waiver. However, if you contest the validity of the debt, you must ask for a hearing FIRST. The second you submit a request for a waiver of the overpayment you have agreed that the debt is valid and you are not able to contest the validity of the debt anymore.

Excused Absence Issue

For those of you that have grievances filed regarding the Sunday/Holiday missed pay for the excused absence from the day shift to the mid shift, we have notified you to work those issues at the local level with your ATM in order to get these employees paid their back pay based on the national fatigue settlement. As soon as your respective employees have received their back pay, please notify Mike and Mickela immediately so that we can close these grievances out in GATS.

To close, I would like to again emphasize how important it is for all of us to get involved and participate in our Union. We can never rest on our laurels just because we have a Contract or collaboration with the agency. Just ask any of our 1186 Brothers and Sisters on furlough about the fight that goes on every day. We will always face those that are anti-Union and against worker’s rights. As has been the case throughout our Organization’s history the only thing that has held their policies at bay was our being engaged in battle and standing collectively together in the face of each and every onslaught they have made. Stand with us and we will stand with you. Together.

NWP Hot Sheet for June 2011

I wanted to open this months “Hot Sheet” with a huge congratulations to all of the NATCA families with graduates. As you deal with the daily stressors of life and some difficult managers or co-workers, please reflect on what’s most important in life and why we actually go to work, our families.

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks with a whole lot happening regionally and nationally. As such, I
will give you a brief update on some of the issues that we have been dealing with regionally and nationally.

Flight Deck Training

NATCA recently received Management-2 on Flight Deck Training. Bryan Zilonis, Phil Barbarello, and I
reviewed their latest proposal, conducted a telcon with FAA management, and then countered with our proposal.

The reason that it’s taken slightly longer to implement this MOU is that we want to ensure that our members are protected if they are bumped from a flight due to the very heavy load factors and not able to return for their next scheduled shift. Meanwhile, we have three (3) bargaining unit employees and several FLMs who will be taking a test flight to try and address any possible problems with the program.

Internet Service and SRF-12

During our June 2011 NEB meeting, we discussed the subject of Internet service for our smaller locals (SRF-12: those locals receiving $4000 or less in annual dues rebates) . The Benefits committee researched Internet access for smaller locals at the request of NATCA’s Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert. The Benefits committee could not find any viable service for bundling of the service for facilities. Instead, they recommended that the national office reimburse UP TO $50 a month to locals covered by SRF 12 for Internet access. The effective date for this program will be July 1, 2011. If your local pays the Internet bill annually or semi-annually, you can submit the entire bill for reimbursement. All vouchers should be sent directly to the National Office for reimbursement.

NWP Legislative Chair

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Chuck Vogel for his many years of service to NATCA and most recently his service to the Western Pacific Region as Chair of the NWP Legislative Committee. Chuck will be working with and mentoring Trisha Pesiri who has stepped up to be the new NWP Legislative Lead. I think our entire legislative team already does a fantastic job. However, I am expecting Trisha to push this team and inspire everyone to reach for even higher energy and activism. Both Trisha and I share the same vision for the NWP Legislative team. A year round army of
energetic and tireless activists who strive to build effective relationships with members of Congress and who also help to energize and mobilize our membership when called upon.

Regional LR Team

Over the course of the last two months, Mike Hull and I have been restructuring the NWP LR Team and assignment of facilities. We have added some new LR (Labor Relations) Representatives to the Regional LR Team and we have reassigned some facilities accordingly. The new assignments have been shared with all facilities and posted on the Western Pacific website at http://nwp.natca.net
under the “Labor Relations” tab.

Please keep in mind that the LR Reps are there to provide one on one support to the facility representatives. As such, please contact them first on any issue and give them an opportunity to help resolve the issue.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank these new activists for stepping up to be included in a very talented and energetic LR Team headed by one of the most passionate and dedicated activists in our entire union; Mike Hull.

Retired SCT Member Bruce Morey

Most of you who have been around NATCA for a while have heard of a very dedicated and talented retired NATCA SCT controller by the name of Bruce Morey. Recently, Bob Marks advised me of
some challenges that our good friend and brother Bruce will be experiencing. This is what Bob had to say about our brother:

“Bruce is a lifelong union member who has been a union officer for many years. He served Coast Approach as an Executive Board member, and was their designee on the SCT transition team. He is a mentor to me in life and career.

He is now undergoing something in his life that we need to rally around and support. He has a brain tumor that his surgeon will try to remove next Tuesday. All that Bruce is asking is for prayers and
for support.

Please send this to our region, and if you could please post this on the NATCA BBS, Bruce, Sonya (his wife) and I would deeply appreciate it. I will be on stand by this Tuesday and let you know immediately of the outcome”.

Please keep our good friend and brother Bruce and his family in your prayers. As soon as I get more
updates from Bob, I will be sure to share it with everyone.

Fatigue Workgroup and nine hours between shifts

On Sunday May 15^th, at the direction of the DOT Secretary, the FAA began giving up to one-hour of excused absence to controllers who wouldn’t otherwise have nine (9) hours between their day shift
and their mid-night shift. Nationally, we have been working through our Fatigue Mitigation workgroup to work with the agency in an attempt to implement all twelve (12) of the fatigue workgroup
recommendations. We have yet to reach an agreement. Our Fatigue Workgroup Lead and NEA RVP Phil Barbarello has advised that NATCA will be filing a National Grievance on this issue and an article 7 notice. As more information comes in, I will share it with all of you.

NATCA/FAA Training Communications Workgroup

This past week, Nate Pair (ZLA), Corey Soignet (LFT), Johnny Temple (ZHU), and I met with ATO management in Oklahoma City in order to develop an effective communications structure to get timely feedback and ideas from the field on training. This structure would allow controllers and managers to provide feedback on any aspect of training in order to help us continually improve training in the FAA.

Advanced Representative Class

On June 20-21, 2011, Jay Barrett (MIA), Chris Boughn (ZDC), Mike Hull (SCT), Gretchen McMullen (NATCA LR Attorney), and I will be meeting in Dallas to develop a brand new Advanced Rep class. If you have attended the new Basic Rep class, I would strongly urge you to continue the learning process and attend the new class, which is sure to challenge you and help you become an effective NATCA
representative. We hope to have the new course material done by this fall and schedule our first advanced rep class in late 2011.

NWP September Membership Meeting

Our next regional membership meeting is looking to be one of our biggest membership meetings to date. The meeting will take place on Monday September 19 (full day) and Tuesday September 20 (1/2 day) at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel in downtown San Diego. Please reserve your room as soon as possible. All of the information regarding the membership meeting can be found on our regional website at http://nwp.natca.net, hope to see you there.

May 2, 2011 NWP Hot Sheet

Sisters and brothers,

It has been a very busy few months as we continue to roll up our sleeves and work with the FAA to revise and introduce new training programs and various collaboration initiatives. We have also gone through a proposed government shut down and have been the focus of various negative media stories associated with fatigue and the air traffic control profession.

The past several weeks have been a very difficult period for all of us as things were changing by the hour as so many folks from outside of the FAA offered their help in directing how the FAA should address these various issues associated with fatigue. I am deeply thankful to the leadership demonstrated by Paul and Trish along with Phil Barbarello and Bryan Zilonis as they dealt with the constantly changing directives that were coming out of Washington on an almost hourly basis.

Last week, NATCA Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert asked me to join her and Deputy FAA Administrator Michael Huerta as we visited Oakland Center, Northern California Tracon, and Reno Tower. We also brought with us Garth Koleszar, who is my Facility Rep from Los Angeles Center and National Training Rep/Professional Standards National Rep as part of a Call to Action meeting with various facilities across the country.

Both Trish and Michael covered the effects of the negative stories on the Hill and also focused on the very positive work that all of you do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. On behalf of Trish and the entire NATCA National Executive Board, I would like to thank all of you for your continued efforts in keeping the skies safe and making 2010 a year that had no fatal commercial accidents; you are truly the unsung heroes that keep our skies safe. The media and our country rarely hear from us when we’re providing routine services to the 70,000 take offs and landings every day, unless something has gone wrong, which is why I would like to ask for your help with a couple of issues.

Number 1 - Team work - it is such an essential part of the job we do throughout the Air Traffic system. So now more than ever, team work is extremely important in making sure that we are providing the best service possible to the flying public within our NAS in order to rebuild the trust and confidence of the flying public.

Number 2 – Mentoring - as we welcome the new generation of controllers, it is essential that we take that extra step to mentor them and share with them the tricks of the trade and how best to deal with the stress and the fatigue associated with being a safety professional within the NAS. Our union, in concert with the FAA, has developed a joint fatigue workgroup that will also help us deal with fatigue management.

Number 3 - PROFESSIONALISM - a topic that was covered at our last membership meeting in San Jose just last month. You are all proud and dedicated professionals and for that, we thank you. From time to time though, we need to take a step back and re-double and reinvigorate our efforts to focus on professionalism, teamwork, and mentoring. We are asking you to help us re-focus and re-double our commitment to being the proud professionals that we all are. Once again, I would like to thank all of you for the many sacrifices that you and your families make in ensuring that we have the safest aviation system in the entire world.

Please do not talk to the media unless you have first cleared it through our Communications Director Doug Church, Mike Hull, or myself. Also keep in mind that there are those in the media that would like to keep the negative stories alive, so some may be trolling various Facebook pages, accessible ATC parking lots, etc.

