The Honor Roll

NWP “Hot Sheet” Weeks of 11-24-08 and 12-1-08

NWP Reps/Members,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family and friends.  This is the time of year when many of us think about that for which we are thankful.  As such, I wanted to share with you for what I am thankful:

I am thankful for my family and friends, my Union, the NWP activists (Boots on the Ground being one of them) and facility reps that have made our great region a success in the face of tremendous adversity, the NWP LR team, the NWP Regional Leads, the NWP Regional Legislative Team, etc.  I could not be prouder of the commitment and dedication of the NWP team and for that I am very thankful.

My wife and I decided to take the four boys to the Grand Canyon for Thanksgiving.  This gave me a great opportunity to also visit the Grand Canyon tower.  Lucky for me, my wife was very understanding while I toured the tower with GCN NATCA Rep Jeff Stewart.  The tower is less than five years old and identical to the Tower at North Las Vegas.  Overall, the facility is a very nice place to work.

Following the tour of the tower, while the boys were watching Ironman in the van, I took a tour of the FAA housing for the Grand Canyon controllers.  The housing consists of pre-fabricated homes and trailers.  A four bedroom house rents for about $850.  Some of our members have had problems with mold, unfinished homes, no screens on the windows, ROUS’s (Rodents Of Unusual Size), etc.  I have been working with the Las Vegas Hub Manager to address some of these problems with the FAA housing situation.  Jeff advised that things are starting to improve, slowly!  I will keep this particular situation on my radar until our brothers and sisters at GCN have the housing that they truly deserve, housing that is well kept and completely free from infestation.

I want to thank Jeff aka “Stew” for taking the time after his day shift to show me around the tower and the FAA housing area before having to drive several hours to Las Vegas to spend time with his family on Thanksgiving Day.

As we enter this holiday season, please make sure that you spend some quality time with your family and friends.  Please cherish these moments as life is too short.  In closing, I would like to thank all of you for what you do to keep the skies safe and ensure that families from across the country have an opportunity to safely travel to their intended destinations in order to spend quality time with their loved ones.

As always, please do NOT drink and drive………..

In Solidarity,

Ham

NWP RVP

·        I was advised by NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley that NCT has had sixteen (16) Operational Error’s/Deviations in the past eight (8) weeks.

·        NATCA has received notice of a DOT IG audit of the FAA process for screening, placing, and training of newly hired Air Traffic Controllers.  The audit was requested by the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, Representative Jerry Costello.  Chairman Costello has expressed concerns about whether or not the FAA’s screening test, Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT), effectively identifies candidates’ potential to become air traffic controllers and whether or not the FAA Academy adequately trains candidates before placing them at the facilities.

·        I am looking forward to the results of this DOT IG audit, since I believe that the FAA has failed miserably when it comes to new hire screening, placement and training.  Meanwhile, the agency can anticipate very high attrition rates.  Especially, when they place some of these bright and intelligent young men and women at some of the most complex and fast paced ATC facilities such as LAX (second in the country for runway incidents), SCT, Las Vegas Tracon, Las Vegas Tower, NCT, etc.

·        Recently at the Aero Club in Washington, D.C., the acting FAA administrator warned the audience that the Controllers Union contract should not be reopened by the next Administration.  He claimed that the agency had made three (3) handsome offers that were rejected by the Union.

Unfortunately, the audience wasn’t aware that approximately 830 days ago, when the FAA imposed their work/pay rules (FAA’s White Book) on its Air Traffic controller workforce, they cut pay by 30 %.  Each offer from the FAA was more and more regressive which means that each offer became worse and worse.  NATCA and the FAA even met during Father’s Day last year with the help of Congressman’s Costello and Oberstar to try and resolve the dispute.  The FAA had stated repeatedly to Chairman Oberstar and Costello that it was all about money.  They also told the media that the controller contract cost too much and that they needed to keep the costs down.  When NATCA finally gave them the EXACT cost savings that they wanted, they stated after thinking about it overnight that, well, it wasn’t all about the money and would NOT agree to the cost savings that NATCA had proposed.

I could not disagree more with the acting FAA Administrator when it comes to re-opening the imposed conditions of employment (FAA’s White Book).  I believe that the incoming administration can NOT afford to do nothing as this current administration has done.

The current administration continues to ignore the enormity of the staffing crisis facing this profession.  Something needs to be done to stem the massive exodus of retirement eligible controllers.  These experienced veterans have ZERO incentive to stay since they will no longer see a pay raise.  They would actually fare better by retiring and getting the regular cost of living adjustments to their retirement pay.

So while the current FAA continues to roll out retirement incentives, relocation incentives, recruitment incentives, millions and millions in overtime dollars, and a host of other ineffective band aid type idea’s that absolutely do nothing to address the core issues that are causing thousands of experienced veterans from retiring and new hires from resigning; I am truly hopeful that the new administration sees Air Traffic control as something that this country can NOT afford to ignore.

·        As our previous FAA administrator used to say, “Facts are stubborn things”, well, here is one example of the enormous staffing crisis facing our profession.  The retirement facts from SCT (Southern California Tracon) as provided to us by the FAA:

Cumulative Retirement Eligible (SCT)

o   2008- 56

o   2010- 87

o   2012- 125

Total number of Certified Professional Controllers at SCT today:

o   2008- 155

·        I am not sure if anyone can afford to ignore this set of facts and I am certain that there are many more facilities like SCT across the country.

·        Don't forget the TSP cap for 2009 has been raised to $16,500.  The limit for 2008 was $15,500.  Here is a link to the form to change your contributions:  http://www.tsp.gov/forms/tsp-1.pdf

·        I was notified of a recent change to the San Diego localizer and ILS approaches.  The changes involve removing a fix, adding 2 new fixes, and new minimum decent altitudes for both runways.  The changes went into effect on November 20th.  No controller at Lindbergh Tower was even given an R&I briefing much less a verbal one on these changes until the evening AFTER the changes went into effect.  There have been several issues arising, including American Airlines being unable to shoot one of the approaches for Runway 27 if the ceiling were to go below 700.  This is absolutely inexcusable, but unfortunately not a surprise at all.  I have asked Western Terminal to look into this issue.

·        We have received several reports from some of our reps that their members have received notices of overpayment for CIP Pay.  If any of your members are faced with this, please contact us and we will help you.  As a minimum, you need to do the following:

File a grievance, request a hearing in order to verify the validity of the debt, and following the hearing request a waiver for the debt.  You do NOT want to file the waiver first.  You need to request the hearing first and then file the waiver.  Reps and members can find the forms and the FAA order dealing with Overpayments by going to the regional website, http://nwp.natca.net under the “Forms Library.  The pertinent documents are:

o   Petition for Hearing to Contest Validity of Debt

o   FAA 2770-2G Waiver of Overpayments

o   Waiver of Overpayment Request

·        The NATCA Membership Application and SF-1187 Payroll Dues Deduction forms have been revised.  We have uploaded the revised application and SF-1187 on our regional website under the “Forms Library” tab.

·        Please keep in mind that if one of your new developmentals has submitted a “Dues Reimbursement” form, which is available on the NWP website, that checks are sent out on a quarterly basis and not a monthly basis.  All new developmentals should fill out a dues reimbursement form for the additional dues that they are being charged as a result of the imposed work rules.  If you have any questions regarding dues reimbursement forms, or whether or not your new developmentals’ forms are being processed, please contact Mickela.

·        I was advised that the former HWD Facility Rep has resigned and as such Vice President Karin Guerra is once again the Facility Rep at Hayward Tower; welcome back Karin.

·        I worked with Mike Hull, Rich Burton, Dave Caldwell, and new HWD Rep Karin Guerra on administrative work for one of her medically incapacitated members.

·        If you have any election questions as it pertains to your local constitution, please contact Constitution Lead Troy Verville or me and we will help you with the question.  Most local constitutions have been uploaded to the Unionware program.

·        We have placed the link for a news story dealing with LA Tower being 2nd in the nation for close calls on our regional website ‘news clicker’.  I have also asked Kevin Sherwood to place a link to a very well thought out editorial that appeared in the LA Times by USC Professor Meshkati about “The Human Factors in LAX Safety”.  Dr. Meshkati is a professor at the USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering and conducts research on human factors in Aviation Safety.  Here is an excerpt from his editorial:

“Based on my research and teaching on aviation safety and runway incursions for the last 20 years at the University of Southern California, I have found that human factors are the most important contributor to runway incursions. In fact, according to the two most recent authoritative studies on the state of runway safety in the United States conducted by the Government Accountability Office, in which I was one of the 25 experts who participated, "the primary causes of incursions, according to experts we surveyed and some airport officials, are human factors issues, which can include miscommunication between air traffic controllers and pilots, a lack of situational awareness on the airfield by pilots, and performance and judgment errors by air traffic controllers and pilots." During the fiscal year 2007, "pilot error" and "controller error" accounted for 85% of runway incursion causes.

·        Here is a direct link to the LAX Tower news story that appeared on CBS News in Southern California:

http://cbs2.com/goldstein/LAX.Airport.Incursions.2.874235.html

·        The annual Communicating for Safety Conference, for the purpose of advancing aviation safety, is scheduled for March 2nd– 4th, 2009 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel in Las Vegas.  For those interested in attending CFS 2009, it is time to start the process of requesting duty time for the attendees.  If you have any questions regarding CFS 2009, please contact NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter (ecarter@natca.net) and he will assist you.

·        ZLA VP/NWP LR Rep Chad Geyer, Mike Hull and I worked with VNY Facility Rep Rich Velasquez regarding an alleged hostile work environment issue and an alleged OE.

·        NWP LR Lead Mike Hull and I worked with LAX Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Mike Foote about the implementation of “Safety Suite”, Runway Status Lights shadow testing, placement of a training failure, and the lack of regular Labor-Management meetings at LAX.

·        Mike Hull, Dave Caldwell, and Garth Koleszar worked with STS Facility Rep Jana Pitre regarding some OSHA issues, scheduling Art 2 “Rep Time”, SCI, and some grievance issues.

·        Mike Hull disseminated LR Chronicles number 25 which deals with “Failure to Follow Instructions/Insubordination”.  I would strongly encourage all Facility Reps, LR reps, and members who want to be informed on their rights, to read ALL of the LR chronicles.

·        Mike Hull and I worked with P50 Facility Rep Tim Krieger regarding a proposed change by P50 management regarding the requirement for 10 hours off between shifts for 2009.  Once this issue was raised to the national level, local management dropped their proposal.

·        Troy Verville and I dealt with a question regarding a legislative rep at one of our facilities who had bid a temporary supervisory job in the past 12 months.  The question was whether they were eligible to continue in that position as a result of the change to standing rule I-4 in Miami.  Here is the revised language in SRI-4:

SRI-4   Officers (6/90, 9/98, 09/04, 9/08)

In the event any bargaining unit member applies for or voluntarily accepts a temporary or permanent supervisory or managerial position within the Agency/company, he/she shall immediately vacate any presently held elected/appointed Union position.

He/she shall not be eligible to run for or hold office, or be appointed to any position within the Union for a period of 12 months after the closing date of the bid applied for, or 12 months after returning from a supervisory or managerial position within the Agency/company.

These provisions shall not apply in the case of an employee that is forced to work a supervisory or managerial position within the Agency/company.

I have underlined the appropriate sections which would NOT allow our member from holding office or being appointed to any position within the Union until 12 months have elapsed since the closing date of the bid.

·        Mike Hull works with Kevin Sherwood to update some LR documents for the regional website.  The following documents have been updated:

o   Table of Penalties Introduction,

o   Table of Penalties

o   HROI on Drug and Alcohol, and ER 4.1

·        Garth Koleszar, Mike Hull, and I worked with BFL Facility Rep Derek Kooren regarding a proposed adverse action.  Garth has done a terrific job of assisting our new rep Derek!

·        NCT Facility Rep/OWCP Lead Steve Hefley worked with a member from SCT to prepare his claim for an OWCP hearing.

·        The agenda for the March 2009 Five Region General Membership meeting is now available online at http://nwp.natca.net, under the “Membership Meeting” tab.

·        I worked with SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis and Pat Forrey to address an issue dealing with Key Employee exemptions for our members who have been called up for active duty.  Mel is also working very diligently with our members’ Congressman to address this issue.  The FAA in Western Terminal is claiming that they will not make any requests for “Key Employee Exemptions” rather than make the request as per DOD orders and allow the DOD to decide!

·        On Tuesday December 2, 2008, I spoke with Senator Boxer’s office about the dismal state of the PSP consolidation to SCT which occurred close to a year and a half ago.  The PSP consolidation to SCT has been an utter failure and an absolute embarrassment for the FAA.  No other facility in the country should be consolidated/realigned until the FAA can get their act straight.  One year after the two (2) PSP sectors were moved to SCT, the FAA has only trained and certified 44 % (17 out of 39 have been certified on the two PSP Sectors) of the workforce in the Empire Area of SCT.  As a matter of fact, 38 % of the workforce in the Empire Area of SCT hasn’t even taken the initial PSP CLASSROOM and ETG TRAINING!

·        I also discussed LAX Tower with Senator Boxer’s staff.  LAX Tower now has the distinction of being 2nd in the nation for the most number of runway incursions.

·        I exchanged some information with Sen. Reid’s senior advisor, Bob Herbert, regarding some runway configuration issues at Las Vegas.