I did want to take this opportunity to brief all of you on the various projects that I am currently leading on behalf of the NATCA National Executive Board and our great organization:

Flight Deck Training - I have been working with FAA representatives for the past year and a half in order to implement the Flight Deck Training program. We have had to overcome many obstacles such as the DOT IG, the Transportation Security Administration, Air Transport Association, and the internal bureaucracy that the FAA for which they are so famous. Chris Boughn (ZDC), Will Wills (ZAU), Garth Koleszar (ZLA), and myself met in Las Vegas with agency representatives to finalize the order. The only thing that remains is working with the FAA to finalize a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and developing a roll out schedule for Flight Deck Training. I hope to have the MOU signed and an implementation schedule finalized in the coming weeks, as long as there are no last minute issues that detract the FAA from finalizing this Agreement on training.

NATCA/FAA Placement Workgroup - I have been working with Jay Barrett (MIA), Andrew Lebovidge (ZHU Facility Rep), and Dave Stock (C90 Facility Rep) on the placement workgroup with the task of identifying problems associated with placing controllers into facilities and recommending solutions to the Collaborative Steering Committee (CSC). Our greatest achievement so far has been the recommendation to the CSC to revise EMP 1.14, which restricts training failures who have not achieved D-2 status from being offered other positions within the ATO. EMP 1.14 causes training failures and those who are having difficulty in training to submit employee requested reassignments (ERRs) rather than follow the process outlined in EMP 1.14. The CSC has accepted our recommendation and will be working with NATCA to revise EMP 1.14.

Air Traffic Basics, Enroute Stage II-IV redesign, and Basic Tracon - I have been overseeing the work of our terrific workgroup members on redesigning the curriculum of two academy courses and the Enroute stage redesign II-IV (AT Basics and Basic Tracon) and trying to assist them with any obstacles presented by those who think they truly understand air traffic training better than us (managers/contractors with no ATC operational experience). Each one of our workgroup members are immensely talented and I am grateful to all of them for their terrific work.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them for their very hard work, dedication and commitment to our great organization:

Air Traffic Basics workgroup members: Dr. Dave Bricker (ZAB SW Area Rep) and Steve McCoy (NCT Facility Rep)

Enroute Stage II-IV workgroup members: Aaron Fishman (ZOA), Dr. Leo Kremer (ZNY), Kris Koke (ZFW), and Bryan Neal (ZKC)

Basic Tracon workgroup members: Liz Larsen (GEG) and Lori Rebhan (MIA).

I would like to wish Liz Larsen the best of luck as she prepares to move to Atlanta (from Spokane) and begin working at A80. Thank you so much for your dedication and efforts on the Basic Tracon project.

Training Communications Workgroup - Nate Pair (ZLA), Corey Soignet (LFT Facility Rep), Johnny Temple (ZHU), and I have been working with ATO Training to develop a communications structure between the field and ATO Training to get feedback on all issues regarding training. The feedback will be evaluated and used to improve training to include any revisions to the National Training order (FAAO 3120.4).

Operational Assessment - I have been working with Terminal Mission Support on finalizing the beta test for the Operational Assessment at A80, C90, and SCT. As a reminder the operational assessment is based on an initiative that was used at C90 (Chicago Tracon screen) years ago that was quite successful in measuring a candidate’s aptitude for the job. FAA HR has agreed to the language that will be included on bids for these three test facilities.

OJTI Refresher Training - We are in the beginning stages of getting our workgroup members to meet with the FAA to begin developing an OJTI refresher course followed by the Basic course. Our very own HCF VP Jimmy Lake is the lead on this project.

Controller Refresher Training - Later this month, NATCA National Training Rep Garth Koleszar and I will be meeting with ATO VP of Training Bob Tarter to discuss the creation of a workgroup to develop refresher training for controllers.

NATCA Advanced Rep Training - I will be working with Jay Barrett (MIA), Chris Boughn (ZDC), Mike Hull (SCT and NWP ARVP), and NSW RVP Tim Smith in June to develop the advanced representative training class. We are hoping to have an advanced class ready for the membership by late 2011 or early 2012. This class will piggy-back on our newly revised Basic Representative Training (BRT) class that has been such a huge success that we have had to add extra classes because the word is getting around.

NWP LR Changes - Following a NWP LR Meeting in San Jose, Mike Hull and I are working on revising the structure of the LR team and adding new team members to the LR team and doing some reassignments for some of our existing LR team members. Mike and I are also instituting a Labor Relations (LR) mentorship program. If you are interested in the LR arena, please contact Mike at mhull@natca.net.

San Diego 2016 Convention - The rumor is true, the Western Pacific Region is currently working on a bid for the 2016 Convention in San Diego. Mickela and I will be working with the following members who have volunteered to develop a bid for the 2016 Convention delegates:

Ron Geyer (SCT Facility Rep),
Tom Bowman (CRQ),
Andrea Ortega (SAN),
Matt Parra (SCT),
Rob Reddeg (SCT and NWP Reloaded Lead), and
Maliesa Swinson (MYF).

Fraternally,

Ham Ghaffari-NWP RVP

NWP “Hot Sheet” Veteran’s Day Nov 11, 2010

Sisters and brothers,

Since I have a few moments, I wanted to provide you with an update on some of the issues that I have been working on over the course of the last month. But first, I need to honor our men and women who have served and who are currently serving our great country in our armed forces; thank you all for your dedication and service. As for my Marines, happy 235th birthday “Jarheads”.

Since my last update, I have traveled to New Orleans to kick off our brand new Basic Rep training with two of NATCA’s most dedicated activists; Chris Boughn and Mike Hull. Chris and Mike just finished the second Basic Rep class in Orlando this month. We will be getting together early next year to look at some of the input that we have received on the new class and see how best we can incorporate some of your suggestions into the curriculum. Next year, we will also be working on developing a brand new Advanced Rep class. While in New Orleans, I also attended our NEB meeting.

During the next week, I was quite busy trying to put the finishing touches on the Reno to NCT MOU. I am very proud of our team and the signed RNO to NCT MOU. I would like to thank Peter Gimbrere, Mitch Herrick, Rich Ferris, Dan McGuane, Steve McCoy, Phil Barbarello, Trish Gilbert, and Paul Rinaldi for all of their help and support to finalize the MOU.

The following week, I flew to Washington, D.C. for a placement workgroup meeting before having to fly right back to the West coast to attend the opening ceremonies for the new Reno Tower.

This week, I had the pleasure of spending some time with the Las Vegas Hub NATCA reps and managers. Las Vegas Hub manager Steve Lloyd was a gracious host and I thought that we had a very productive meeting with both NATCA and management in the same room discussing issues of mutual importance.

Here are just some of the issues that I have been working on during the past month:

Flight Deck Training- I continue to work with the FAA on the revised draft of the Flight Deck Training order. The FAA would like to roll out the new order sometime on or about March 2011.

FAA Training- NATCA is currently involved in several training initiatives all aimed at improving the quality of ATC training. Here are a few of those initiatives:

• Re-designing the ATC basics course at the FAA Academy (Dave Bricker-ZAB and Steve McCoy-NCT)
• Re-designing Stage II-IV for Enroute Training (Aaron Fishman-ZOA, Kris Koke-ZFW, Leo Kremer-ZNY, and Bryan Neal-ZKC)
• Re-designing the Academy TRACON course (Liz Larsen-GEG and Lori Rebhan-MIA)
• We will soon put together a workgroup to help improve communications between ATO Training (AJL) and the field.

NATCA Placement Workgroup: NATCA and FAA workgroup members met in Washington, D.C on October 25-26. Here is the scope of the workgroup:

• The group is tasked with identifying problems, collecting and evaluating data to determine the causes and extent of problems, and forwarding solutions to the Collaborative Steering Committee (and other relevant stakeholders, as they deem appropriate) for consideration and adoption.
• The workgroup will also consider existing placement processes and transfer and vacancy processes/procedures affecting bargaining unit employees.
• The workgroup will look at methods for identifying vacancies, priorities for filling vacancies and methods for offering placement.
• The workgroup will look at current practices and consider improvements to processes for placement of ERRs, hardship transfers, academy students, other new hires and training failures.

The workgroup is scheduled to meet again on December 7-8, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT): I have been working with the FAA on trying to determine whether the AT-SAT tool can be used for placement. As such, NATCA has provided the FAA with some names of controllers who will be travelling to OKC to work with the FAA and CAMI on this project. Starting in 2011, there will be an opportunity for tower controllers to participate in research that involves taking the AT-SAT test battery and various outcome performance indicators. The exercises will require each participant volunteer to spend two days off site to complete the tests. We will use the information obtained from this research to better understand the relationship between AT-SAT scores and tasks specific to tower ATC performance. It will help us determine if AT-SAT scores can be used for placement as well as selection.

Operational Assessment- We continue to work with the FAA on evaluating the operational assessment test. This test is designed to help our busier terminal facilities find the most qualified candidates at ATC-10 and above facilities. The beta-test facilities for the Operational Assessment test will be A80, C90, and SCT.

Just Culture: Tomorrow I will be flying to SLC for a one-day meeting to discuss the implementation of the beta test of “Just Culture” at SFO and ZLA.