·        Mike Hull, Kevin Sills and I worked with BFL Facility Rep Derek Kooren regarding a question about PCS for married couples who bid on the same bid.  Apparently, the agency advised a couple at BFL that one of them would get the full flat rate ($27,000) while the other member would get 12.5 % of the flat rate amount.  After doing some research and reading the FAATP, Mike Hull found the following:

The FAATP, Chapter 302-2.101 states:

“If a member of my immediate family and I are both relocated to the same location, may I and the employee member(s) of my immediate family both receive payment for relocation expenses if all employee members are authorized a fixed relocation payment as provided in Part 302-8 of this subchapter?”

Answer – “Yes, however only when the following conditions are met: (a) the employee members of the immediate family must select one employee member to receive 100 percent of the fixed relocation payment authorized in the vacancy announcement or offer letter. (b) You and employee members of your immediate family must provide that designation in writing to the FAA, and, (c) The other employee member(s) of the immediate family will receive 12.5 percent of the fixed relocation payment authorized in the vacancy announcement or offer letter.”

Chapter 302-2.102, has similar language but it applies to “separate benefits” and contains 4 caveats.  It still only authorizes 12.5 percent of the payment.

·        Mike Hull and I will be going to Tucson Tower on Tuesday December 16, 2008, due to a recent spike in operational errors and management’s heavy handed responses to these incidents.  NWP LR Rep Allen Bieber is organizing the visit for us and has posted notices at the Tower and the Tracon at Davis Monthan AFB.

·        Since it is that time of year again, the national office will send out guidance shortly as to the 2009 OSI/SCI strategy.  This will be the same strategy as we had last year.  When the national office sends out the guidance, they will attach the appropriate documents.

·        Here is a message from NWP LR Lead Mike Hull regarding Labor Relations Training in the Western Pacific Region:

“The NWP is conducting a one-day basic LR 101 class.  We are doing this within every major metropolitan area of our region.  We started in August, in the Bay Area at ZOA.  We are finally able to continue with the rest of the region.  In mid January, we are doing one in Sacramento and then a week later, we are doing one in LAS.   In late February, we are going to HNL and then the rest of the areas within the region.  Those will be LAX area, SAN area, PHX area, and Palmdale since they are close to an hour and a half from LAX.  The last four areas do not have dates yet, but as soon as we determine when they will be, we will give plenty of notice.”

NWP “Hot Sheet” Weeks of 11-3, 11-10 and 11-17-08

NWP Reps/Members,

Momentous, joyous, monumental, historical, pivotal, are all words that I would use to describe the evening of November 4, 2008.  On this evening, the many great citizen’s of this country decided to take control of their future and help make history by voting for Barack Obama.

It was absolutely amazing to watch the various emotions on the faces of so many who were gathered in Chicago for President-Elect Obama’s speech to his supporters.  It was very hard not to get caught up in the moment and realize that the citizen’s of the greatest country in the world had made history.

This election was all about tenacity, perseverance, organization, solidarity, and tremendous communication by a candidate that was given a very slim chance of not even getting through the Democratic primaries, let alone being elected the first African American President of our great country.

I would like to dedicate this update to every NATCA member who voted, every NATCA activist who participated in a campaign, our national legislative committee and our Government affairs department, and most of all, I would like to dedicate this update to our retired members who participated in the “Boots on the Ground Program.”  Folks such as Bob and Valerie Butterworth for their work in PA, Chuck Munoz for his work in MI, Kyle Johnson for his work in OH, Todd Wilhelm for his work in PA, George Wiewiora for his work in PA, and Michele May for her work in AZ.

I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of some highly motivated Members who went above and beyond the call of duty by having a very pivotal role in some Congressional campaigns.  Here they are:

·        AZ-1: The NATCA Local PRC (Geoff Kusel, Facility Rep; Noel Kingston; Glenn Higa, Mike Stock, Dan Tidwell, and Whit Johnson)

·        AZ-3: Tim Krieger, P50 Facility Rep and Adam Johnson (P50).

·        AZ-5: Chris Brayz (FFZ)

·        AZ-8: The NATCA Local U90 (BJ Florence; Allen Bieber, and John Kotlaba)

·        CA-3: NATCA Local NCT (Laura Robinson; Ron McAuley; and Steve McCoy)

·        CA-4: Chuck Vogel (NCT)

·        CA-11: NATCA Local ZOA (Scott Conde, Facility Rep; Mike Ward, VP; Troy Bigelow; Ron Aquilina; Wes Daleof), Dave Caldwell, SFO Facility Rep; and Jamis Nuss, LVK Facility Rep.

Now we really need to roll up our sleeves and get to work.  Our country faces many great challenges and as such, nothing will come easy for us.  While this momentous victory is great and should be cherished, please do not lose focus of the difficult road that is still before us.  We need to work twice as hard to ensure that our message and our plight is understood and acted on by the incoming administration and the new Congress.  The economic crisis facing our great country will absolutely have an impact on the decisions made by President-Elect Obama and our friends in Congress.

I will end with three quotes that I find quite fitting for our current situation; read them, think about them, and then act upon them:

“It isn't sufficient just to want - you've got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want”- Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air”- John Quincy Adams

“Ask not what your country can do for you…ask what you can do for your country”-John F. Kennedy

In Solidarity,

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·        These past several weeks have been extremely hectic.  I will attempt to give you a very brief synopsis of some of the issues that we dealt with at the regional level.

 

·        2009 POCKET CALENDARS-----Fac Reps:  All 2009 NATCA Pocket Calendars have been mailed out to you to hand out to your members.  If you need extras, please contact Mickela.

 

·        The FAA has decided to scrap yet another brilliant idea of theirs; an “Employee Referral Bonus Program”.  Wouldn’t it be easier just to have a fair contract with competitive wages rather than offer $100,000 to move to New York or think about offering an “Employee Referral Bonus Program”??

 

·        We were notified of a terrific save, Archie League material, by Tom Gallagher of NCT, Area E.  Tom is a flight instructor and assisted a Bonanza that was having trouble with a frozen windshield and pitot tube.  Congratulations to Tom for a tremendous job in assisting an aircraft in distress.

 

·        Kevin Sills, Mike Hull, Bryan Baker (L30 Facility Rep), and I discuss a recent ODP at L30 that had the following language: “failure to demonstrate the required level of acceptable performance and sustain that level for 12 consecutive months, or any evidence of disregard for the requirements as defined in this plan, will result in action being initiated which could lead to your removal, demotion, or reassignment form your present position…”

 

·        Several years ago there was arbitration, under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), in which the arbitrator ordered the FAA to stop putting the twelve month “keep your nose clean” language at the end of ODP’s.  We are looking at all possible forums in order to address this situation.

 

·        Kevin Sills, Mike Hull, and I discuss a security investigation at L30.  FAA security is claiming that they will not provide our bargaining unit employee a copy of the ROI (Record of Investigation) until the report has been given to FAA management and FAA management has approved its release.

 

·        I worked with Pam Burger of the FAA to resolve the backpay issue for the last member at ZOA to be made whole from the ATOP training delay settlement agreement.

 

·        Eric Carter, NWP Safety Lead works with Western ATO-S Manager regarding several errors that were discovered using ‘TARP’ at NCT through an AOV audit.  Our area of concern is wake turbulence behind Heavy and Boeing 757 aircraft.

 

·        The Wall Street Journal works with one of our NWP Media Leads, Mel Davis on a news story about a rise in midair collision threats.  You can view the entire story by going to our regional website, http://nwp.natca.net, and clicking on the news clicker.

 

·        As a reminder, for ALL non-emergency safety related issues, please call the NATCA Safety Hotline at 800-266-0895 ext. 72331 (SAFE1).  Please provide relevant and specific details such as:

 

o   management directives

o   unsafe working conditions

o   safety concerns

o   equipment problems

o   procedural concerns

o   questions

 

·        Additional Resources:

 

o   FAA Safety Hotline: 800-255-1111

o   FAA Administrators Hotline: 202-267-9532

o   OIG Hotline: 800-424-9071

o   NASA/ASRS: http://safety.natca.net/nasa_asrs.htm

 

·        UCR - Unsatisfactory Condition Reports

 

o   FAX to: 678-391-4831

 

·        NOTE: DO NOT use the NATCA Safety Hotline to report operational errors, aircraft accidents or incidents.

 

·        Mike Hull worked with Western Terminal to resolve an issue with a bargaining unit employee at NCT who was being required to participate in a Weingarten meeting (Investigatory meeting) telephonically; this issue was resolved.

 

·        Mike Hull worked with NATCA National on an Article 7/Cease and Desist, on behalf of Long Beach NATCA regarding “Changes of working conditions regarding procedures for issuing taxi instructions to pilots.”

 

·        NWP Runway Safety Lead Elliot Brann has been very active discussing issues and providing updates to the NWP membership; thanks Elliot; you are doing a great job!

 

·        NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter, NWP Runway Safety Lead Elliot Brann and I work with Jay Cole, TUS Facility Rep on two back to back OE’s and ensuring that aircraft are clear of the “RSA” (Runway Safety Area).

 

·        Please join me in welcoming the new Facility Rep at Maui Tower (OGG), Marcus Jackson.  Our previous Facility Rep decided to bid on a temporary supervisor position!!

 

·        Kevin Sills, Mike Hull, Garth Koleszar and I had a telcon regarding a possible adverse action issue at ZLA.

 

·        I would like to thank Jeff Valentino, former NWP Consolidation Lead for his service to NATCA and wish him the best of luck in retirement.

 

·        It gives me great pleasure to announce that Steve McCoy, NWP LR Rep will be the new NWP Consolidation Lead. Steve has a long history of dealing with consolidations and is ready and able to handle all consolidation issues in the Western Pacific region.

 

·        Mike Hull worked on the following issues while I got some currency at ZLA and was at the NEB meeting:

 

o        Training failure at ZOA

o        OJTI Pay issue while working unscheduled overtime issue out of HCF

o        Proposed settlement for a disciplinary issue at LGB

o        Shawn Kramer (DEN) and formerly of LVK called me and asked for some guidance on a statement that employees needed to complete on a vehicle incident at the tower.

o        Worked with PHX Facility Rep Steve Palmer regarding an extension of time in which to respond to a proposed letter of suspension

o        Talked to STS Rep Jana Pitre regarding an employee with religious needs

o        Had discussions with LGB Facility Rep Paul Bugarin regarding an employee who needs our help.

o        Spoke with both Steve Palmer and a member at PHX who is the subject of a proposed suspension and helped them finalize the response letter to management.

 

·        I worked with Bryan Baker regarding a “Dual Downwind” concept that is going to increase the controllers’ workload and reduce the margin of safety at Las Vegas Tracon.  I have also discussed this issue with the Las Vegas Hub Manager in an attempt to resolve this issue.

 

·        While in Washington, D.C., I had an opportunity to meet with Senator Reid’s senior advisor Robert Herbert.  We discussed Reno staffing, RNO to NCT Consolidation, Las Vegas Tower/Tracon staffing and runway configuration (RY 25L closure), and VGT.

 

·        NWP Constitution Lead Troy Verville sends out his November “Roberts Rulez Review” which deals with types of motions.  You can access all of Troy’s “Roberts Rulez Review” by going to the regional website and clicking on the “Regional Leads” tab and then click on “Troy's Robert's Rulez Review”

 

·        Mike Hull and I had worked with Mike Foote and NATCA National regarding the agency’s unilateral decision to take away a team brief room at LAX.  Almost a week later, LAX Facility Rep Mike Foote notified us that the LAX ATM has decided to not turn the team brief room into another office for management!!

 

·        Recently, there was a question about dues status while on extended LWOP due to pregnancy/birth of a child.  Mickela checked with NATCA national and here is what she found out:

 

“If they are in a complete non-pay status, they do not have to pay Dues.  They cannot hold office or vote during this time, but they maintain all other benefits.

If they return from non-pay status to the same job/Bargaining Unit they were in before, then they do not need to rejoin.  Their Dues should restart automatically when their paychecks restart”

 

·        NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter and I worked with SJC Facility Rep Rich Burton regarding a new multi-use stadium that is being constructed near the SJC airport.  This new stadium will have a definite impact on the operation at night time due to the bright lights.  Eric Carter is discussing this issue with his counterpart in ATO Safety.

 

·        Mike Hull, Kevin Sills, SFO Facility Rep Dave Caldwell and I had a telcon regarding a proposed adverse action at SFO.

 

·        I discussed some options for a Center training failure at LAX with Mike Foote.

 

·        I would like to welcome the new Facility Rep at MYF, Maliesa Swinson and thank her for stepping up.  I would also like to acknowledge outgoing MYF Facility Rep Dhana Anderson for her service to the MYF local and NATCA.

 

·        I worked with the Virtual Flight Surgeon (VFS) and the Regional Flight surgeon (RFS) regarding a member at NCT with kidney stones.

 

·        Mike Hull discussed some options for a probationary employee with APC Facility Rep Debbie Young who is having some difficulty in training.

 

·        I attended the annual NATCA budget scrub and National Executive Board meeting in Washington, D.C. (November 17-21, 2008).

 

·        ZOA Facility Rep, Scott Conde notified us that one of his members had received notice that his health insurance rates with Blue Shield HMO were going to increase from $125.01 per pay period to a whopping $295.36 per pay period.  This is only for Northern California Federal Employees with this particular plan.