Finally, I would like to thank all of the volunteers who stepped up for the Air Safety Investigator position. We were delighted to get so many talented and dedicated NATCA members for this position. Our NWP Air Safety Lead Peter Trono did a terrific job helping me with this most difficult decision. After a very thorough process and some interviews, I have decided to select Patrick Keane (SCT) to be our newest Air Safety Investigator. Pat has extensive terminal expertise at both towers and a TRACON. Pat is also an avid pilot and aircraft owner. He has a private pilot license with an instrument rating and who just happens to be married to a CFII and FAA designated pilot examiner who has her own flight training business. Congratulations to Pat and a great deal of thanks to all who put their name in the hat to be considered for this position.

I will be working with Peter and Pat to develop an ASI under-study type program so that we can expose some of our controllers to air safety investigations.

NWP “Hot Sheet” for the month of September 2010

Brothers and Sisters,

October 2010 marks the one-year anniversary of our new Air Traffic Controller, TMC, and NOTAM specialist Collective Bargaining Agreement, aka CBA and/or Contract.  This has been a very busy year for us on the National Executive Board. I’m certain that this past year has also been a very busy year for all of our Facility Reps, LR reps, activists, etc.

As I have told many of you during our membership meetings and pre-convention meeting, getting a fair contract is just a beginning.  The real work begins when we start working on various workgroups, begin using the new PAR process (Pre-Arbitration Review), resolve the outstanding grievances from the Green book and the imposed work rules, and when we start developing new Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), etc.

During this past year, our President and Executive Vice President have also taken it upon themselves to rely heavily on the National Executive Board.  Each one of us on the Executive Board has taken on additional duties in certain areas in which we’re responsible for all aspects of a programs development and implementation.  As some of you may have heard by reading the NEB minutes, I am the NEB lead for Training; both internal NATCA training and external training with the FAA.

My first order of business was to fulfill the language in Article 67, Section 2 dealing with Training.

Article 67, Section 2. Within one hundred twenty (120) days of the signing of this Agreement, the NATCA President or his/her designee will meet with the Vice President of Technical Training to discuss and craft a plan on how to improve requirements analysis, foster efficient use of resources, and increase employee involvement in the field of training.

With the approval of the board, we selected team members and began working with the FAA to finalize a plan for training. Our team was comprised up of NSW RVP Tim Smith, Aaron Fishman (ZOA), Bryan Neal (ZKC), Kevin Long (MCI), Kris Koke (ZFW), and myself.  After meeting internally and then meeting with the FAA several times, we finalized our proposal and sent it to the ATO VP of Training Shawn Clark.  Shawn and I then met to finalize the recommendations of the workgroup.

On August 26, 2010, Shawn and I agreed on our plan and began taking steps to incorporate the training plan into Shawn’s training priorities.  I would like to thank Shawn Clark and Mark Marchese for trusting us and believing that together we can develop a much better product than alone.

As a result of our plan, we are now participating on the following workgroups:

Redesigning Air Traffics basics for terminal and enroute at the OKC Academy

Redesign of Stage II-IV for Enroute Training

Redesigning the Academy Air Traffic Radar Training program

 

In addition to finalizing the training recommendations, I am currently working on the following programs:

Operational Assessment- working with the FAA on a C90 like process to determine controllers’ aptitude and ability to work at ATC-10 and above terminals.

Flight Deck Training- I have been working with the FAA on FDT for close to five months.  During this time, there has been a manager change, there has been a draft of the program circulated amongst managers and there have even been some alleged briefings of this draft order.  Meanwhile, the new manager who has taken over the program has decided to revise the draft based on input by NATCA and management.  He is also ensuring that all coordination is completed with the airlines.  We still have some differences on the number of flights per year and whether annual leave can be used in conjunction with the flights.  I am hopeful that we will have a program by the spring of 2011.

Overhauling NATCA Basic Rep Training- I have had the distinct pleasure of working with NSW RVP Tim Smith, NWP ARVP Mike Hull, NEA LR Rep Chris Boughn, and NCE LR Rep Scot Morrison to completely redesign our Basic Representative Training.  We just rolled out the redesigned class for the first time at the New Orleans Basic Rep class this week.

Air Traffic Selection and Placement Tool (AT-SAT)- working with the FAA to validate the AT-SAT tool for selection and placement of new hires into the terminal option.  We will be looking for some of our members to help evaluate the questions in November at OKC.

NATCA placement workgroup- working with the FAA on a workgroup to identify and resolve various problems with the FAAs placement process; new hires, training failures, hardships, etc.

Reno to NCT consolidation- working alongside NATCA Attorney Peter Gimbrere, NCT Facility rep Steve McCoy, NCT Area rep Dan McGuane, RNO Facility rep Rich Ferris, NATCA Realignment lead Mitch Herrick, and Mike Hull to negotiate the MOU on the relocation of RNO Tracon to NCT.

Basic/Advanced arbitration class- organizing our NATCA taught classes for Basic and Advanced arbitration in 2011.  NATCA instructors and Bob Taylor will be teaching these classes.  Some of our instructors teaching these classes will be: Victor Santore, Chris Boughn, Bill McGowan, Mike Hull, and Gretchen McMullen from our National office.

Just Culture Pilot Program- working with the FAA on a pilot program for “Just Culture” at SFO and ZLA.  For a look at what Just Culture really is, you can click on this hyperlink: http://www.justculture.org/algorithm.aspx

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Paul, Trish, our national office staff, and our HNL Convention Committee on one of NATCA’s best conventions ever.  It was my absolute honor to have worked alongside these dedicated professionals; thank you so much.

As you can see, my plate is rather full these days.  But, I am going to do my best to try and give you regular updates via the NWP “Hot Sheet”.

Take care,

Ham Ghaffari
NWP RVP

NWP 2009 End of Year “Hot Sheet”

NWP Reps/Members:
After focusing on the implementation of our new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and resolving potential impasses with watch schedule/leave negotiations, etc, etc…..I finally have some time to jot down a few words to share with you as we ring in the New Year. Please take this time to reflect on all the hardships that we have endured not only in 2009, but all the way back to 2006 and the imposition of draconian imposed conditions of employment. Please thank your families and friends for enduring this hardship with us and being there for us. Also, please take the time to put things in proper perspective. While the rest of the country struggles with some of the most difficult economic times that we have ever witnessed as a nation, our membership will finally begin to prosper after three years of draconian pay cuts.
I know that our membership and our profession is used to having things done instantly just like a clearance to a pilot but, outside of the control room, things just don’t happen that way. As evidenced by our 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), it took us three (3) years to fight our way back to a fair process and a ratified agreement. Our battle to achieve this new agreement stands proof to the fact that we must remain united and we must persevere in the face of tremendous odds and adversity to achieve what some had labeled as unachievable. As Winston Churchill once said, “Never, never, never give up!" In addition, “Never give up” on YOUR Union. Have faith in your Union and your leaders and that they will never give up on your behalf and they will continue to fight for the entire membership.
I am extremely happy that many of my friends and fellow NATCA members who were harmed by the imposed pay rules will finally begin to see some pay parity in January 2010. Many of you endured a difficult training program, endured a difficult three (3) years filled with adversity and animosity, and you deserve every cent that you are about to earn in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Thank you for believing in NATCA and standing strong, even when many of you were doing the same work for over 30% less than the controller who certified a few months before you in August 2006.
Now is the time for us to come together and work as one Union to uphold the terms of our new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Make no mistake that the past three years were difficult. We all knew, however, that management was just going to deny every grievance or impose every watch schedule or impose changes to technology and procedures; it was quite easy to just file a grievance and move on. Now, with an outstanding Contract, an outstanding grievance process, and a process that requires management to work with us on technology, procedures, training, etc.; we can no longer just file the grievance and move on. We must fight to ensure that FAA Management upholds and complies with every Article, every Section, every word, and every letter in our new Contract. This will undoubtedly cause more work for our Crew reps, Area reps, Facility reps, LR team members, Alternate Regional Vice Presidents, Regional Vice Presidents, and so on. We can’t let up now that we have a new Contract, we must work even harder than before to uphold the Contract. For this, each and every NATCA member must step up and help us achieve all that the Contract provides for….
Happy New Year to all of my sisters and brothers…..I am very proud to be representing you as your Regional Vice President and wish you all a very safe and prosperous New Year.
In Solidarity,
Ham
NWP RVP
Since our new Contract has many new provisions, it’s imperative that our Facility Reps work with their NATCA LR (Labor Relations) reps assigned to their facilities in order to keep them up to date on what’s transpiring at their facilities. If you don’t know who your LR Rep is, just visit our NWP website at:

http://nwp.natca.net/Documents/LR_Stuff/LR_Team_Contact_Info_1.7.10.pdf

Needless to say, if there is an urgent issue or you just feel the need to talk to Mike Hull or myself, you are still welcome to contact us. My preferred mode of communications is still via email as it provides me with instantaneous documentation and means to follow up on an issue if I don’t have the time to immediately respond to it.
As I mentioned earlier, a new Contract means more work for our local facility reps. For you to be successful at your facility, you should consider the following:
• Get your membership involved and delegate some authority in getting contractual and local issues addressed

• Communicate with your membership via email, bulletin boards, NATCA binders, Facebook, Twitter, or any other means that ensures that your membership is well informed.