 

·        The disparity is only in the HMO plans. The FFS (fee for service) plans are all about the same cost for 2009, with no dual rate structures. There are still some HMO plans that look reasonable (Aetna, Pacificare, and United Healthcare).

 

·        I have contacted Lew Zietz, NATCA Director of Membership, who in turn has contacted our subject matter expert, Saundra Harman for research and follow up.  Lew also provided the following:

 

“OPM indicated rate increases are expected to rise 8% in 2009.  As a comparison, they went up only 2.3% in ’07 and 2.9% in ’08.  However, Blue Cross/Blue Shield (representing 60% of all federal employees) can increase as much as 13% in 2009.  According to what I have read, the increases are blamed primarily on “elevated service costs”…”miscalculated earlier estimates”…and “an increase in the utilization of medical services and technology.”  They intend to provide some incentives for employees to use generic drugs or to order larger quantities of prescription drugs online.

This may also be a good time for our retirement site (S. Harmon) to provide resources on how best to compare the over 200 plus federal options. The federal “open” season began on November 10 and will end December 8.  If we can provide a method for our members to better compare plans during this time, it may help in reducing their costs which impact everyone’s bottom line.

Here is a good site for looking at various options for Federal Health Insurance:

https://www.plansmartchoice.com/Registration.aspx?nosession=Y

 

·        NWP OSHA Lead Garth Koleszar, NWP OWCP Lead Steve Hefley and I worked with RNO Facility Rep Rich Ferris regarding noxious fumes that were making employees sick at RNO.

 

·        With Thanksgiving just days away, I would like to once again ask for your help in assisting our brother in need, Bob Marks.  As we sit down at the dinner table and spend time with our families, please take a minute and think of our brother in need Bob Marks who is also a member of our family and needs our help.

 

·        Please take a minute and click on the following link to help Bob and his family during his time of need.  Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving……….

http://kevin.thesherwoods.org

NWP “Hot Sheet” Week of 10-27-08

NWP Reps/Members,

Well, I am back from a week’s worth of vacation and feel completely re-charged.  I would like to thank all of you who directed your questions to acting RVP Mike Hull in my absence.  This gave me a great opportunity to renew my focus and re-energize myself.  These are trying times for all of us and every once in a while, we must take a step back and renew our focus, our priorities and re-energize ourselves.  I am extremely grateful to Mike Hull for doing an outstanding job as the acting RVP in my absence.  I still managed to sneak in some email messages to Mike and some other reps during my vacation.

I am completely caught up on all the issues as Mike did a terrific job briefing me on the issues that he dealt with during my absence.

Election Day is finally here! Thank you to all of you who exercised your most important civic duty as a citizen of this great country and have decided to vote in this momentous election.  I look forward to some very exciting and energizing news on the election this evening.

I asked Mike to prepare a summary of the issues that he dealt with during my absence so that we can share it with, YOU, the membership.  Below is the Weekly update brought to you courtesy of NWP LR Lead Mike Hull………

Fraternally,

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·        I worked with a FACREP who represented an employee that is required to notify management of an issue in accordance with Human Resources Policy Manual (HRPM) ER 4.1, Standards of Conduct.

 

·        I followed up a previous conversation with an employee regarding PCS funds on a transfer from the Hawaiian Islands to the mainland.

 

·        I worked with a member that was getting the run-around from management on an annual leave request.

 

·        I received a call from a FACREP who was inquiring about the reporting to management of taking medications.  They asked me if it was ALL meds, including over-the-counter (OTC).  The answer to this question is an emphatic YES if the employee performs safety-sensitive duties.   This requirement can be found in the new ER 4.1, Standards of Conduct, paragraph 15c.

 

·        I worked with Joel Ortiz, FACREP (E10), on an issue regarding their annual leave bidding process and seniority.

 

·        Worked with Mel Davis, Ron Geyer, and Doug Voelpel (SCT) on an overtime and grievance issue.

 

·        I discussed an issue with a member regarding that member receiving two (2) “firm offers” from the FAA for a transfer.  The first “firm offer” was signed by the agency in May, 2006 and accepted by the member.  The second “firm offer” was signed by the agency in October, 2008.

 

·        I discussed a drug testing issue at ZLA with Garth Koleszar, FACREP, LR Team Advocate, and new Arbitration Advocate.  Congratulations Garth!

 

·        I participated in the NEB TELCON which was held on Monday 10/27/08.

 

·        I discussed an alleged OD with ZOA FACREP and LR Team Advocate, Scott Conde.

 

·        I discussed an “hours of work” issue with LAS FACREP and LR Team Advocate, Troy Verville.  This issue has to do with time not worked on the boards as it relates to FAA Order 7210.3, paragraph 2-6-7.

 

·        I worked with Kevin Sills, NATCA National LR Staff Representative on the scheduling of some arbitrations as well as a grievance out of U90, Tucson TRACON.

 

·        I provided some information to GCN FACREP, Jeff Stewart, regarding a huge issue that they are having with their housing.  This housing is owned by the Federal Government and it is in very deplorable condition.

 

·        I provided some information to a FACREP regarding the rights of probationary employees.  You can read about these rights by going to the following link on the NWP website, http://nwp.natca.net/LR_Chronicles_Search.htm

 

·        I worked with Mel Davis and Ron Geyer (SCT) regarding a several changes of working conditions of which they were not notified by management and that have HUGE impacts to members at NATCA local SCT.

 

·        I also worked with Mel and Ron regarding an Article 46 issue which management claims is necessary for the operation of the facility.  I will withhold the whole host of issues that NATCA has with this issue.  Stay tuned…

 

·        I discussed a situation with Ron Geyer (SCT VP) regarding a violation of law and one on which he would like to file a ULP.

 

·        Mel Davis, FACREP SCT, notified the Region and NATCA national regarding major problems that occurred with the RWY 24R ILS at Los Angeles and its stability (or lack thereof).  It took the agency four (4) full days to correct the problem, with fog compounding the problem for two of the four days.  Mel also conducted an interview with the LA Times.

 

·        I discussed an issue with Kevin Sills and Marc Shapiro (NATCA Director of Labor Relations) regarding the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and their policies and procedures.

 

·        I had a TELCON with Kevin Sills and a FACREP regarding an employee that was placed on an Opportunity to Demonstrate Performance (ODP) and also received a proposed 5 day suspension for the very same alleged infraction.  The agency never ceases to amaze me!!

 

·        I discussed an issue with FACREP Bob Guerra (PAO) regarding the agency no longer publishing their Order 7230.8 (Location Identifiers) in paper format.  They will now only publish it in electronic format.  NATCA National has requested a briefing in accordance with Article 7 on this change of working conditions.

 

·        I worked with Steve Palmer (PHX) on a few problems with their webschedule.

 

·        I worked with a former member that resigned in 2005 and is now attempting to be rehired with the FAA.

 

·        Kevin Sills and I convened a telcon with a FACREP regarding the possible settlement of a 5 day suspension.

 

·        Troy Verville, NWP Constitution Lead sent out a draft copy of the 2008 National Constitution to the NWP FACREPs for comment.  If you get the opportunity, please go over that draft document and respond to Troy personally.  The Constitution Committee is attempting to ensure that the document is free of errors of what was voted on and passed at the MIA Convention.  The Deadline to respond to Troy is November 6.  Thank you Troy.

 

·        I sent to the listserves, a decision that we received from the Judge that is hearing our lawsuit against the agency on the imposed conditions of employment (ICE).  Needless to say, NATCA is very disappointed in this decision and we will appeal to the next level.

 

·        I provided some guidance to Debbie Young, FACREP of APC regarding the actual purpose official time in accordance with Article 2, Section 17 of the CBA.

 

·        Mel Davis and I discussed some options regarding a few possible training failures at SCT.

 

·        Victor Santore (NSO RVP) and I worked on a PCS/Transfer issue regarding a “firm offer” from the FAA to an employee that is about to transfer.

 

·        In response to a question posed by one of our FACREPs regarding the agency’s “Child Care Subsidy”, I sent out guidance from the NATCA National Office.  That guidance is that the NATCA National Office is opposed to any bargaining unit employee applying for the Child Care Subsidy due to the fact that the agency did not play by the rules of law and CBA.

 

·        I worked with Dave Caldwell and Rich Burton (NWP LR Team Advocates), along with Bob Guerra (PAO FACREP) regarding a Weingarten meeting.

 

·        I worked with Mike Schrock, FACREP U90, on a grievance issue.  We will hopefully have a TELCON next week with the NATCA National Office regarding this grievance and its priority in scheduling it for arbitration.

 

·        I provided comments to the NATCA National Office as well as the NEB regarding a proposed change the agency is contemplating to their Order 7210.3, paragraphs 2-6-6 and 2-6-7 (hours of work and sleeping on duty).  It appears that the FAA finally wants to consider the “controller fatigue” issue that came from an NTSB recommendation.  However, it appears to me that they are not considering it correctly.

 

·        I worked with Dave Caldwell, NATCA 2010 Honolulu Convention team member on a few issues regarding that convention.

 

·        It was brought to my attention by a few FACREPs that the Western Terminal Service Area (WTSA) was attempting to institute a new “Phraseology Improvement Program” (PIP).  I coordinated with the service area and they stated that the briefing and/or implementation of this “new” PIP is in error.  NATCA at the regional level has been notified by the service area that they will continue to only enforce their existing PIP that is dated 2/1/08.

 

·        I worked with Victor Morales (TOA VP) regarding an employee being required to bid the basic watch schedule or annual leave when the employee is not in a duty status.  As a reminder to all, per the FAA at the national level, no employee shall be required to bid on their own time, however, they may do so if they choose.

 

·        I sent out LR Chronicles number 24 dealing with Harsh/Robust Language or Actions when dealing with management.  You can read this chronicle and others by going to the following link on the NWP Website, http://nwp.natca.net/LR_Chronicles_Search.htm

 

·        In yet, another misapplication of Federal law and CBA by the FAA, I provided Fran Silva (FACREP, SAN) with some guidance regarding the official time for negotiations and the “equal numbers” provision contained within the law and CBA.  This issue has to do with conducting negotiations and/or meetings called by management under Article 2, Section 5 of the CBA.  It just so happens that this very same provision appears in the agency’s white book.

 

·        I worked with Ron Geyer again on yet additional changes of working conditions that SCT management just does not seem to get the requirement for notification.

 

·        I received information from Paul Rinaldi regarding management alleging “again” that they continue to offer NATCA “new offers” in order to settle their own imposed conditions of employment.  Yes, these are the same conditions of employment where they state that it is the current “CBA”!  It appears that Rick Day was at a few facilities claiming that management continues to make offers to NATCA on this issue.  According to Paul, any allegation that management makes offers to NATCA on the alleged “settlement” to their imposed conditions, is not valid!!!

 

·        I worked with Garth Koleszar (FACREP ZLA) again on a drug testing issue and a possible training failure.

 

·        I worked with Bryan Baker (FACREP, L30) and Kevin Sills regarding a response to a 5 day suspension.

 

·        Garth Koleszar and I discussed a possible settlement regarding a proposed 10 day suspension.

 

·        I notified the western terminal service area about an OWCP issue where the communication from local management at SCT has been and continues to be atrocious.

 

·        I received word from Steve Hefley (FACREP, NCT) regarding an audit that was performed at his facility by AOV (Safety Oversight).  It appears that AOV found six (6) OEs that had not been previously discovered.  The AOV utilized a program called TARP (not negotiated with NATCA) in order to find these alleged OEs.  It appears that TARP can measure down to 1/10th of a mile.  It also appears that there may be new or revised wake turbulence criteria that came out of this audit.  Of course, the AOV and/or Air Traffic has not notified NATCA of this alleged new criteria.  I am currently coordinating with the western service areas and the NATCA national office to find out more information.  I do not expect AOV to stop their “audits” and therefore, you may see AOV in your facility shortly.

 

·        I coordinated with Jamie Nuss (FACREP, LVK) regarding some lingering issues as a result of the closure of Pago Pago (PPG) that occurred three (3) years ago.

 

·        I was contacted by Steve Palmer (FACREP, PHX) regarding a 5 day suspension and a request for extension for which to reply.  It appears his ATM is not “in the loop” regarding requests for extensions.  If his ATM wants to play the game that way…NATCA will also!!

 

·        I worked with Mel Davis, Ron Geyer, Jeff Young (newly elected SAN area rep) and Bob Guerra, NWP hardship lead on a possible hardship out of SCT.

 

·        After receiving a BBS post and a few phone calls regarding an “alleged agreement” at the national level about bidding annual leave and the agency’s interpretation to their own imposed conditions of employment, I sent the following message to the NWP representative listserves:

 

Hello NWP Reps,

I received a few phone calls today regarding an alleged “agreement” at the national level on the bidding of the BWS and leave.  I have obtained information from our National President regarding this issue.  I will suffice this to say that if your ATM is asking you to re-evaluate and/or re-negotiate your local MOUs on the BWS and/or Annual, then they are taking this way too far.

The information that I received from Pat Forrey is this:

·        It was only an agreement in principal dealing with facilities that are or were not able to finish the bidding by December 31, 2008 (per their imposed conditions of employment).  The agreement in principal extended that bidding period to January 31, 2009 if necessary so that the agency did NOT convert “vacation leave” to spot leave, immediately on January 1, 2009.  It has been the agency’s position that at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2009, all remaining “vacation leave” slots would be converted to spot leave and the bidding would be over.