• Sign your members up for the regional members listserve

• Hold regular Local E-board meetings and involve the E-board in the running of the local. E-board members also need to understand that they are officers of the local and have a voice in the direction of the local

• Hold General membership meetings as required by the Local constitution. Let your membership provide feedback to you and get them to understand that the local belongs to them and they play a vital role in ensuring its success

• Schedule weekly meetings with your ATM in order to address issues before they rise to the level of a grievance or an impasse. It’s imperative that we don’t give our local Managers a free pass by elevating an issue to the regional level before they have had an opportunity to make a decision for which they can be held accountable

• Document all your negotiations, conversations, meetings, etc with management. Require your managers to respond to you in writing; either via email or via a memorandum. If they don’t, draft a record of conversation and give your manager a copy and have them sign for its receipt

• Review the LR Chronicles on the NWP Website (http://nwp.natca.net/LR_Chronicles_Search.htm) so that you can provide the most effective representation to your membership

• Think, before you act. Don’t feel compelled to immediately respond to a manager. Take some time to come up with the best possible decision
The HNL 2010 Convention Committee continues to work very hard on making our Convention in Honolulu one of the most memorable Conventions in NATCA’s history. We are also striving to ensure that the Honolulu Convention is less expensive than our previous Convention. I would like thank the entire Convention Committee and I look forward in working with you to make the HNL Convention a huge success. Our Convention Committee Chair, Scott Sorenson, has just posted a new update on the HNL 2010 Convention on the website, stop by and take a look:

http://alohanatca2010.natca.net/updates.htm

I would like to end by thanking my entire regional team. I wouldn’t be able to do my job without all of your hard work and dedication to NATCA and the Western Pacific region. I look forward to working with all of you in the New Year; thank you.

NWP “Hot Sheet” for the Weeks of 07-20-09, 07-27-09, and 8-3-09

NWP Reps/Members:

 

It’s been an extremely busy couple of weeks and I finally have an opportunity to write an update.  As most of you know by now, the election results are in and less than 50% of our membership voted.  In our region, only 45% of the membership voted; over 1,000 members didn’t vote in the Western Pacific Region.

 

Naturally, I am deeply disappointed that over 7,000 of our members decided to take a pass on one of the most important aspects of being a member in a Union.  Every three years, we have an opportunity to determine the leadership for our great Union and chart the course for our great organization.  Each and every member should participate in this process and have a say in whom we want as the leaders of this organization. 

 

Voting is a first step of involvement and interaction with your Union.  This Union is about U and I working together to improve working conditions for all.  Your vote is your voice in our organization.  Every vote does count!  Just look back to one of NATCA’s run-off elections, it was decided by 14 votes.  Lastly, if you don’t vote then you are allowing others to make decisions for you. 

 

So just to recap, here is why I believe it’s important to vote:

 

It shows your involvement.
It is your constitutional right as a Union member.
It allows you to become more involved and hold your leadership accountable.
It shows that you care about the future of OUR organization.

 

I would like to ask that each and every one of you who read this update to talk with your circle of friends and have them talk with their friends and let’s ALL participate in the upcoming run-off election.

 

In closing, I would like to congratulate all incoming NEB (National Executive Board) members and thank those that will be leaving us.  It was my distinct pleasure to work with Pat Forrey, Rick Thompson, Darrell Meachum, Scott Farrow, and Howard Blankenship.  I would like to thank all of them and their families for their many sacrifices to NATCA. 

 

In Solidarity,

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·       Here is an update on the NATCA election run-off process:

 

“Any member who preregistered to receive an electronic ballot for the balloting that concluded on July 31 will automatically receive an electronic ballot for the runoff election.  There will be no additional preregistration period in the runoff election.

 

Members who did not preregister to receive an electronic ballot for the balloting that concluded on July 31 will receive a mail ballot package for the runoff election.  The mail ballot package will again contain instructions on how members may vote online in lieu of returning the mail ballot.

 

Please note that, pursuant to NATCA’s election rules, any member who votes online AND returns a mail ballot will have both votes invalidated.

 

MEMBERS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE BALLOTING INSTRUCTIONS IN THE MAIL BALLOT PACKAGE.  In the balloting that concluded on July 31, a large number of members failed to follow the instructions on the ballot to remove the perforated section of the ballot containing his or her marked votes from the section of the ballot with his or her identifying information.

 

Any questions about the procedures for the runoff election should be directed to National Election Committee Chairman Mike Patterson (atcmp@aol.com) or NATCA General Counsel Marguerite L. Graf (mgraf@natcadc.org).”

 

·       Tomorrow, Thursday August 13, 2009, NATCA is supposed to receive the arbitrator’s decision on our pay, annual leave, position description, rights of Union officials, and duration.  Pat Forrey is trying to determine when this will happen tomorrow.  Our plan is to share the decision with the membership and then schedule some national telcon’s to explain the decision and answer questions.

 

·       I held a ‘Skype’ video telcon with some members from SFO at their local get together.  Yet another way to effectively communicate with the membership; really cool!  Let me know if any of you would like to try this out for your next local meeting.

 

·       ZLA Facility Rep Garth Koleszar and I worked with Western Enroute on training failure placements, returning an employee to work following an off-duty incident, etc.

 

·       Mike Hull and I worked with MYF Facility Rep Maliesa Swinson on some issues with their training room.

 

·       NWP LR Rep Garth Koleszar worked with VGT and LAS on some Labor Relations issues and OSHA related issues.

 

·       LAX Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Mike Foote and I work together to expedite a members release from LAX tower who has an approved hardship.

 

·       Mike Hull, Kevin Sills, and I worked with SDL Facility Rep Kimi Cooley regarding an incident involving a member’s off-duty conduct and a question regarding release policies.

 

·       Mike Hull works with TOA Facility Rep Victor Morales and LGB VP John Grenert regarding Training Review Boards.  If you are unfamiliar with the training review process, please review LR Chronicles #22 before participating on any Training Review Board (http://nwp.natca.net/LR_Chronicles_Search.htm).

 

·       Congratulations to the new LGB Facility Rep Joe Alvarado and LGB VP John Grenert for stepping up and leading a terrific local set up by my good friend and fellow Marine Paul “Boogie” Bugarin.

 

·       I am working with Western Terminal and Enroute on obtaining official time for the SJC Contract Training scheduled for Monday/Tuesday September 28-29, 2009. 

 

·       PHX Facility Rep Steve Palmer and I worked on some local changes to mid-shift operations and a new Arizona District Policy on Quality Assurance.

 

·       I worked with Barry Krasner regarding the upcoming ratification tour, the timing of the ratification, and contract training in SJC.

 

·       TUS Facility Rep Jay Cole had a question regarding Union policy on giving money to charities or sponsoring a child on a baseball team.  Here is my response:

 

“Your local e-board can vote to sponsor a travelling baseball team.  You just need to discuss it and have a recorded vote on the motion to sponsor.  When you cut the check and submit a voucher, attach the copy of the minutes with the motion to sponsor the team along with the vote and you are good to go.  If you were asking NATCA national to sponsor something, there are specific guidelines to follow.  You would submit all charity type requests to the NATCA charitable foundation and they would either approve or disapprove.”

 

·       NWP LR Rep Chad Geyer, Mike Hull, and I work with VNY Facility Rep Rich Velasquez on some local changes, placement of security cameras, and some performance issues. 

 

·       I worked with ZOA VP Mike Ward to assist him on how to file an OSHA complaint.  Here is the link to file an OSHA complaint:

 

http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/worker/complain.html

·       Mike Hull and Kevin Sills work with HCF Facility Rep regarding some changes with the RDVS and a FOIA request.

 

·       A member had a question with respect to the new national officers taking office September 1 and who will be President since there is an election run-off.  Since neither candidate for National President received a majority of the votes, Pat Forrey will continue as NATCA President until 30 days after the run-off election results have been certified.

 

·       I would like to congratulate incoming P50 Facility Rep Mark “OJ” Wojtulski and thank outgoing Facility Rep Steve Hadley who will be finishing the remainder of OJ’s term as local Vice President.  Mike Hull and I worked with a very motivated OJ on some off-duty issues, form 8500 (physical’s), official time, etc.

 

·       The NATCA Basic Labor Management Relations web-based class is moving ahead with its second class which started on Sunday August 9.  If you are interested in signing up for the web-based class, you can go to:

 

http://www.natca.org/natcaacademy/registration-basic-lmr.aspx

 

·       Kevin Sills and I continue to work with Western Enroute, HR, and our member to resolve an issue with a settlement agreement in an ATOP training delay case. 

 

·       I worked with LAX Facility Rep Mike Foote, NCT Facility Rep Steve McCoy, and SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis to prepare for the FAA Administrators visit to California to discuss the recent DOT-IG report which was critical of the three facilities.  We still don’t have a definitive date on when the Administrator is coming out.

 

·       Mike Hull, NWP Consolidation Lead Steve McCoy, and I held a telcon with RNO Facility Rep Rich Ferris and RNO controller Dwayne Thornton on the RNO to NCT consolidation.  We will be visiting RNO in September.

 

·       Mike Hull and Jeff Tilley (regional Pay lead) worked with APC FACREP Debbie Young regarding the pay setting of a member that is selected to another facility.

 

·       I worked with SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis regarding a lack of space for Air Traffic training at SCT.  It appears that there are so many other lines of business at SCT, that there is an actual shortage of space.

 

·       Mike Hull, Garth Koleszar, and I worked with L30 Facility Rep Sara George regarding a member who has been medically incapacitated.