·        Pat argued with the agency that their position is not appropriate and the agency is looking at extending the bidding of leave through the January 31, 2009 time frame.

·        The ONLY facility that appeared to have an issue with this was Denver Center (ZDV), but it would apply to all facilities that were not able to finish all bidding by December 31, 2008.

·        The impetus of this discussion had to do with the agency guidance regarding bidding shall be done on duty time unless the employee chose otherwise.

·        Pat states that the agency should NOT be briefing any facility until he has had a chance to review the document and ensure that it accurately reflects what was discussed/agreed.

·        If a facility is able to complete their bidding by December 31, 2008, this “agreement” should have no impact on that facility.

If there are any questions regarding this very important issue, please feel free to contact me privately via phone or email.

Mike Hull

NWP LR Lead

 

·        Please let me know if there are any questions regarding this issue.

 

·        I received a call from a dear friend of mine and a rep at one of our facility’s in the region, regarding an annual leave bidding issue that has to do with developmentals bidding in concert with CPCs.  I gave him guidance and hopefully management will understand this huge issue.

 

·        I also received a call from a friend of mine from another region regarding a reporting issue from the agency’s ER 4.1, Standards of conduct.  I gave my friend some advice.  Just to clarify this reporting requirement;  ALL employees that are in safety-security sensitive positions within the FAA and/or require a medical clearance to perform their respective job functions, MUST report to management and/or the Regional Flight Surgeon (RFS), the requirements of this FAA regulation.  I HIGHLY suggest that all FAA employees read this regulation so that we are all aware of the requirements.  Pay particular attention to paragraph 2 (i).

 

·        I had been receiving a few calls and emails from some reps around the region on what constitutes a “week” of leave bidding.  The FAA has interpreted their own white book regarding this issue.  Their interpretation states that if you bid days that surround your RDOs, then that constitutes a full week of bidding in the “1 or 2 consecutive or non-consecutive weeks of leave.”  For example, and employee has Mon/Tues off;  if this employee decides to bid, as part of their “vacation leave” the Sat and Sun prior to Monday and the Wed, Thurs and Friday after the Tuesday, then that constitutes 2 full weeks of “vacation” annual leave bidding.  Even though it is only 5 days of leave, the agency considers this 2 full weeks.

NWP “Hot Sheet” Week of 10-6-08 and 10-13-08

NWP Reps/Members,

This has been a very busy couple of weeks.  On Wednesday October 15th, SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis, SCT VP Ron Geyer, Pat Forrey and I met with the FAA at FAA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to discuss the state of affairs at SCT.  We discussed the realignment at SCT (six to five areas of operation) and the negative effects that it was having on the entire operation and the NAS.

Operational errors have increased 100 % over the last twelve (12) month period, there have been at least eight (8) instances in which controllers have been directed to work positions on which they were not certified and/or current, overtime is well above the national average, close to 80 % of the CPC workforce has to go through some cross training as a result of the realignment, etc…..

As for the state of the PSP consolidation to SCT, it’s been over 15 months since the two PSP sectors were consolidated at SCT, and ONLY 44 % of the Empire area controllers have been certified on the two sectors.  Over one third of the workforce in the Empire Area has yet to complete the classroom/ETG training for the PSP sectors.

The meeting that took place on October 15, 2008, was the third high level meeting that we have had with FAA officials regarding SCT.  The first meeting was on May 28, 2008.  The second meeting was on September 2, 2008.

At the September 2, 2008 meeting, I asked the SCT ATM why she went from six areas of operation to five.  The answer was, “Staffing”.  The next answer given to her by the Service Area director was, “Balancing the workload”.

Please keep in mind that SCT was initially comprised of five (5) areas of operation (Los Angeles, Coast, Burbank, Empire, and San Diego).  Management at SCT then decided to get some airspace from Los Angeles Center and create two new sectors at SCT.  This was all done under the auspices of providing a better service to the users through the ‘terminalization’ of airspace.  There is no doubt that using terminal separation in those two sectors meant saving the users time and money.  As a result of the two new sectors, SCT decided to “Balance” the workload and create a new area of operation called, “The Departure” area.

While the creation of the new area did balance some of the workload at SCT, it did absolutely nothing to address the number of sectors/workload in the San Diego area.

Fast forward to 2006 and the introduction of the imposed conditions of employment (The White Book), SCT Management foresees a wave of retirements and the lack of a pipeline of controllers from other facilities and introduces a plan to go back to five areas simply to address a staffing crisis.

As for the FAA claim of balancing the workload, well, they increased the number of sectors in the LA area, they increased the number of sectors in the Coast and Burbank areas, and they increased the number of sectors in the Empire area through the PSP Consolidation.  Instead of referring to it as balancing the workload, they should refer to it as an increase in workload.  Meanwhile, Management continues to ignore the San Diego area and has done absolutely nothing to address their workload.

Since 2006, a record number of CPCs have retired from SCT and a record number of brand new hires have been sent to SCT.  As most of you know, facilities such as SCT were never designed to be a proving ground for new hires with zero experience.  Meanwhile, according to the FAA, there will be another 22 academy graduates headed to SCT in 2008 and another 53 in 2009.

According to FAA statistics provided to us at our last meeting, SCT currently has 56 controllers eligible to retire.  By 2012, these numbers will more than double to a whopping 125 controllers eligible to retire at a moment’s notice.

Rather than consolidating areas and causing 80% of the workforce to have to undergo cross training on new sectors, the FAA’s primary goal should be to focus all of their time and energy on training the next generation of controllers to replace the record number of experienced veterans who will be eligible to retire in just a few years.

As Air Traffic Controllers, we make tough decisions every day.  We always have a backup plan “B” or a plan “C”.  When plan “A” doesn’t work, we revert to plan “B” or “C” or even “D”.  We all know what happens when we try to force a plan “A”……

Unfortunately, it appears that SCT management has only one plan and they are going to force this plan to work to the detriment of the workforce and the National Airspace system.

I will continue to work with Mel Davis, Ron Geyer and the SCT E-board to address this issue.  I truly appreciate all of their efforts in ensuring that the American flying public is given the safest and most expeditious service from the countries busiest terminal radar approach control (Tracon).

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·        I worked with Pat Forrey to address the watch schedule inconsistencies throughout the Western Pacific Region and the country.  Apparently, the FAA did NOT do a very good job of communicating with its managers that they should NOT require bargaining unit employees to work (bid the basic watch schedule (BWS) and annual leave) during off duty hours.

 

·        Once the communication from Washington finally made its way to Western Terminal, it appeared that quite a few facilities were requiring BUEs to bid for leave/BWS during off duty hours.  Meanwhile, Enroute decided that the guidance came from Terminal and ignored it all together!  It sure would be nice that if the ATO Chief Operations Officer states that bargaining unit employees are NOT to bid during off duty hours that the entire ATO and not just terminal would listen to him.

 

·        I was advised by a friend at ZLA that there appears to be some problems with the ZLA ATC-12 backpay and TSP contributions.  Luckily for us, we have a very talented and dedicated NATCA member at ZLA, Bob Carr, who is looking into this issue for me.

 

·        While in Washington last week, I also discussed the delay in the ZLA ATC-12 backpay and the ATOP settlement for a ZOA controller with Senior VP of Operations Rick Day. (Note- I signed the ATOP settlement along with Phil Barbarello on June 4, 2007!!!!)

 

·        Mike Hull, NWP LR rep Chad Geyer and I work with SNA Facility Rep Chris Schaefer regarding a requirement for one of the SNA controllers to provide a doctor’s note even though he is not on a sick leave abuse letter.

 

·        Mike Hull worked with NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley and SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis regarding their Basic Watch schedule.

 

·        Since we are in the midst of a very heated political season, please keep in mind that the only penalty an agency can give for a Hatch Act violation is termination. There is no other penalty that can be given for this violation. Once that happens, the employee may ONLY appeal it to the MSPB. If the MSPB upholds the termination, there are no more appeals. If the MSPB does not uphold the termination, they MUST give a 30 day suspension, which also may not be appealed.

 

·        I worked with Mike Hull, Kevin Sills and L30 Facility Rep Bryan Baker regarding a security investigation at L30.  Bryan did an outstanding job representing his members at L30.

 

·        NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter, Mike Hull and I worked with NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley regarding a situation where a pilot of a B737 would not accept control instructions on final.  This resulted in a loss of separation and an operational error.  When the pilot was contacted by management, he stated that he was trying to keep the plane straight and level since the passengers were still eating!!!

 

·        LAX Facility Rep Mike Foote advised us that LAX Management refused to accept his UCR (Unsatisfactory Condition Report).  They advised him that the new FAA order 1800.6B that deals with UCR's requires the use of a new form.  We have elevated this issue to our Director of Safety and Technology at the NATCA National Office.  Meanwhile, NATCA national has filed a request under Article 7 for a full briefing and for the agency to cease and desist from any further implementation of this order until all obligations under Article 7 have been fulfilled.  Since the agency has decided to not respond to that Article 7 request, we have filed a national grievance over this issue.

 

·        The Senate passed legislation approving locality pay for Alaska and Hawaii.  Currently, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does cost-of-living surveys every three years to determine the difference in costs among Washington, Alaska, the Pacific region and the Caribbean. Federal employees working in those localities receive Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) ranging from 13 percent to 25 percent. Those payments are not taxed as part of employee income, but they also do not count toward federal retirement benefits or as part of basic pay eligible for Thrift Savings Plan matching funds.  The legislation will move employees in Alaska, Hawaii and the territories into the "rest of the U.S." category of locality pay over a three-year period.

 

·        For anyone who will be attending Basic Rep Training, the national website now has the new training syllabus on the NATCA members only section under the “NATCA Academy”; http://www.natca.org/NATCAAcademy/default.aspx

 

·        On the website, you can also find the Training schedule for 2009 as well as the location for each class.  Please review the syllabus prior to attending rep training and please take your laptops to the class as we are moving forward in the world of paperless training.

 

·        ALB Facility Rep Tony Yushinsky, rolls out the Web-Based training Beta Test for our volunteers.  Once the volunteers finish the course, we will look at all the recommendations and make the necessary adjustments before we implement web-based training for NATCA.  Once web-based training is implemented, it will become a pre-requisite for the Basic Facility Rep class.  If you have any questions regarding web-based training, please contact Bob Taylor (btaylor@natcadc.org), Tony Yushinsky (tony@natca.net), Mike Hull (mhull@natca.net) or I.

 

·        JRF Facility Rep Jason Van Loan has stepped down as the rep at our DOD Facility in Hawaii.  I would like to welcome Shari Sugai as the new Facility Rep at JRF.

 

·        NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter and NWP Runway Safety Lead Elliot Brann work with PHX Facility Rep Steve Palmer regarding confusing “ASH” call signs at PHX and similar call signs problems across the region.

 

·        I worked with ZOA Facility Rep Scott Conde and the Southern Region to accommodate a training failure out of ZOA.  Scott and I also discussed the new seniority policy; watch schedule bidding, and an upcoming security investigation.

 

·        One of our reps had a question regarding the timeline for a new developmental to join NATCA.  The NATCA national constitution states:

“No initiation fee shall be assessed for individuals who become members within three months of being eligible for the first time for membership.

In addition, individuals who were members when they left the bargaining unit shall not be assessed an initiation fee if they become members within sixty days from the date that they return to the bargaining unit.”

 

·        Mike Hull and I try to track down the status of the grievance for a member at CMA who was previously in the Northwest Mountain region.  Our rep asked us a question regarding the status of a grievance if the grievant decides to retire? The short answer is that retirement doesn’t affect the status of your grievance.  If the member was harmed while he/she was a BUE, then we will pursue that grievance like we would any other grievance for those that are still in the Bargaining Unit.  As a matter of fact, we just took a 30 day suspension to arbitration for someone who is retired.

 

·        Mike Hull and I had a TELCON with Western Terminal in which we discussed

 

o   the SCT Watch Schedule,

o   the SCT re-alignment,

o   HCF transfer to SCT and PCS issues related to that move,

o   security and medical checks for new developmentals, etc.

 

·        Facility Reps, it is extremely important that you ensure that your new developmentals who were veterans sign up for GI Bill benefits through the VA.  We have an entire section on our website dedicated to information about GI Bill benefits, http://nwp.natca.net/forms.htm

 

·        Meanwhile, ZOA Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep Scott Conde advised us about some good news on GI Bill benefits eligibility, here is what Scott had to say:

 

“After several discussions with the VA it has been determined that there are several instances where people who transfer between options (Terminal to Enroute or Enroute to Terminal) who had been previously certified as a CPC at their original facility will now be able to secure benefits in their new option. The determination for eligibility will be made by the VA and in NO instance should the FAA certifying Officials be making this determination and failing to submit an employee's paperwork. I have spoken with Austin Lewis for the FAA and he has promised to get that word out to the Regional Certifying Officials and from them to the facilities. In the interim, we need to spread the word and get any problems from the facilities, to the Regional Certifying Officials through the appropriate RVP.”