 

·       Our very own Bob “The Pres” Butterworth will be going to the AFL-CIO convention as an alternate.  What better way to solidify the relationships that they started during their tenure as “Boots on the Ground” representatives from NATCA.  Congratulations Bob, you have earned this brother.

 

·       We have a new local in our Western Pacific family; Los Alamitos Army Airfield.  On July 29, 2009, NATCA welcomed its first Department of Defense acquirement in ten years, joining Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (Oohrah) and John Roger Field in Kalaeoa, Hawaii.  I would like to welcome our newest members at SLI Local.  We will be assisting the Los Alamitos local with their Union elections and will begin work on a new contract for them.

NWP “Hot Sheet” for the Weeks of 07-06-09 and 07-13-09

NWP Reps/Members:

 

As most of you know, I am a proud Marine Corps veteran and have a true appreciation for all those who are serving or have served in the United States Armed Forces.  Recently, I saw a post on the NATCA BBS (bulletin board) which prompted me to get in touch with Stephen Ramsden at Atlanta Center.  One of our brother’s who is a developmental at ZTL, Jason Rich, who is also a Lieutenant in the Army National Guard has been called for duty to Afghanistan.  Here is what Stephen had to say:

“Jason Rich is a proud young man and a good man and was hesitant to ask for help from his NATCA brothers/sisters but apparently the financial repercussions of trading his ATC income for that of a young officer protecting our freedom overseas has had a toll.

I know that there are rumors of some sort of supplemental pay to make up the difference between his active duty pay and his ATC pay but this has not reached the troops yet, at least not in the Southern Region.

1stLt. Jason Rich has asked that I forward his humble request for any leave that any of you can spare to help he and his new wife out during these hard times of war.

He also wanted me to let you all know that he is thinking of his buddies and your emails and or Facebook contacts (Jason's Facebook  profile- http://www.facebook.com/RichJD13#/RichJD13?ref=ts&__a=1)
are invaluable to he and his company while deployed.

An employee requesting to donate annual or sick leave within FAA may apply either through the VLTP online intranet site ( https://webapps.awp.faa.gov/ovltp/index.cfm?here=home ) or complete and submit FAA VLTP Donor's Annual Leave and/or Sick Leave Application Form (FAA Form 3600-25 (02/03)) (MS Word). The request is given to the potential donor's front-line manager. The request includes the proposed donated hours of annual or sick leave to a specific leave recipient”.

 

Please do what you can for our brother and his family while he proudly serves in our nation’s Armed Forces.

 

Please keep Debi Donahue and her family in your thoughts and prayers.  Debi is the Region X Administrative assistant.  Recently, Debi’s daughter-in-law suffered an accident while white water rafting.  She was thrown and hit her head pretty hard.  She is now in a rehab hospital where she will undergo an aggressive therapy program. 

 

 

In Solidarity,

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·       The Fall Western Pacific Regional Membership Meeting will be held at the newly remodeled Hilton/San Jose on Monday, September 28 (8am-5pm) and Tuesday, September 29 (8am-noon).  Our agenda will be focused on the new NATCA/FAA agreement, so make your plans now to attend.   Information for reservations is as follows:

 

RESERVATIONS:

Please call the hotel at (408) 287-2100 and request the group rate for NATCA.

 

Deadline for reservations is September 4, so please reserve your room ASAP.  Room Rate is $95/night, plus taxes.  To confirm your reservation, the hotel will require a first night's room deposit.  Check in is at 4pm and check out is Noon.

 

·       All Facility Reps-please remember to send your change of address forms and your local officer update forms to Mickela and NOT NATCA national.  Mickela will update then update the National database (Unionware).

 

·       Any time there is a change to the local executive board; a ‘Local Officer Update’ form should be filled out and sent to Mickela.  Also, please encourage your members to fill out a change of address form every time they move.

 

·       I sent out a designation email to Western Terminal and Western Enroute designating Juan Serna-Spuler as our NWP Hardship Lead; it’s official.  If any of you have any questions regarding the hardship process, please contact Juan (juan.serna-spuler@natca.net)

 

·       I would like to give credit when credit is due.  I accidentally left off my dear friend and Brother Dave Riley as one of the members who helped with the Web Based Training project.  Dave did the audio for the podcasts; thanks Marine.

 

·       Mike Hull fielded a question regarding working hours.  Here is the question:

 

One of our members at Facility XYZ had a seven day week... The last two days (as I understood it) were Admin days.  Is this legal? - Answer:

 

“As long as any time worked after the 6th day in a row was non-operational AND they compensated him appropriately, yes it is legal.”

 

·       We finally got notification that our last member on the ATOP training delay settlement agreement received his backpay.  It’s truly a sad testament that the switch to the Department of Interior payroll has been a failure when someone has to wait two years to be financially made whole.

 

·       I had a telcon with Jose Ceballos, Frank McCarthy, and SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis regarding some questions that Senator Feinstein’s staff had for Mel.

 

·       The FAA Administrator’s staff is working on a trip out to the West Coast for Administrator Babbitt.  He is tentatively scheduled to visit LAX, NCT, and SCT at the end of August.

 

·       Mike Hull, SFO Facility Rep/NWP LR rep Dave Caldwell and I discussed a termination case out of SCK (probationary employee).

 

·       I worked with ZLA Facility Rep/NWP LR rep Garth Koleszar regarding a self referral, probationary employee termination, and issues with a members medical.

 

·       I was notified by NSO RVP Victor Santore that the FAA and the DOT finally gave an exemption to a military reservist after considerable legislative pressure.  About a year ago, Ventris Gibson sent out a memo stating that they would not support any exemptions from military service.

 

·       As a reminder, NATCA does not encourage participation in the NASA Ames NexGen Study for the following reasons:

 

1.    The Agency failed to properly notify us of this study.

2.    The Agency failed to give us a start and finish date for the study.

3.    No assurance that NATCA will be able to select the participants at the facility we represent.

 

However, if ordered to do so, comply with that order, file a grievance and notify Mike Hull or I.

 

·       NWP Drug and Alcohol Lead Juan Serna-Spuler, Mike Hull, Garth Koleszar and I discuss a treatment plan for one of our members following self referral.  The question was whether the treatment plan constituted a “Last Chance Agreement (LCA)” and whether it was common practice to require total abstinence from alcohol even though the self referral had nothing to do with alcohol.  After reviewing the treatment plan, we all agreed that the plan was NOT a LCA.  Last Chance Agreements are proposed termination letters held in abeyance while an employee has an opportunity to complete a comprehensive rehabilitation program.

 

·       I received an email from a Facility Rep in the Great Lakes region which reaffirms why we do this job and why the best weapon to deal with management is knowledge.  Here is what our good brother from the Great Lakes region had to say:

 

“I'm the facrep at Facility XYZ, and I attended the 5 region meeting in San Diego in March.

 

As a direct result of that meeting and the session regarding documentation, we were able to put local management in its place.

 

One of our supes lost his cool and blew up on a developmental in the TRACON. The developmental was so upset that she asked me to call her to discuss it at midnight.  While I was getting the account of the event, the session from San Diego came back to mind.  As I was taking notes, I was also emailing everyone that was on the shift with her.  Within 12 hours, I had written statements from everyone.

 

The next day, the developmental was afraid to go to work because that supervisor would be there and instead used 8 hours of sick leave.

 

I wrote a letter to our manager with excerpts of the statements from those that witnessed the meltdown.  The letter was written in a way that they had no choice but to address it, or they would find themselves answering questions from the IG, EEO, Accountability Board, and the region.

 

In the end, the developmental had her sick leave restored and the supervisor has been put on notice that he will be done if he flares up again.

 

This would not have been possible if you hadn't organized the San Diego meeting”

 

·       ARCHIE LEAGUE MEDAL OF SAFETY AWARDS: We need your help! The calendar year is now more than half over and we have only received a very small number of Archie League nominations. Please remember that all flight assist events that have occurred since Jan. 1 are eligible to be nominated. We have produced a flyer that talks about this year’s program and how to get more information. Please click here to view the flyer:

http://www.natca.org/assets/Documents/mediacenter/Archie2009flyer.pdf

 

·       Here is a recent case which deals with protected speech.  Please “Think, before you Act” and be in control of every exchange with management.  Do not allow an exchange with management to cause you to use any threatening remarks or any racially motivated comments. 

 

CASE FILE: AFGE, Local 987 and Department of the Air Force, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., 109 LRP 31681 (FLRA 05/27/09).

 

Ruling: The FLRA denied the union's exception to an arbitration award upholding a three-day suspension for a union steward's conduct.

 

What it means: The FLRA concluded that the grievant's threatening remarks and use of a racially derogatory term exceeded the bounds of protected activity.

 

Summary: The grievant, a union steward, was suspended for two incidents of belligerent behavior -- once when he spoke to an HR specialist with balled fists and referred to violence against her, and once when a supervisor questioned his whereabouts, and he responded by calling the supervisor an "Uncle Tom."

 

·       NWP OWCP Lead Steve Hefley, Mike Hull, and I worked with HCF Facility Rep Scott Sorenson regarding a member at HCF who recently experienced a traumatic injury at work.

 

·       Our Admin Lead, Mickela, answers questions for PAO Facility Rep Larry Mosley.  Happy Birthday to the world’s greatest Regional Admin; today is Mickela’s birthday.