 

·        Mike Hull represented our former BUR Facility Rep who was presented with a 10-Day suspension for texting the AF manager about the Tower blinds being taken down and cleaned around 7:30 AM (that Sun sure is bright at that time).  Our former rep was providing OJT at the time on Clearance Delivery.  He texted the AF Manager since he was concerned that this issue was causing an unsafe situation due to the glare on the equipment.

 

·        While I got some currency at ZLA, Mike Hull fielded some calls from our Facility Reps, here is a brief synopsis of what he did:

 

o   worked with SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis in preparation for a meeting with management on Thursday October 23, 2008 regarding the SCT re-alignment.

o   worked with STS Facility Rep Jana Pitre about a “religious issue” and providing accommodations to this member in accordance with Article 26 of the CBA.

o   worked with a NCT member about a Weingarten meeting as it related to a hostile work environment issue.  He also gave the member some guidance on whether to attend a scheduled physical while out on COP (Continuation of Pay).

o   worked with LAX Facility Rep Mike Foote about a potential EEO at LAX.

o   worked with U90 VP Mike Ragucci regarding TDY travel on the same day as an 8 hour class OJTI class.

 

·        Kevin Sherwood and Mickela have updated the NWP Website in preparation for our five region membership meeting in March 2009.  The information can be found by going to http://nwp.natca.net under the “Membership Meeting” tab.

 

THIS ROOM BLOCK CODE IS ONLY FOR WESTERN PACIFIC AND CENTRAL REGIONS' ROOM RESERVATIONS.  IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE NORTHWEST MOUNTAIN, GREAT LAKES, OR NEW ENGLAND REGIONS, YOU MUST RESERVE YOUR ROOM THROUGH YOUR REGIONAL ADMIN.

 

·        Kevin Sills has a terrific win in an arbitration out of NCT.  The arbitrator reduced a 14 day suspension to a 1 day suspension.  Here is a brief summary of the arbitration in question:

 

The initial 14-day suspension was based upon seven charges with numerous specifications.  The reasons for the suspension included:  failure to timely complete requirements for medical certification; forging, falsifying, misstating or misrepresenting information on government records; inappropriate statements to or about others; failure to follow instructions; misuse of sick leave; unauthorized absence; and failure to follow leave procedures.  Of the seven charges, the arbitrator refused to sustain four.  In each instance, the arbitrator determined the FAA’s charges were based upon hearsay and were without substance.  In addition, the arbitrator agreed with the Union and determined that the deciding official deliberately chose to disregard pertinent facts.

When considering the four charges that she refused to uphold, the arbitrator cited to a lack of supporting evidence on the part of the Agency.  Those charges—misuse of sick leave, failure to follow instructions, inappropriate statements to or about others, and forging, falsifying, misstating or misrepresenting information on government records—were without credibility.  In addition, when it came to the charges related to the allegedly inappropriate statements to or about others (which was also featured in the failure to follow instructions charge), the arbitrator determined that the Agency had failed to prove the statements, which were made in a posting in a non-work area, did not rise to the level of being inappropriate and were not disruptive, or likely to be disruptive, of the orderly conduct of official business.  The Agency’s argument that the efficiency of the service was affected strained credulity.

The arbitrator also viewed two of the three remaining charges to be redundant; specifically, the charges of failure to follow leave procedures and unauthorized absence were based upon identical circumstances.  The arbitrator correctly assessed that the two charges amounted to different way of describing the same offense.  In fact, the Agency’s table of penalties treated them as the same offense.  Finally, the arbitrator took a negative view of the Agency’s effort to treat a five-day absence as five separate instances.  The charges, as written, were a clear effort to pile on offenses in the hope of taking the harshest of actions against the employee.

The arbitrator awarded back pay, allowances, differentials, and any other benefits that would have been earned had the employee been suspended for one day instead of 14 days.  Further, the references to the suspension in any personnel file was ordered altered to reflect the fact that four charges were not upheld and two charges should be treated as one.

 

·        The FAA is in the process of modifying agency policy to reflect one of the latest amendments to FMLA which provides for military family leave entitlements for an employee who "(1) is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member who incurred a serious illness or injury (e.g., in the line of duty while on active duty in the Armed Forces), and (2) provides care for the service member."   This provision provides an employee up to 26 weeks of leave without pay (LWOP) under FMLA (as amended) during a single 12-month period to care for the service member.   The use of military family leave does not limit the use of the regular leave entitlements under FMLA during a 12-month period; however, there is a combined 26-week cap of regular FMLA leave and military family leave.

 

·        I worked with Dave Caldwell and Mickela regarding the March 2009 membership meeting agenda.  Dave and I also discussed the HNL 2010 Convention website.

 

·        On October 20, 2008, Mike Hull and I met with Las Vegas Hub manager Del Meadows and discussed the state of affairs of some facilities within the Las Vegas Hub.

 

·        Following our meeting, we picked up NWP Finance Lead Eric Hughes at the Las Vegas airport and drove up to VGT to take care of some financial issues at the local.  We met with VGT Treasurer Rachel King and got all of their financial paperwork squared away.  Eric prepared the DOL LM-4 form and IRS Affidavit for Rachel and VGT Facility Rep Mark Knabel.

 

·        We returned at 8pm that evening for a VGT membership meeting at the Tower.  We had a terrific turnout from the VGT membership.  Elliot, Jeff, Mark, Jim, Scott, Jason, Kelli, Rachel and Andi were in attendance along with VGT Facility Rep Mark Knabel.  NWP LR Rep for VGT, Troy Verville, also joined us.  We discussed the financial situation at VGT and answered any and all questions while the members enjoyed some BBQ provided by the NWP.  I wanted to thank Mark and Rachel for all of their efforts while we worked to resolve the financial issues at VGT.  I would also like to thank all of the members that hung around well past the end of their shifts or on their days off to meet with us.

 

·        I will be on leave beginning Saturday October 25, 2008 until Sunday November 2, 2008.  In my absence, Mike Hull will be the acting Regional Vice President.  Mike Hull will have a day shift on Saturday/Sunday, RDO’s on Monday/Tuesday and then official time Wednesday-Sunday.

 

·        Once again, I am asking each and every one of you to PLEASE take a minute (it actually takes less than a minute) and click on this link and donate $50, $60, or even a $100 to help our brother Bob Marks out.  (You can NOT donate any funds from your local treasury)

http://kevin.thesherwoods.org

 

·        In closing, please remember to vote and help shape our future.  If you can, avoid the long lines and vote EARLY!

NWP “Hot Sheet” Week 9-22-08 and 9-29-08

NWP Reps/Members,

On Thursday September 25, 2008, the House Aviation Subcommittee conducted a hearing on runway safety.  It’s very reassuring to know that Congressional leaders, especially Congressman Oberstar and Congressman Costello are very concerned about runway safety and aviation safety in our country.

It’s even more reassuring to know that the investigative arm of Congress, the General Accounting Office, has done a terrific job of investigating the state of runway safety in this country and has provided conclusions and recommendations similar to what NATCA has been discussing and recommending for some time.

If you look at some of my previous updates, you would have noticed that the rate of serious operational errors (category A &B close calls) is up across the Western Pacific Region (SCT, NCT, L30, etc.) and the entire country.  Here is what Dr. Dillingham said:

“While the number of serious incursions this fiscal year is slightly lower than last year, the rate (measured by the number of incidents per 1 million takeoffs and landings) has increased.”

The number of serious runway incursions (Category A and B) have also increased in FY 2008.  Here is an example from Dr. Dillingham’s testimony:

“Since we last testified on runway safety before this Subcommittee, in February 2008, 11 more serious runway incursions—incidents in which collisions were narrowly or barely avoided—have occurred at U.S. airports, including 4 incursions involving commercial aircraft. On August 28, 2008, for example, a SkyWest commuter jet that was landing at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport in California came within 15 feet of colliding with a general aviation aircraft that was still on the runway.”

NATCA has been stating for some time now that human factors such as stress and fatigue are taking its toll on the controller workforce.  The increase in overtime, the increase to the number of hours a controller has to provide OJT (On the Job Training), the increase in the number of hours a controller is on position all contribute to an increase in stress and fatigue.  This is what Dr. Dillingham had to say:

“FAA could further improve runway safety by addressing human factors issues, such as fatigue and distraction, which aviation safety experts identified as the primary cause of incursions.”

NATCA has gone on record as stating that the mass exodus of experienced veterans to retirement has created a serious experience gap in the Air Traffic Controller workforce that will reduce the margin of safety.  By the year 2011, up to 59 % of the controller workforce will have less than five (5) years of experience.  It’s only natural that when you replace experienced veterans with young controllers that the number of close calls will rise.  Dr. Dillingham of the GAO stated:

“Air traffic controller errors are a particular concern because, as we noted in our June 2008 testimony before this FAA is hiring large numbers of new air traffic controllers to replace those who are retiring and the proportion of new hires is increasing over time. Our analysis of FAA’s hiring and retirement projections indicates that by 2011, up to 59 percent of the controller workforce will have less than 5 years of experience. Newly certified controllers may be less efficient than experienced controllers in handling the high volumes of traffic that occur at large and congested airports, and any loss in efficiency could affect runway safety.”

I’m sure that many of you remember the Marion Blakey era when she used to mock NATCA about having some magic crystal ball that could look into the future.  Fast forward to 2008 and look at the GAO’s testimony and compare that to what NATCA was stating in early 2005.  What an absolute shame that the FAA would rather mock its most experienced veterans rather than listen to their words of wisdom.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the FAA will change course unless they are forced to change course by a new FAA Administrator and a new President in the White House.

Meanwhile, please continue to provide the best and safest possible service to the American flying public.  As always, thank you for taking care of the millions of Americans who fly across this country every single day.

Ham

NWP RVP

·        Mike Hull and I talked with the PHX Facility Rep and PHX VP regarding a member who was directed to complete a CBI after his mid-shift.  I also talked to Steve Palmer about the upcoming watch schedule bidding.

·        The DOT IG paid another visit to LAX Tower and SCT to take a look at their staffing.  Unfortunately, the DOT IG didn’t talk to any of our representatives at LAX.  We will be sure to pass this fact on to Senator Feinstein who requested the audit.

·        NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter discussed several issues with his counterpart in ATO-S (Safety)……here are some of the issues that are being discussed:

1.     An OE at LGB on or about 8/27/2008.  It involved an aircraft taxiing to Runway 25L at int. D via B, F.  We are requesting the OE be changed to a PD.

2.     An inspection at EMT on or about 8/14/2008.

3.     SBA TRACAB is working on old maps that do not display the fixes for approaches into VBG.  When new procedures come out, they are briefed via Read & Initial, but not updated in the IDS-4.  This is a safety concern.

4.     The Diverse Vector Area (DVA) at PHX is a concern due to the go-arounds.  Go-arounds shall fly runway heading until 2300' before turning (P50 /PHX LOA referes to B & C aircraft) to avoid wake turbulence from a preceding departure.  I understand that a PHX FLM says to declare an emergency for the aircraft to turn earlier into the DVA.  If this is safe, let's review the DVA to see if it is needed, or can it be altered.

·        HCF Facility Rep Scott Sorenson advised me that there are still problems with new developmentals not being paid COLA.  I had to contact Western Terminal again to ensure that the service area and HCF are all on the same page.

·        Mike Hull and I worked with Pat Forrey regarding watch schedule bidding at SCT.  It appears that management was scheduling controllers bidding times outside of duty times.  Pat checked with Hank and apparently Rick Ducharme put out guidance to ATO Management regarding this issue, but it appears that not many have received this guidance.  As such, I have asked Pat to get a copy of Rick’s guidance so that we can share it with their own managers.

·        NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter puts out his September 2008 Safety update.  You can find all of Eric’s safety updates by going to the Western Pacific Region website at http://nwp.natca.net under the “Regional Leads” tab.

·        You can also find NWP Constitution Lead Troy Verville’s “Roberts Rulez Review” under the “Regional Leads tab.

·        I would like to thank NWP Comm/Tech Lead Kevin Sherwood for working with me to continually update our NWP website.

·        I have asked our HNL Convention Committee to begin having monthly telcon’s in preparation for the 2010 Convention.  We are less than two (2) years from the Convention.  For those early birds, the dates for the HNL Convention are September 11-14, 2010.

·        NWP Re-loaded Rep Joseph Segretto needs contacts for your facility Re-loaded Rep.  Please email Joe with your information, joseph.segretto@natca.net

·        SALE, SALE, SALE---2008 NWP Miami Convention Shirts on sale for the discounted price of $25/each (originally $40).  Sizes Large on up available.  E-mail Mickela (Mickela@natca.net) if you are interested.

·        I exchanged emails with ZUA Facility Rep Steve Costa regarding a CPC who is going through re-certification training.

·        NWP Finance Lead Eric Hughes worked with NATCA Assistant General Counsel Ryan Smith on the state of finances at VGT.  Eric, Mike Hull and I will be going to VGT on October 20th to meet with the membership and their E-board to answer any and all questions regarding the recent financial impropriety at VGT by a former officer of the local.  Eric has done a terrific job in preparing the LM Form and the affidavit for the VGT local.

·        NWP LR Rep and ZOA VP Mike Ward worked with GCN Facility Rep Jeff “Stew” Stewart and a GCN member regarding a seniority question.

·        We worked with LAX Tower Facility Rep Mike Foote on how best to determine a bargaining unit employee’s seniority date.  The only sure fire way is to go through the SF-50s and determine their seniority date. Most are simple but some you have to spend the time to go through and deduct time spent outside of bargaining unit.