 

·       Mike Hull, ATSAP ERC member Steve McKenzie, and I work with HWD Facility Rep Shane Foskey regarding a recent OE and whether or not it would be covered by the ATSAP agreement.

 

·       In a recent decision from the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), they partially remanded a decision of the MSPB by finding that the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 applied to an FAA employee who had been improperly removed (instead of being provided with a reasonable accommodation) and reinstated by the MSPB and thus the FAA owed her full back pay (the MSPB had stated that she was not eligible for back pay as an FAA employee).

 

·       I would like to congratulate LGB VP Joe Alvarado and SCT Coast Area Rep Kevin McLauglin for their recent participation in an AOPA webinar dealing with ATC (Web Seminar).  Here is what the AOPA had to say about the Webinar:

 

“The webinar went really well...193 attendees.  The highlight was the controllers' input and both Kevin McLaughlin and Joe Alvarado did a fantastic job...honestly.  We sent out a survey to attendees and many of the responses indicate that pilots wish there had been more time for Q&A with the controllers. Given the positive response we will do more of these in the future.  Thanks again for helping us out”.

 

·       Mike Hull put out the latest edition of the Chronicles of LR, #36, that deals with the “Collective Bargaining Process”.

 

·       I worked with my Marine at MYF, Maliesa Swinson, regarding some recent changes to the training room at MYF.  I have asked Maliesa to give her ATM an opportunity to address her concerns.  If he is unable to address them, we will address them at the service area level.

 

·       I talked to SEE Facility Rep Brian Orris regarding some changes to the watch schedule which is creating a chronic over 2 hour on position during the morning shift.

 

·       The following was sent out by Western Terminal to all managers:

 

“Stop or do not engage in negotiations on watch schedules and annual leave under the current contract until further advised.  Since the new agreement has been sent to arbitration for those articles that were not TAU'd, neither NATCA nor the Agency wants to negotiate over these items at this time.  Any questions let me know.  We are also advising all of the RVP's of this guidance.  Also, let your local reps know about this ASAP”.

 

·       I worked on finalizing a Hardship transfer for a member at HCF trying to get to the East coast.

·       NWP Legislative Lead Noel Kingston sent an email congratulating the newest member of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Elect Chu. She will be taking the place of former Congresswoman Hilda Solis in the CA-32.

 

·       Mike Hull, ZOA Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Scott Conde, NCT Facility Rep/NWP Consolidation Lead Steve McCoy, and I had a telcon to discuss the RNO to NCT consolidation.

 

·       I would like to congratulate my good friend and brother from HCF Thom Gurule and his lovely wife on their recent adoption.  It took them three years and many trips to Mexico to finalize this adoption.  But they persevered and finally got Fernando Leon Gurule to Hawaii where he can hang out with his little sister Alizandra “Ali” Leimana Gurule.

 

·       The HNL 2010 Committee works on finalizing an agenda for their November meeting.

 

·       I worked with Mickela to finalize the September NWP regional membership meeting.

 

·       RETIREMENT SEMINARS-----Two Retirement Seminars will be held in the Western Pacific Region.  The first one will be on Monday, September 14, at the Holiday Inn by SCT.  The second one will be on Wednesday, September 16, at the Embassy Suites in Los Angeles off the 105 Fwy.  Please go to the following website to register and get more info, http://natca.sharmansite.com.  You will need your NATCA Member # (if you don't have it ask your Fac Rep, or email Mickela@natca.net).

 

·       Here is the latest update from Tony Yushinsky on the status of the first NATCA Web-based class:

 

“Today marks the mid-point of the five-week basic labor-relations course. 24 NATCA Brothers and Sisters are enrolled in NATCA's first ever web-based training course, and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Everyone is learning from the materials as well as the discussions on the National Labor College's Blackboard. The students range from zero experience to more than 20 years experience and everywhere in between.

 

Nearly every student has participated, which is quite amazing since we started in the middle of summer vacation time. Members have been great about letting me know when they'll be out of town and have made sure to do the assignments before leaving and catching up when they get back.

 

We currently have 21 Brothers and Sisters enrolled for our second class, which will kick off on August 9th. The course is free for NATCA members and provides a good basis for new reps or a refresher for the experienced reps”.

 

·       I will be in Portland, Oregon this week attending the National Executive Board meeting.

NWP “Hot Sheet” for the Weeks of 06-22-09 and 06-29-09

NWP Reps/Members:

 

This past Friday July 3, 2009, I had an opportunity to meet with DOT Secretary La Hood during his visit to LAX Tower.  Also in attendance for NATCA were LAX Facility Rep Mike Foote, SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis, and NATCA Airports National Representative/EWP Local President Sam Samad.  Congresswoman Laura Richardson (CA-37), Senator Boxer’s staff, and Congresswoman Harmon’s staff (CA-36) were also present for our meeting with the secretary. 

 

NATCA had initially heard about the Secretary’s visit by word of mouth at LAX Tower.  I began coordinating with our Governmental Affairs Director Jose Ceballos to confirm the visit as well as to determine the purpose of the visit.  We determined that one of the reasons behind the visit was the recent DOT-IG report that Senator Feinstein had requested regarding the state of staffing and training at LAX, NCT, and SCT.  Secretary La Hood’s staff mentioned to Jose that the Secretary wanted to specifically meet with our local NATCA reps to discuss the recent DOT-IG report, and that we would have thirty minutes to discuss our issues with him.  Jose made sure to advise the Secretary’s staff that NATCA had not been notified by the FAA on the Secretary’s visit to LAX.

 

Mike Foote, Mel Davis, Sam Samad, and I met before the meeting and organized the presentation of the information so that we could maximize our time with the Secretary and ensure that we covered all of the necessary information.  Here is a brief synopsis of what was discussed with Secretary La Hood during the meeting at LAX Tower:

 

 

1.    The role of HR in the FAA has to be changed- FAA HR (Human Resources) needs to provide counsel and provide support to managers and not dictate what they can or cannot do.  HR should not be an impediment or obstruction to ATO management trying to manage the operation.  I followed up on an example that I had given him months ago in Phoenix when I compared ATO COO Krakowski to the Queen of England because of the flawed structure of HR in the FAA; he remembered it.  The Secretary asked for some examples, so Mel and Mike both jumped in with examples.

 

2.    Status quo in the FAA- The appearance in the field that even though President Obama’s FAA Administrator had been confirmed that there had been little to no change in the FAA.  The current FAA seems to be operating under the same Blakey era policies/principles in dealing with employees and perceiving us as the problem rather than the solution.  I made it a point to thank the Secretary and President Obama for getting us back to the table in an attempt to have a fair contract.  I advised the Secretary that close to 5000 retirement eligible controllers were watching the NATCA/FAA mediation very carefully and weighing their options whether or not to retire based on the outcome of the talks.  Several times during our thirty minute conversation we brought the “Status Quo” up again.  Finally, the Secretary asked us to be a little patient since FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt had been in office for just about a month. 

 

3.    Importance of NATCA participation on NextGen- I advised Secretary La Hood that we realized that the Air Traffic Controller contract and NextGen were his two highest priorities.  We also understood that NextGen is a priority for President Obama.  We advised the Secretary that even though we had the “know how”, the intelligence, the experience, and the ability to help shape NextGen that NATCA had been completely left out of the NextGen equation.  I advised the Secretary that NextGen needs to be so much more than just ADS-B.  It needs to be realistic and attainable short term initiatives such as CDA’s (Continuous Descent Approaches), RNAV arrivals/departures, National Airspace Re-design, and more.  Mike Foote and Mel Davis gave the Secretary examples and then discussed the successes that we had enjoyed when we were involved in National Airspace Re-design.  At this point, the Secretary turned to us and said: “Give me five names”!  (NOTE- Jose will be talking with the Secretary’s staff to follow up and determine how and in what capacity the Secretary plans to use these five individuals)

 

 

4.    Staffing and Training- Mike, Mel, and I discussed and provided examples of the current staffing method that the FAA uses and how it is not based on any science and instead is completely based on ATO-Finance’s outlook of what a facility needs.  We discussed the most recent change to ATO staffing in that they now count all personnel in determining whether a facility is fully staffed or not.  Previously, the ATO would only count certified controllers and not developmentals.  Yet another change brought about by ATO-Finance that is not based on any scientific data and is purely budget driven.  We discussed the absolute necessity to ensure that new hires are placed in facilities where they will have an opportunity to succeed.  New hires should not be placed in complex facilities such as LAX, SCT, and NCT.  Mel and Mike gave the Secretary some examples and Mike further elaborated on this point during the tour that he gave to the Secretary after the meeting.    

 

5.    Facility Consolidation/Re-Alignment- There has to be a “BRAC” (Base closure and Realignment Commission) like process set up for the FAA to look at each and every consolidation/re-alignment and see whether there is measurable safety and cost benefits in consolidating a particular facility.  We can NOT approach consolidations/re-alignments with a one size fits all mentality.

 

Finally, Sam Samad had an opportunity to discuss, with the Secretary, the state of the multi-units imposed work and pay rules and the recent cyber breach in Western Pacific.

 

In closing, Secretary La Hood advised us that the next person that would be coming out West to discuss the recent DOT-IG report would be Administrator Babbitt.  Overall, we were very appreciative that Secretary La Hood took the time to listen to us and more importantly engage us on our issues.  This is certainly a first for me in nineteen years of service in the FAA to have a one-on-one type meeting with the Secretary of Transportation.