·        NWP LR Rep John Paiva worked with CRQ Facility Rep Karen Utley on an OD and two separate aircraft accidents.

·        I continue to work with ZLA Facility Rep Garth Koleszar and ZLA Reclass Lead Bob Carr to speed up the second installment of the backpay for the ZLA ATC-12 settlement agreement.

·        I worked with Western Terminal and the Las Vegas Hub regarding the placement of a training failure that was scheduled for termination.  Our member will be going to the GCN instead of being terminated.

·        Facility Reps will now have access to Unionware and can amend selected information on bargaining unit employees from their facility. UW maintains data on current members and non-members so that we can, at a minimum, track staffing levels and seniority. The national office and regional office(s) are responsible for keeping UW data up to date, with assistance from the Facreps.

·        For security reasons, we have placed the UW software installation on the secure GATS website http:/grievance.natca.net. Please go to the GATS start page and follow the instructions to download the UW software. Your regional office will be sending username and password information to you shortly to gain access. You can also email us at uwadmin@natca.net for this information.

·        A few points of information:

Ø If a Facrep has a change of address on an employee, they may make the change themselves in UW or submit the change of address worksheet to the appropriate regional office.

Ø The Change of local officer worksheet will go to the respective regional office.

Ø Membership applications still go to the National office.

·        If you have any questions regarding Unionware, please contact Mickela.  I also have a copy of Unionware on my laptop and can assist you with some of your questions.

·        NWP OSHA Lead Garth Koleszar, NWP OWCP Lead Steve Hefley, Mike Hull and I worked with FFZ and TOA regarding some OSHA issues.

·        Mike Hull worked with Rich Burton, Facrep, SJC and LR team member regarding the FAA’s PMS, Self-Assessment being voluntary.  As a reminder, since the Self-Assessment is voluntary, NATCA’s position is that it should not be completed.

·        Mike and I had a Telcon with WTSA on Friday 9/26.  We discussed, SCT realignment, why they did not pick up a former U90 CPC for U90, SCT PCS issue, L30 investigation, CISM peer-debriefer issue.

·        Mike Hull, Frank McCarthy and I worked with SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis to prepare a letter on the SCT Re-alignment and the PSP consolidation.  I would like to thank Empire Area Rep Tina Kratz for her terrific documentation on the PSP consolidation.

·        Mike Hull worked with HCF Facility Rep regarding a letter to management regarding the dress code.

·        Mike Hull conducted a telcon with Western Terminal regarding FFZ tile removal, SBA travel problem after employees work a shift, SBA BWS and A/L negotiations.

·        SBA Facility Rep Gordie Thompson advised us that the watch schedule issue at SBA had been resolved and that they are done with their negotiations.

·        On Tuesday September 30, 2008, I flew to Washington, D.C. for an all day NEB meeting on Wednesday October 1, 2008.  The NEB discussed the recently established Legal Defense Fund with our General Counsel and outside Counsel Bill Osborne.  By now, some of you have seen my updates from the meeting.  While we can’t use union funds to support our two brothers, we can absolutely donate private funds in their support.

·        While we wait for the Legal Defense Fund to be set up, I have asked Kevin Sherwood to temporarily place a link on his website for John Carr and Bob Marks.

·        I am asking each and every one of you to take a minute (it actually takes less than a minute) and click on this link and donate $50, $60, or even a $100 to help our brothers out.  There is a link for John and one for Bob. (You can NOT donate any funds from your local treasury)

http://kevin.thesherwoods.org

·        I worked with Western Terminal to resolve a serious pay issue at MRY (Monterey, California).  In the FAA’s haste to hire as many developmentals as they can, they are bringing developmentals on board without medical clearances.  Our member at MRY had been at MRY for over a month without a medical clearance.  As a result, the FAA was paying him as an academy graduate level since he didn’t have a medical.  After working with Western Terminal and FAA Headquarters on this issue, we were finally able to resolve this most unfortunate situation for our member who had to survive on academy pay while living in Monterey.

·        I am hopeful that the FAA will actually ensure that our new developmentals have valid medical and security clearances BEFORE they are sent to the academy and NOT wait for over a month after they report to their first duty station to take any action.

·        I talked to NWP LR Rep Steve McCoy and NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley regarding some Weingarten meetings at NCT.

·        Mike Hull received a call from Dan Horowitz (MIA).  He is at RTF and told me of a probationary employee (also at RTF and due to go to NCT) that has a medical issue.  Dan will be sending us some paperwork so that we can attempt to resolve it with Medical.

·        Mike Hull received a few phone calls from VNY Facility Rep Rich Velasquez regarding an OE and a possible decertification at VNY.  Mike gave him appropriate guidance on both the OE and the decertification.

·        Mike Hull worked with a developmental at GCN and the GCN Facility Rep “Stew” regarding the developmental’s (probationary employee) termination from Federal service.

·        Mike Hull finished LR Chronicles #23 on Performance Discussions and has disseminated it to our listserves.  If you would like to find any of Mike’s LR Chronicles, you may find them on the NWP Website http:/nwp.natca.net under the “Labor Relations” tab.

·        NWP Runway Safety Lead Elliot Brann put out an update on RSAT (Runway Safety Action Team) notifications in the Western Pacific Region.

·        I dealt with a most bizarre situation at HCF.  Management at HCF claims that they have the unilateral right to cancel any LEAVE REQUEST at any time and under any circumstance.  We are not talking about disapproving someone’s previously approved leave; we are talking about the leave request itself.  HCF management is claiming that they retain the right to cancel a request for spot leave, non-vacation leave, etc.  Furthermore, Facility Management went as far as having someone from the FAA’s webschedule department “Wipe Clean” the HCF leave calendar as if the requests were never made.  I worked with Western Terminal to highlight this absolutely bizarre behavior by a very experienced ATM.

·        I was notified by NATCA HCF that they are no longer required to state the phrase, “I will participate in preventing OEs” on every position relief briefing.  Meanwhile, Long Beach (LGB) continues the practice of stating a QA phrase right before “Traffic” on the checklist for every relief briefing.

·        Dave Caldwell, Dale Wright, and Eric Carter worked with LAX Tower Facility Rep Mike Foote about some inherent flaws with ASDE-X.  Mike stated that, “the problem is that the system does not use actual raw RADAR data. What it does is give us a symbol of an AC and the center of the symbol is where ever the transponder for that AC is located. We are using this system for separation, but it is off by a lot depending on the AC involved. Winter is coming and with it is the W0X0F weather. Having this system tell you an AC is clear of a RY when he isn't could be a small problem for us”.

·        In closing, I will leave you with a quote from the September 25, 2008 GAO Testimony and then fast forward to this news report out of Lehigh International Airport:

“GAO Testimony- Air traffic controller errors are a particular concern because, as we noted in our June 2008 testimony before this FAA is hiring large numbers of new air traffic controllers to replace those who are retiring and the proportion of new hires is increasing over time. Our analysis of FAA’s hiring and retirement projections indicates that by 2011, up to 59 percent of the controller workforce will have less than 5 years of experience. Newly certified controllers may be less efficient than experienced controllers in handling the high volumes of traffic that occur at large and congested airports, and any loss in efficiency could affect runway safety.”

AVWeb: Trainees In The Tower In Airliner 'Swerve'

By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

“An incident that thankfully ended with some fairly rattled pilots and passengers but no more than a little lost tire rubber begs the question of who is training whom at some of the nation's air traffic control towers. The National Air Traffic Controllers Union says two trainee controllers were in on duty by themselves in the Lehigh International Airport tower when a Mesa Airlines CRJ700 had to swerve (as in the sudden deviation from a straight path) to avoid a just-landed Cessna 172 while taking off from the Allentown, Pa. airport. The widely accepted estimate is the RJ, with 60 passengers aboard, missed the 172 by about 10 feet while decelerating from 120 knots. According to the NTSB, the Cessna was told to take an early taxiway exit but missed and the pilot reported he or she was heading for the next taxiway. The trainees missed that and, thinking the 172 had left the runway, cleared the RJ for takeoff. The Mesa crew apparently heard the 172 pilot's report that the controllers missed but started the takeoff. They were almost at rotation speed when they spotted the Cessna and swerved to miss it. While no one is so disputing the facts of the incident, NATCA is suggesting a shortage of qualified controllers played a role and it's sure to come up at a meeting of the House Aviation Subcommittee on Thursday to discuss--runway safety. “The FAA is so desperate to staff its towers they are forced to work trainees by themselves without adequate numbers of experienced controllers there to work with them," said NATCA President Patrick Forrey. "This has exposed the inexperience of our new workforce. It’s unfair to these trainees and should be unacceptable to the flying public.” The Mesa flight (operating for United) was cancelled.”

NWP “Hot Sheet” Week 9-8-08 and 9-15-08

NWP Reps/Members,

This past Thursday September 18, 2008, SCT controller Ted Angle passed from this life into the next.  As such, I will dedicate this update to the memory of Ted Angle.  Ted is survived by his wife Judy Angle who is also a controller at SCT and a former fellow Marine along with his two children Hannah and David.

This past Sunday, I had the honor of attending Ted’s memorial with hundreds of other co-workers and friends.  There was standing room only at the Church.  It was absolutely amazing to see the tremendous show of support for Judy and her family.

I learned so much about Ted from attending the service.  The more I learned about him, the more I wished I would have had an opportunity to know him personally and perhaps go “Sushi Bar Hopping” with him.  He was a truly uplifting and energetic person.  Someone who loved to spend time with his family, go fishing, go to concerts such as Van Halen and Kiss…….

While I fully expected to leave the service quite sad, I have to tell you that I felt energized and motivated by Ted’s infectious spirit and his energy for life.

Please let this serve as a reminder to all, to live life to the fullest and enjoy your brief time on this Earth.  Do not let work consume your life.  Work is merely a means for us to enjoy the more important things in life such as family, friends, religion, etc.

Family and friends of Ted have set up a college fund for his children, Hannah and David, at the San Diego County Credit Union.  I have asked Kevin Sherwood to set up a Paypal link on his website called the “Ted Angle Memorial College Fund” to simplify the donation process.  You can also donate directly to the San Diego County Credit Union.  The account number is 3416250 and the name on the account is “Theodore Angle Memorial Account.  The branch phone number is 877-732-2848 x8331.

I would like to thank SCT ATM Linda O’Brien for going above and beyond the call of duty in helping Judy while she deals with this tragic set of circumstances.

Finally, while I was returning from the Miami Convention, I also got word that Burbank ATM Walt Fuller happened to be one of the passengers in the devastating MetroLink crash in Chatsworth, CA.  Walt unfortunately didn’t make it and has since moved on to be with the Lord.  May God bless Walt Fuller and give his family the strength to deal with this unfortunate loss.

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·        While in Miami Beach on Saturday evening September 6, 2008, Mike Hull and I received a call from Acting HCF Facility Rep Charlie Lee.  Charlie advised that HCF management had denied one of our members the ability to take COP (Continuation of Pay) after the fatal crash of a Coast Guard helo during practice exercises.  I immediately contacted Western Terminal Director Kathryn Vernon and informed her that the agency has no right to deny an employee the right to elect COP following an on the job injury and for her to contact the HCF manager and rectify this situation.  Here is an excerpt from the Federal Employees Compensation Act:

 

C-11. Does the employer have the authority to accept or deny a claim?

 

‘No. Only OWCP may make this decision. While the employer pays or withholds COP, this action is subject to review by OWCP in every case.”

 

·        The following morning, I got a message from Charlie that the situation had been rectified.  I am still somewhat taken aback by the lack of support shown by HCF management towards their controller(s) following this tragic accident.

 

·        I would like to thank the Convention Committee and the Southern Region for their hospitality in the face of Hurricanes and a last minute cancellation by the Fointanbleau hotel.

 

·        This was my first Convention as the NWP Regional Vice President and I must admit that I was very proud of our region for their participation and activism in the Convention business.  I was even prouder of the show of solidarity when many of you stood behind Bob Marks at the microphone to signify your support for him as a member of our family.  At the end of day, we need to stand together and support our members who are being attacked by those in management who have the means to file and pursue frivolous law suits.

 

·        I thought the mood at the Convention was one of anger.  Delegates, alternates, and members were angry at what the FAA had done to our profession.  Unfortunately, much of this anger resulted in some angry motions with respect to seniority.  I had no issues with the intent of A08-019 so long as we had given these folks advance notice that we intended to zero out their seniority when they returned to the bargaining unit.  While I respect the will of the body, I disagree that seniority should be used as a weapon every couple of years.  We really need to mature as an organization and stop messing with seniority.

 

I still remember the seniority policy that was passed in St. Louis and the division that it caused among our ranks.  This was during an election year when a lot was at stake (Kerry-Bush).  We fast forward to this year and we find ourselves in a similar situation.  Faced with one of the most important elections in this country, we can NOT be divided; we can NOT lose focus of what is most important, we must remain united.

 

·        It was great to see so many friends from all over this great Union in Miami Beach.  At the closing party, ceremonial torches were passed on from the Miami Beach Resort to the Hilton Hawaiian Village and also from NSO RVP Victor Santore to me to signify the close of the Miami 2008 Convention and the passing of the torch to the host of the HNL 2010 Convention.

 

·        In accordance with Article VIII, “National Conventions” as the host RVP of the HNL 2010 Convention, I have selected the following individuals to serve on the HNL Convention Committee: Dave Caldwell (SFO), Thom Gurule (HCF), Poliala Lorenzo (HCF), Scott Sorenson (HCF), and Mickela (Regional Admin).

 

·        The National President will appoint up to two National Office members to be added to the Convention Committee.

 

·        I hope all of you enjoyed the daily updates from the Miami Beach Convention courtesy of our NWP Communications/Tech Lead Kevin Sherwood.  Kevin was in Miami, at my request, for the sole purpose of reporting on the Convention and allowing the members back home to be fully apprised of everything that happened at the Convention without having to sit through hours of media footage or read about it on the NATCA BBS.  I would like to thank Kevin for doing an outstanding job in covering all facets of the Convention.

 

·        While at the Convention, I worked with NATCA’s Director of Government Affairs and Senator Boxer’s office to request that she co-sponsor S. 3416

 

The following week, I was notified by Senator Boxer’s office that she WILL co-sponsor S. 3416.

 

·        After many months of working with Western Terminal, the SEE Tower break room finally has air conditioning.

 

·        NATCA received an attorney’s fee decision from Arbitrator Barnard awarding fees and expenses totaling $21,429.17.  The merits of the case involved a supervisor pushing a controller through an open doorway. The grievant got three days for allegedly provoking the assault on himself. In deciding the merits, the Arbitrator found that the Agency had failed to interview the grievant regarding the charges, thereby violating his due process rights. This violation had been substantially corrected at the hearing, but even based on all of the evidence, the grievant had not done what the agency had accused him of doing. At the most, the grievant was guilty of getting angry at a supervisor regarding an unwarranted performance discussion.  The advocate on both the fees and the merits was Jennifer Kukac; great job Jennifer.

 

·        Following the Convention, I got word that HCF Management was directing ALL controllers to include the following phrase in every position relief briefing, “I WILL PARTICIPATE IN PREVENTING OEs.”  Management at HCF then told our local reps that it was out of their hands as this directive was mandatory across the country.  When I queried Western Terminal regarding this directive, I got the following response:

 

“The guidance HCF management put out came from our Terminal breakout at the Summit.  While this suggestion was not directive in nature, it was suggested as a good operating practice by Mr. Johnson and it was recommended and supported.”

 

As you can see from their email, this new procedure is NOT mandatory and completely at the discretion of the Manager. So far, there are only two (2) facilities in Western Terminal that are doing this: HCF and LGB.  Enroute is not involved in this earth shattering OE prevention initiative.

 

·        I am happy to report that the Coast Area at SCT is 100 % NATCA; great work to all.

 

·        While at the Convention, Mike Hull worked with APC Facility Rep Debbie Young to resolve a watch schedule issue at APC.

 

·        The APC elections are complete and congratulations are in order to the following individuals who will take office on November 3, 2008:

 

President:   Debbie Young

Vice Pres:  Jessica Mauldin

Sec/Tres:    Emily De'Ath

 

·        SCT experienced yet another radio and radar failure in the Burbank Area.  So far this year, there have been a total of four (4) critical failures of FAA infrastructure at Burbank, Van Nuys, and SCT.

 

o   8/4/08    BUR SCT Radar and Radios Failed for 1 hour and 30 minutes

o   8/13/08  BUR Tower Radios Failed for 30 minutes

o   9/5/08    VNY Tower Radios Failed for 2 hours

o   9/14/08  Burbank SCT Radar and Radios Failed for 1 hour

 

·        These chronic outages are having a definite impact on Air Carrier and General Aviation traffic, just take a look:

 

o   There were two (2) aircraft delayed out of the Van Nuys airport.

o   There were nine (9) aircraft delayed out of the Burbank airport.

o   One of them was an Alaska Airlines jet that waited so long that they had to go back to the gate for more fuel, $$$!

o   There were 15 to 20 airborne aircraft delayed that were trying to land at Burbank.

o   One of them was an American Airlines jet that abandoned the RADAR safety net and used visual separation (Visual approach) to land at Burbank because they were running out of fuel.

o   There was one cancellation of a flight from Fresno to Burbank as a result of the outage and the traffic management initiatives.

 

·        I worked extensively with Mel Davis, Jim Ullmann (CISM National Chair), and Western Terminal to arrange for EAP professionals and a CISM peer de-briefer to be present at SCT following Ted’s passing.  I want to thank Tom Morin (ZBW) for foregoing his vacation time with family to fly out to San Diego from Boston in order to assist his brothers and sisters at SCT.

 

·        Mike Hull, Kevin Sills and I talked about a performance/discipline issue at L30 (Las Vegas Tracon) and a proposed suspension at ZLA.  Mike and Kevin also talked to Garth Koleszar and Bryan Baker regarding these two issues.

 

·        It appears that the recent training stand down at NCT hasn’t slowed down the number of operational errors at NCT.  Since the training stand down, there have been an additional four (4) operational errors and one (1) operational deviation.

 

·        So far this fiscal year, NCT has experienced thirty-eight (38) operational errors/deviations, twelve (12) of which have been serious category A/B errors.  In Fiscal Year 2007, NCT had sixteen (16) operational errors/deviations of which six (6) were category A/B.  The fatigue and stress of these draconian work rules, the loss of experienced controllers to retirements, and the additional stress of training every day is starting to take its toll at NCT.

 

·        Our NWP Constitution Lead/LAS Tower Facility Rep Troy Verville has begun a monthly “Robert’s Rulez Review”.  Kevin Sherwood is in the process of placing Troy’s monthly updates on the regional website.  Thank you Troy for taking time out of your personal life to keep our membership educated and informed.

 

·        Meanwhile, we have updated the Parliamentary motions (Robert’s Rules) cheat sheet on the website and substituted it with the sheet from Jim Slaughter’s website, http://www.jimslaughter.com/pdffiles/ROBERTS10thpobox.pdf

 

·        As many of you first-timers in Miami Beach noticed, it’s essential to be familiar with Robert’s Rules if you want to succeed at our biennial Convention.

 

·        SFO Facility Rep Dave Caldwell and Fran Silva shared their local updates with me; thanks.

 

·        CNO Facility Rep Michael Flores asked me about the NATCA Education Reimbursement Fund.  SRF-14 and the newly enacted NEB policy govern the process that needs to be followed for reimbursement.

 

·        NATCA in Washington (Lobby Week) will take place May 17-20, 2009.  This is a tremendous opportunity to meet with your Congressional representatives.  For those that have never attended Lobby Week, plan to fly in on Sunday May 17, 2009 and fly out the afternoon or evening of Wednesday May 20, 2009.

 

·        Pat Forrey will be testifying on runway safety at a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing this Thursday, September 25, at 10 am, Eastern Standard Time. To watch the hearing, go to:

 

http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx and click on the "LIVE WEB CAST" button in the upper right hand corner.

 

·        NWP Finance Lead Erich Hughes sent guidance to all Facility Reps regarding their responsibilities to follow the National and Local Constitutions.  When it comes to the DOL, the policies enacted are considered “Laws”.  As an example, if you do not have "dual signatures on checks" in accordance with SRF-20, then you are committing a crime in violation of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA).  Read your Constitution, know your Constitution, and follow your Constitution.  Keeping your Local's Constitution and Standing Rules/Policies as one document will help any successor to your position and enable them to know where to find the "laws" of the Local.  If you have any questions, please contact Eric Hughes at air.rock@sbcglobal.net

 

·        NWP Legislative Lead, Noel Kingston send out a notice to all Facility Reps and members regarding the Hatch Act basics.

 

·        I worked with Western Terminal and HCF Facility Rep Scott Sorenson to take care of several developmentals who did NOT get COLA while at the academy.

 

·        Mike Hull sends out the Basic Watch Schedule agreement from ZOA to all Facility Reps.  This agreement has already cleared agency head review.  Scott and his team did a terrific job with this watch schedule.  If anyone didn’t get a copy of the agreement, please contact Mike Hull or Scott Conde.

 

·        During a recent FOIA request, we discovered that the FAA will not give us any information that had to deal with a very scary operational error involving Hawthorne Tower (Contract Tower).  Here is what the FAA said:

 

“The Hawthorne Airport Traffic Control Tower is a private business operated by Serco, Inc. under contract to the FAA and may have records pertaining to your request.  However, please be advised that Serco, Inc. has no statutory obligation to respond to a FOIA request.”

 

No wonder why Senator McCain is stating that Contract Towers are just as safe as FAA towers! No one can find out how many close calls they are having!!

 

·        Wednesday September 24, 2008, Aviation Daily reports that the House has passed a six-month FAA Bill.  Here are some excerpts from that news story:

 

House lawmakers yesterday passed a six-month extension for FAA’s operating authority, which will sustain the agency’s programs into the next administration but is well short of the 12-month extension called for by FAA head Robert Sturgell.

The bipartisan bill was introduced by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leadership and was passed under suspension of rules, meaning no amendments could be attached. There is some urgency, as Congress is scheduled to recess Friday, and the FAA’s current short-term extension expires at the end of this month. The Senate was expected to pass the House version of the authorization bill by unanimous consent, either yesterday evening or this morning.

A House T&I spokesman told The DAILY that the committee decided on six months instead of 12 because it wants to see some movement on a longer-term FAA reauthorization bill early in the next administration. The proposed bill will extend about 10 weeks into the new administration, giving the new Congress and White House time to consider a full reauthorization.”

NWP “Hot Sheet” Week of 8-25-08 and 9-1-08

NWP Reps/Members,

This past Saturday September 6, 2008, Mike Hull and I got some very troubling news out of the Southern California Tracon.  It appears that our good friend and brother, Ted Angle, a Coast area controller was struck by a car while jogging near his home.  Ted was airlifted to a local hospital and has undergone extensive surgery to deal with his head trauma.  Ted’s wife, Judy Angle, is also a controller in the Coast area of SCT.  Judy is also a former Marine and was Mel Davis’ direct supervisor in the Corps 25 years ago.

SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis has decided to cancel his trip to Miami and have one of his alternate delegates step up to be a delegate for SCT.  Mel will be staying back to help with anything and everything that the Angle family needs.

Ted and Judy are members of OUR family.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their family and friends as they deal with Ted’s injuries and he continues to fight to overcome his injuries.

Mel is continuing to share daily updates with us regarding Ted’s condition and his family’s need for assistance.  This is what Mel sent to us and the facility last night:

“I was able to spend a few hours at the hospital with Judy the family.  It is very encouraging to see their church and work communities come together to support them in their time of need.   Tim Richard and Greg Lucker worked feverishly to ensure that all of the family paperwork is in order.  The situation has been reviewed by legal counsel and it appears that all of the options have been evaluated.  The medication that the doctors used to place Ted in a coma skews the tests to evaluate his condition.  Once the medication leaves his body they will re-evaluate him and at that point we should have some firm information on his outlook.  Those tests should be completed in the morning.  Judy and the family are completely blessed by your support and love.  They have asked me to express their gratitude and it is difficult for me to find the words.  I will leave you with her parting words as I left the hospital and hope they are sufficient, "Thank You."

Locally, SCT is collecting some funds to help defray some of the costs associated with a sudden tragedy of this magnitude.    Also from Mel:

“We have collected about $1000 for incidental expenses for the family that has flown in from around the country.  I believe they will make a determination this morning about his brain activity.  Judy will get his survivor annuity and she has her own retirement, which she will be eligible for in 6 months.  She will be placed on the leave donor list soon.”

Kevin Sherwood and I have worked with Mel Davis to set up a Paypal account where our NATCA family can send in their donations to assist the Angle family.  You can donate by going to the following link and clicking on the “Ted and Judy Angle Assistance Fund”:

http://kevin.thesherwoods.org/

We are also working with the FAA to prepare for any needed Critical Incident Stress debriefings.  I have to give credit where credit is due and that goes to Western Terminal Service Area Director Kathryn Vernon.  Although she and I do not agree on many issues, the SCT consolidation being one of them, I have to give her tremendous credit for being a strong proponent of the CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) program.   I have personally witnessed the benefits of the CISM program when I dealt with the Alaska Airlines 261 crash.  I highly recommend the CISM program and I am very proud of the fine men and women of NATCA who are always there for us as NATCA peer de-briefers.

I would like to dedicate this weekly update to Ted and Judy and let them know that WE are here for them and that we will be praying for them.  May God give Ted the strength to fight and give Judy the strength to endure what is sure to be a very difficult time for the Angle family.

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·        These past two weeks have been incredibly busy with numerous General aviation accidents.  We have dealt with two (2) fatal aircraft accidents at North Las Vegas, one (1) at Camarillo, and one (1) in Honolulu.  We also had an aircraft develop fuel problems near Burbank which ultimately ended in a crash.  Luckily, the BUR crash did not result in any fatalities.

 

·        I am very proud of the work of our facility reps from VGT, CMA, HCF, BUR along with NWP ASI (Air Safety Investigator) Lead Peter Trono, OWCP Lead Steve Hefley, Mike Hull, Troy Verville, Kevin Sherwood, Gordie Thompson, Dave Caldwell, HCF VP Thomas Gurule, CISM Chair Jim Ullman, CISM Peer De-briefer Mike Matherne who helped us deal with these crashes.  Our team did a fantastic job and I could not be happier with their performance in dealing with these stressful accidents.