 

 

In Solidarity,

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

I would like to congratulate the new Honolulu Control Facility (HCF) Executive Board:

.

Thom Gurule, HNL VP

Jimmy Lake, Island VP *

Shawn Lorenzo, Secretary *

Steve Olson, Treasurer *

Scott Sorenson, President

The * indicates new

 

SJC Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Rich Burton, Mike Hull, and I work with HWD Facility Rep Shane Foskey regarding the training program at HWD.

 

The DOT-IG comes out with yet another critical audit of the FAA.  This time, it’s about the FAA not accurately reporting training failures.  You can read the entire report by going to the NWP website at http://nwp.natca.net and clicking on the news clicker at the bottom of the home page.  Here are some highlights of the report:

 

“According to FAA, the training attrition rate for all controllers in FY 2007 was approximately 7 percent.  However, we found that this rate does not reflect actual training failures among newly hired controllers for four reasons:

 

 (1) FAA does not track training failures among the new controllers as a separate metric;

 (2) FAA’s current rate is based on FY 2007 training failures and will likely increase as FAA hires more new controllers between FY 2009 and FY 2017; (3) FAA does not have a uniform definition of training failures and other types of attrition; and

(4) FAA’s training failure data in the NTD were incomplete, inaccurate, or understated”   

 

NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter worked with SBA Facility Rep Gordie Thompson regarding VFR practice approaches at SBA and our separation responsibility.  Eric will be discussing this with ATO-Safety.

 

LAX Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Mike Foote and Mike Hull worked with LGB Facility Rep Paul “Boogie” Bugarin regarding some representational issues dealing with a “Go around” and the subsequent meetings in which management denied our members representation.  Here is the guidance that Mike Hull provided Boogie:

 

“They are absolutely required to notify the employee of their right to representation. If they do not, I would file a grievance.  However, if they consider this a "performance" discussion, then the employee has no right to a rep even if they request one.

 

If the employee was told the scope of the meeting ahead of time, and they specifically stated that it was for the non-reporting of a go-around, then that is NOT a performance discussion because disciplinary action may result.

 

You need to have the employees write up records of conversation, specifically stating what was said in the meetings and by whom. They need to date it and sign it.

 

Mike Foote, Mike Hull, and I also worked with Boogie and LGB VP Joe Alvarado on the two power outages that affected LGB.

 

A good brother from the Central region asked us a question regarding what rule or order allows the FAA to NOT bump a controllers pay immediately after certification.  Here is what Mike Hull had to say:

 

“It is because of the language in Article 36, Section 1 of the CBA and the white book.  They both contain the same language and it states "Promotions to positions within the unit including those resulting from facility classification changes shall be effected on the beginning of the first full pay period after the employee becomes fully eligible.”

 

This is the link to the pay setting rules:

https://employees.faa.gov/employee_services/pay_perf/pay/atspp/media/atspp/ATSPP.pdf

 

Chapter 6 covers new hires and the pay path from the Academy to CPC

 

Chapters 7, 8 & 9 covers internal movement.”

 

I am extremely proud to announce that the very first NATCA web-based training class has begun with our first twenty-five enrollees.  I would like to thank Tony Yushinsky (ALB Facility Rep), Mike Hull, and Bob Taylor for their hard work on this excellent project.  This is just the beginning for NATCA web-based training.  We will be working on other web-based training classes in the very near future.

 

Mike Hull and I worked with NATCA Safety Committee Chairman Steve Hansen to resolve some issues at SFO with NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter being released for ATSAP duties, and problems with ATSAP cadre training at LAX and RNO.

 

Well, it’s official!  Juan Serna-Spuler has been briefed and brought up to speed by outgoing NWP Hardship Lead Bob Guerra.  I would like to thank Juan for stepping up as our new NWP Hardship Lead.  Once again, I would like to thank Bob for his dedicate service to our members.  Bob is an absolute credit to our organization and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to have worked with him as the ZLA Facility Rep and now the Regional Vice President.  A job well-done Bob…..

 

NWP Finance Lead Eric Hughes continues to do a phenomenal job of helping our locals by auditing their local finances.  Most recently, he conducted an audit of SMF.

 

Mike Hull worked with POC Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep John Paiva and PSP Facility Rep Curtis Cannon regarding a proposed 14 day suspension.

 

Since most NWP Facilities are in the process of ATSAP training, here are two important questions and answers that I would like to share with you:

 

Can the ERC recommend “no action” if an individual is involved in an Operational Error?

 

Yes, and this might well be the response. The ERC will consider what the individual submits in the ATSAP report regarding the situation, what contributed to it, what caused it, and what recommendations are made to prevent a reoccurrence.

 

Can a Manager disregard the ERC recommendation or assign additional training?

 

No, a manager can offer his/her own recommendations to the ERC, but must abide solely by what the ERC determines.

 

Mike Hull continues to work as the NATCA designee at RNO to resolve the poor Labor Relations climate in RNO.  As soon as the service area announces their new temporary acting District Manager (Del Meadows, the permanent DM suffered an on the job injury and may be out of commission for an undetermined period of time) we will be looking at a meeting to discuss the state of affairs at RNO.

 

Mike Hull worked with FFZ Facility Rep Chris Brazys and Western Terminal regarding the new SOP at FFZ.

 

We have a new Western Enroute Director and his name is Chris Metts.  Chris and I had an opportunity to talk last week.  Chris was previously involved in the implementation of VSCS, DSR, and DRVSM.

 

I worked with Acting ZLA Facility Rep Chad Geyer to address a recent OD between ZLA and ZAB in which our controller was placed on the package. 

 

Mike Hull worked with VGT Facility Rep Mark Knabel regarding a grievance and how to properly file and elevate it.

 

I worked with my Marine at MYF, Maliesa Swinson, regarding a construction project that was not properly negotiated with her.

 

Our HNL 2010 Convention Committee conducted a telcon and worked on a comprehensive spreadsheet of everything that needs to be addressed in the coming months.

 

Kevin Sherwood worked on the convention website and added a link for hotel reservations:

 

http://alohanatca2010.natca.net/reservations.htm

 

Please note that reservations cannot be made until one year prior to the convention!!

 

Kevin added two buttons - one when clicked takes you to reservations for Hilton Hawaiian Village the other takes you to a virtual tour of HHV.

 

Mike Hull and I conducted a telcon with Western Terminal.  We discussed an AWOL situation at TOA, Labor Relations at PHX, STS mold/asbestos remediation project, GCN housing and the possibility that GCN airport may be closed (we were advised during the telcon that the state would NOT close the airport due to budget shortfalls.  However, they were seriously looking at it as an option), removal of a probationary employee at SCK, 14 day suspension at L30, ERR for a developmental at HCF, and the DOT-IG report regarding LAX, NCT, and SCT.  Acting Western Terminal Director Rich Belmonte will be working to set up a meeting to discuss the IG report with our three facility reps and their counterparts.

 

Mike Hull worked with Western Terminal to postpone a “Weingarten Meeting” (investigatory meeting) at TOA until our Facility Rep was back from his vacation.

 

I worked with U90 Facility Rep Mike Ragucci regarding the sick leave approval process at U90.

 

SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis requested that we set up a retirement seminar for the San Diego area.  I worked with our Membership Director Lew Zietz to set up the meeting.

 

Mike Hull and I worked with BFL Facility Rep Joe Segretto regarding the process to follow for an on the job injury.

 

Reps, please remember that if there are any changes to your local executive board to please complete the “Local Update Worksheet” which is available on the NWP website under the “Forms Library” tab and fax it to Mickela.  You do not need to fax the form to the National office.

 

Mike Hull, ZOA Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Scott Conde, Kevin Sills, and I continue to work with Western Enroute to resolve a dispute on an ATOP Training delay issue before the scheduled arbitration.  I am happy to report that we signed a settlement agreement for our member and ensured that he not only received backpay but also had his pay setting set in accordance with the pay rules in effect prior the imposed pay rules on September 3, 2006.  Congratulations to Scott, Mike, and Kevin for a job well done.

 

Everyone should have received their ballots for the NATCA elections by now.  If there are any problems, please contact myself or Mickela and we will assist you.  We are at an important crossroads for the future of our profession and our organization.  Please take the time to vote, and if possible vote electronically and help us save some money.  You will need your NATCA member number to vote electronically.  If you don’t have access to your member number, please contact your local NATCA leadership, Mickela, or I and we will get you the number.

 

In closing, as most of you know by now, NATCA and the FAA concluded their presentation on pay, rights of union officials, position descriptions, annual leave, and duration on Monday July 6^th before the three arbitrators who also acted as our mediators.  The parties are free to resolve their issues and come up with a voluntary agreement right up until the arbitrators arrive at their decision.  The arbitrators will have up to thirty days to render a decision.  During the coming days and weeks, I will continue to do my best to get you the most up to date information since I know many of you are quite anxious and have many questions. 

NWP “Hot Sheet” for the Weeks of 06-01-09 and 06-08-09

NWP Reps/Members:

I would like to dedicate this update to the memory of a man I never had the pleasure of meeting.  However, I know from friends such as Domenic “The Wiz” Torchia and Bob “The Pres” Butterworth that he was a giant of a man for the Labor movement.

Jack Henning, a longtime leader in California's labor movement who served in the administrations of Gov. Pat Brown and Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, died at his San Francisco home on June 4, 2009; Jack was 94 years young.

"Jack was a lion of a man and a great labor leader," said Art Pulaski, head of the California Labor Federation. "His vision and his magnificent oratory inspired several generations of union activists."

In addition, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest condolences to my friend and brother, LAX FACREP Mike Foote, who lost his father most recently.  May God bless Mr. Henning and Mr. Foote.

In Solidarity,

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·       ZOA Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Scott Conde shared a very nice article 65 template that he created for the ATOP “Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures” refresher training.  It’s truly a shame that the FAA who is responsible for the safety of the National Airspace System agrees to field so many hardware and software issues with so many flaws.

 

·       Scott also briefed me on the unacceptable flaws with ERAM.  Scott is one of our representatives on the ERAM negotiations workgroup.  Once again, it appears that the FAA is in a rush to field a safety critical piece of equipment with numerous flaws.  The FAA plans to roll out ERAM at ZLC on the mid-shifts that began last night!

 

·       Congratulations to new BFL Facility Rep Joe Segretto and VP Michael Pernick.  They will begin their terms effective July 15, 2009.  I would like to thank outgoing BFL Facility Rep Tambra Embry for her service to BFL local and NATCA.  Tambra will be transferring to SCT.

 

·       As I read some of the financial audits of our locals, I noticed some common mistakes that I would like to share with you:

 

o   Keep copy of canceled checks. If it’s available online, please download them and keep them in your files with the appropriate year’s financial information.

o   Ensure that you have double signatures on all checks as per SRF-21(NATCA Constitution Standing Rule F-21)

o   Ensure that all expenses are documented on a voucher with appropriate receipts for each expense.

o   Develop an inventory asset list with associated year end values.  Fixed assets like computers and other equipment depreciate in value over time.  Be sure to reflect this depreciation on each succeeding year’s inventory asset list.

o   Conduct regular meetings as per your local constitution.

 

·       If you have any questions regarding local finances, please contact NWP Finance Lead Eric Hughes at air.rock@sbcglobal.net

 

·       NWP Comm/Tech Lead Kevin Sherwood disseminates his first “Tech Talk” in which he talks about keeping your PC in tip top shape.  You can access Kevin’s “Tech Talk” by going to http://nwp.natca.net and clicking on the “Regional Leads” tab and then “Kevin’s Tech Talk”.

 

·       NATCA Executive Vice President Paul Rinaldi and I attended the ZLA solidarity party with close sixty (60) members from ZLA, BFL, CNO, etc. On the way up to ZLA, we visited LGB Tower and also met with our Region X folks at the regional office in Lawndale.  Sam Samad was a gracious host at the FAA regional office and provided a most excellent luncheon following the local meeting.

 

·       The following day, Paul and I drove down to SCT for a luncheon.  As you can imagine, most of the member’s questions focused on the mediation process.  We did our best in answering all questions based on the information that we had.

 

·       Both Paul and I attended the SCT Solidarity party along with approximately 130 members from SCT, LGB, MYF, SEE, LAX, CRQ, SNA, etc.  I think LGB stole the show when they showed up with a van full of eleven (11) members to attend the meeting; congratulations to my Marine buddy Paul “Boogie” Bugarin and the entire LGB local.

 

·       I worked with acting ZLA Facility Rep Chad Geyer on an issue dealing with representation and differential pay.  If the managers code the representation as anything other than incident/accident investigation then the representatives lose out on differential pay or Sunday pay while they represent our members.  This FAA interpretation is based on an October 22, 2007 memorandum by Melvin Harris.  I made sure that our mediation team had a copy of this memorandum for their discussion with the mediators.

 

·       I also worked with Chad on a sick leave letter, operational deviation, security investigation, training failure, etc.  Chad is doing a great job keeping up with the myriad of issues that are coming up.

 

·       A member at NCT asked us to include a link to the NCT Local website.  As a result of his suggestion, we have created links to some of the websites of our locals.  You can access these links by going to the regional website and clicking the “Links” tab.  If you would like to have a link to your local website, please send an email to Kevin Sherwood at ksherwood@natca.net

 

·       I worked with NWP Hardship lead Bob Guerra and Mike Hull regarding several hardships.  As many of you know, Bob would like to take a much deserved break from his duties as NWP Hardship lead.  It has been my honor to have worked with someone of Bob’s integrity and strength.  Bob has been there for our members when they have needed him the most.  Bob, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I am very proud of your service to our membership.

 

·       If anyone is interested in being considered for the NWP hardship lead position, please submit your name along with a brief narrative of your background and experience to me (hghaffari@natca.net) no later than Friday June 19th.

 

·       Mike Hull and I worked with Acting Western Terminal Director Rich Belmonte on some hardships, ERR’s, adverse action, GCN housing issues, and ATSAP.  So far, it appears that Rich is open to discussion and is willing to roll up his sleeves and make the tough decisions.

 

·       POC Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep John Paiva worked with PSP Facility Rep Curtis Cannon regarding a potential disciplinary action.

 

·       On June 4, 2009, a federal judge denied a motion seeking an award of attorney fees from NATCA that had been submitted by FAA manager John Gilding in his defamation suit against NATCA, NATCA Local PHX officers, former Western Pacific RVP Bob Marks, and former NATCA President John Carr.

 

·       The plaintiff manager had asked the federal court to order NATCA to pay $34,710 to cover his attorney fees in contesting NATCA's removal of the case from federal to state court.  Although the federal judge had granted the plaintiff manager's motion to have the case remanded back to state court in April 2009, the court held in its June 4 decision that NATCA "had an objectively reasonable argument on which to seek removal" and consequently denied the manager's motion for an award of any attorney fees from NATCA.

 

·       NATCA is currently seeking review of the federal judge's remand decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, on the grounds that, in remanding the case back to state court, the judge committed substantive errors of law with regard to the merits of the case and NATCA's preemption defenses.

 

·       Please register to vote online for the upcoming NATCA elections by going to the NWP Website and clicking on the icon “2009 Election of Union Officers” or click on this link: https://www.esc-vote.com/natcareg/

 

·       You do not need your membership number and it only takes about one minute to register.  Help us save money and help us with the environment by signing up to vote online.

 

·       Mike Hull worked with Kevin Sills to prioritize our NWP arbitration list.

 

·       PHX Facility Rep Steve Palmer shared his local update with me; thanks.  Steve and Jerry Johnston recently met with PHX management, offsite, in an attempt to improve Labor Management relations at PHX.

 

·       Chuck Chamberlain over at ATO-T advised NATCA that the agency should come out with a notice this week regarding the weight classification of a B752.  Until then, the Safety and Technology Department advises controllers to treat the B752 as a heavy jet when #1 and as a large when #2.  This will ensure you have the required separation regardless of the weight class of the B752.  Of course if a controller verifies a B752 is NOT a heavy, then they should use the separation outlined in the 7110.65.

 

·       If there are any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Safety & Tech department via email dwright@natcadc.org.

 

·       I worked with P50 Facility Rep Steve Hadley, VP Mark Wojtulski, and the Regional Flight Surgeon regarding a medically incapacitated member.

 

·       Please be sure to use the new/revised expense voucher for NATCA Members.  These forms are effective immediately but there will be a slight modification to these forms to add mileage back to the form.  They can be accessed by going to the NWP Website and clicking the “Documents” tab.  Please print off and make copies for any future business expenses with NATCA that you or any of your members incur.  Your member number is now required on the form, so if anyone needs their member number, they can email Mickela at mickela@natca.net)

 

·       I worked with CNO Facility Rep Kyle Vercautren regarding an OE at CNO.

 

·       Mike Hull and NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter worked with LGB Facility Rep Paul Bugarin regarding a recent evaluation.

 

·       NWP LR Rep Chad Geyer, Mike Hull, and I worked with SNA Facility Rep Chris Schaefer to answer some of his questions regarding the training review process.  Chris made us proud when he told us that he had read Mike’s LR chronicles #22 dealing with Training Review Boards.  Chris advised us that Management representatives at the review board were apparently trying to decide whether the member in question could be successful at other facilities as part of the review boards’ deliberations.   This is a great opportunity for us to address this issue.  This is what I sent back to Chris:

 

“Sometimes it's difficult for all the parties involved to be focused on the task at hand at a review board. The sole goal of a review board is to determine whether every opportunity to succeed was utilized or not. The board is NOT there to determine the individual's fate in the FAA or whether he'll ever make it at another facility. There are only two things that can come out the TRB; 1. Continuation of training or 2.Termination of training. Neither has anything to do with our members future.  Nice job preparing for your TRB and asking questions.”

 

·       Mike Hull continues to work with RNO Facility Rep Rich Ferris and RNO management in order to improve Labor Management relations at the facility.

 

·       Mike Hull and I worked with Service area management to address some problems with scheduling training for ATSAP at LAX and RNO.

 

·       Mickela will be taking a much needed and much deserved vacation.  She will not be in the office July 1 to July 7 inclusive.

 

·       Lastly, there are many questions out there regarding the mediation process.  The best advice I can offer you is to engage your facility rep or RVP and see if they have the answers to your questions.  I can personally attest to the fact that I don’t have all of the answers since I am not the Chief Negotiator for our Union.  However, I will continue to answer questions that are posed to me to the best of my ability and as soon as I get information from our chief negotiator/President Pat Forrey.