 

·        On Monday August 25, 2008, I attended the ZLA General Membership meeting/Pre-Convention meeting with NATCA President Pat Forrey.  We talked to the members about regional/national issues and then opened the floor up to questions on anything and everything.  I wanted to thank Pat Forrey for taking time out of his busy schedule to fly out to the West Coast and attend our General membership meeting.  I would also like to thank Mark Nullman, Chad Geyer, and Garth Koleszar for doing a great job organizing the meeting.

 

·        Recently, I have fielded some questions regarding the FAA’s good ole boy rating system which is better known as “Employee Self Assessment”.  Air Traffic Controllers nationwide strive to provide the best possible service to the American flying public.  We should not have to worry about self assessing ourselves to placate an agency that does not want to do its job of managing and rating the performance of its employees.

 

·        You do not have to participate in the voluntary “Employee Self Assessment” process.  This part of the good ole boy system is optional and you are not required to participate.  Instead, I would strongly urge you to continue to provide the best and safest possible service to the American flying public.

 

·        I worked with Kathryn Vernon, Las Vegas Hub Manager Del Meadows, and VGT ATM Nancy Myrick regarding a CISM briefing at North Las Vegas.  They had two (2) fatal aircraft accidents in seven (7) days.  I am very happy with the cooperation that we received from Kathryn, Del, and Nancy.

 

·        Meanwhile, our controller at VGT who witnessed these crashes received calls at home from an FAA management official who pretends to be our friend, Mr. Dale Durbin.  Please remember that you are not obligated to discuss anything regarding your OWCP claim or your medical condition with Mr. Durbin.  Please direct this individual to contact your NATCA Facility Representative or better yet, have him contact the OWCP with any questions.  He is not your friend.

 

·        Please remember to notify us if you have a close call or an accident or incident so that we can help you.  There is a very thorough Aircraft Accident checklist on our website, http://nwp.natca.net under the “Safety” tab.  This checklist will guide you every step of the way.  Just keep in mind that it’s quite easy to get overwhelmed when dealing with an aircraft accident.  So, just call or e-mail us and we will work with you to ensure your members are taken care of in a timely fashion.

 

·        NWP Finance Lead Eric Hughes put out guidance on the NWP Treasurers listserve about how long we need to retain financial records.  Please make sure that your local treasurer is on that listserve.  The listserve is interactive and you will be able to ask questions and then receive any answers that are provided.  If there are any questions on how long you should keep your affidavits or your LM forms or election results, please contact Eric Hughes at air.rock@sbcglobal.net

 

·        I worked with Western Terminal regarding the SEE break room situation; there is no air conditioning in the break room.  Tech ops has received a bid from the contractor who will be doing the work.  The work will start today, September 9, 2008 and should only take a day or two to complete.

 

·        I would like to thank outgoing FFZ Facility Rep Jim Carter for doing an outstanding job representing his local.  I would also like to welcome new FFZ Facility Rep Bob Fletcher and thank him for stepping up to the plate.

 

·        Mike Hull worked with FFZ Facility Rep Bob Fletcher regarding some new separation standards at FFZ which call for increased runway separation above and beyond what the 7110.65 requires.

 

·        Believe it or not, yet another critical FAA system failed on Tuesday August 26, 2008 causing massive delays nationwide.  Here is an excerpt of the news story:

 

Air Traffic Is Delayed Nationwide

 

“Tuesday August 26, 2008 Communications problems at one of two air-traffic control facilities that process flight plans for U.S. airliners delayed hundreds of flights nationwide, disrupted operations at dozens of airports, and raised questions about whether the Federal Aviation Administration has adequate backup systems.

 

With the FAA's facility in Hampton, Ga., cut off from the rest of the air-traffic network, problems rippled across the country as many planes were temporarily grounded, and FAA officials scrambled to process flight plans using a backup arrangement. Agency officials and controllers said a second facility, near Salt Lake City, which usually handles only the Western U.S., was used to process instrument flight plans for all commercial and general-aviation aircraft. The shift resulted in airliner takeoff delays of often two hours or more at some airports. But within hours, most of the trouble spots had disappeared.”

 

·        I worked with NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley and NCT VP Ron McAuley regarding a hostile work environment issue/retaliation issue at NCT.

 

·        By now, most of you have heard about the latest FAA public relations ploy.  They are spreading rumors that there is a new FAA settlement offer regarding the imposed conditions of employment (ICE).  Well, we checked, and then checked some more, and could not find anything that resembled a new settlement offer.

 

·        On the two year anniversary of the imposed conditions of employment, NCT management has offered to buy every controller and developmental at NCT a new fleece jacket for being voted “Facility of the Year”.

 

·        Just a reminder for everyone regarding the NATCA Academy (any courses offered through NATCA National); training will cover ALL expenses associated with any training classes taken through the NATCA Academy for ALL facilities (large facilities as well as SRF-12 facilities).

 

·        The only cost not covered is 1/2 the room if not shared.  Please e-mail Mickela at Mickela@natca.net if you are interested in attending any Training classes.  You will have to get prior approval from your Facility Rep.  If you are interested in attending the Basic Arbitration or Advanced Arbitration class, please contact NWP LR Lead Mike Hull.

 

·        On Tuesday September 2, 2008, we were advised of some fumes at the North Tower in Oakland.  One (1) CPC was transported by ambulance to Kaiser Oakland and various controllers who were in the North Tower complained of numb lips and rubbery legs.

 

·        I worked with NWP OSHA Lead Garth Koleszar and OAK Facility Rep Les Scott to make sure the North Tower was completely free of any fumes and safe for our controllers to return. Garth did an outstanding job working with Les and the Port Authority to ensure strict adherence to OSHA standards.

 

·        Garth advised that after some very thorough tests in the Tower, PID Test (Photo Ionization Detector), they received negative results throughout the building even while running the HVAC unit. They identified several aerosol containers stored under a sink as a potential culprit or possibly something that someone had inadvertently exposed to the air.

 

·        Our NWP Constitution Lead Troy Verville worked with NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley regarding an upcoming motion at a NCT Executive Board meeting.

 

·        Mike Hull and I worked with ZLA Facility Rep Garth Koleszar regarding a member who had been arrested for a domestic dispute.  Please keep in mind that in accordance with ER 4.1, paragraph 2i, that you are required to report the arrest to your First Line Manager.  I would seriously suggest that you ask for NATCA representation when disclosing this type of information to the FAA.  Here is what ER 4.1 paragraph 2i states:

 

“i. Report known or suspected violations of law, regulations or policy through appropriate channels and fully participate in inquiries. This includes reporting any personal violation that has the possibility or appearance of impacting on the employee's position (e.g., an arrest for an alcohol or drug-related driving infraction by an employee in any safety or security-sensitive position).”

 

·        I worked with Gordie Thompson regarding a fatal aircraft accident at Camarillo.  Gordie did an outstanding job in assisting CMA Facility Rep Don Hiebert and I with the accident while Don was spending some quality time with his family at Disneyland.

 

·        Today, NATCA was notified by the FAA that a GENOT was issued, which will hopefully clear up the confusion with the Cactus-US Air debacle.

 

·        On September 19, 2008, all flight strips and data blocks for Cactus will be ‘AWE’ instead of ‘USA’.  Where we will still have an issue is at the airports, since US Air is going forward with its paint job.

 

·        Late in the afternoon on Labor Day, I drove down to San Diego for a meeting with Rick Ducharme, Kathryn Vernon, and Linda O’Brien regarding the various issues plaguing the operation at SCT.  Most of the issues are a direct result of the failed plan to consolidate from six to five areas of operation at.

 

·        During the meeting, Mike Hull, Ron Geyer, Mel Davis and I were advised that the main reason behind the consolidation was staffing and the need for a balanced workload among the areas.  Never mind that in neither the six area configuration nor the five area configuration, did they EVER address the balanced workload issue in the San Diego area.  When questioned why the consolidation plan and the associated cross training had changed so often, SCT management advised us that this had been the plan all along.  Their plan was always to cross train Departure Area controllers on the Arrival sectors, Arrival Area controllers on the Departure sectors and BUR Area Controllers on the Zuma sector.

 

·        Meanwhile, the Empire area at SCT continues to deal with horrendous staffing and massive overtime.  Half of the controllers in the area have yet to be certified on the two PSP Sectors and it appears that proficiency at the two PSP sectors is becoming a serious issue for those who were previously certified.

 

·        Over fourteen months after the two (2) PSP sectors were moved from PSP to SCT, there are still controllers on temporary duty from PSP working at SCT.  There are still controllers that need to go through class room training for the PSP sectors.

 

·        SFO Facility Rep Dave Caldwell and PHX Facility Rep Steve Palmer send me a copy of their local update, thanks.

 

·        LR Chronicles #22 which deals with “Training Review Boards”, is up and ready on the NWP website, http://nwp.natca.net.  Also, Kevin Sherwood has updated the search page for the LR Chronicles.  Please take a look and let us know if you have any further suggestions,  http://nwp.natca.org/LR_Chronicles_Search.htm

 

·        Kevin Sherwood and I worked with our HNL 2010 website developer on finalizing the website.  Here is a link to the website which is still under construction: http://alohanatca2010.natca.net

 

·        For those of you who do not have Office 2007 and have trouble viewing some of Mike Hull’s updates on your computer, you need to go to the following website and update your computer with the latest service packs http://update.microsoft.com

 

·        Thursday August 28, 2008, there was a very close call at FAT (Fresno).  Here is a snippet from the news story that appeared in the Fresno Bee:

Close call at Fresno airport

Wingtips of SkyWest jet and private plane came within 15 feet

By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee

08/29/08 22:56:16

“The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in which a SkyWest Airlines jet narrowly avoided colliding with a private aircraft on a runway Thursday night.

The wingtips of the two aircraft were within 15 feet of each other at one point, according to the SkyWest pilot.

The incident occurred about 9 p.m. just after a Piper Malibu touched down at the Fresno airport, Ian Gregor of the FAA said.

The pilot of the Piper received instructions from the tower to turn off the runway onto a taxiway, Gregor said, but the pilot was unable to make the turn and then was told to proceed to the next taxiway for the turn.

Then a controller in the tower visually checked the runway and believed it to be clear.

The pilot of the SkyWest jet was then told to land on the runway, but the Piper pilot had not yet cleared it, Gregor said, because he was having trouble finding the turnoff.

The Piper pilot was on the far left side of the runway when the SkyWest jet touched down.

The SkyWest pilot veered to the right and avoided the smaller craft.

Gregor said the FAA's internal investigation will probably be accompanied by another probe by the National Transportation Safety Board.”

 

·        On Friday August 29, 2008, there was a General Aviation accident at Burbank.  A Cessna 172 crashed just west of the BUR airport and at one point was hanging from a power line.  BUR VP Kevin Sherwood and BUR Facility Rep Cau Hau interrupted their family time and went into work to assist their fellow controllers.  Later that evening, Kevin sent us a very thorough update of the events giving rise to the aircraft accident.  Kevin went above and beyond the call of duty.  He received the call from the facility while he was having dinner with his wife.  Rather than spend the rest of the Friday evening with his wife, he decided to go in and assist the new facility rep at BUR; very nicely done Kevin.

 

·        Here is a snippet from Kevin’s update that I would like to share with you:

 

“Cau and I arrived shortly before 9PM to represent and advise the Local Controller, and the other Air Traffic Controllers, during the aftermath of the crash.  I took the Local Controller to the NATCA office and talked with him about the crash in an effort to determine his state of mind and to see if the event had adversely affected him.  I shared with him how I had experienced PTSD in 2004 and that there was no shame in seeking help.  I briefed him on the CISM program and called the CISM On-call Coordinator and left a message.  I briefed him also on the need to file a CA-1 and that he had 24 hours to do so.  We waited for the arrival of the Drug and Alcohol testers.   He was tested and afterwards I helped him fill out the NATCA Drug and Alcohol Testing Checklist.  We finished up about 1125 pm.”

 

·        P50 Facility Rep Kevin Van Uden advised us that the winner of the Vice President Election at P50 was Timothy Krieger.  I would like to welcome Tim and thank him for stepping up during such trying times.  Kevin has conferred with Tim and I, and he will be stepping down as P50 Facility Representative as of midnight on Saturday, September 13th. By local constitution, Tim will become the Facility Representative on Sunday, September 14th.  I would like to thank my friend Kevin for his outstanding work.  Kevin is an absolute professional and I am delighted to have had the opportunity to work with him.

 

·        I worked with RNO Facility Rep Rich Ferris regarding an aircraft emergency that resulted in an operational error.  Rich and I are working with the Las Vegas Hub and Western Terminal to address this issue.

 

·        The OWCP committee has amended each regional FacRep guide and we have added the new guide to our website under the “Forms Library” tab.

 

·        NWP OWCP Lead Steve Hefley worked with SCT Empire Rep Tina Kratz regarding an OWCP issue at SCT.

 

·        NATCA prevailed in an arbitration (New England Region) dealing with the FAA’s failure to grant oral presentations and provide timely written responses for two prior grievances (one individual and one union grievance) in violation of Article 9 and 5 USC 7121(b)(1).  The FAA claimed that the grievance was procedurally defective since it was filed under the 2003 contract.  The FAA also denied the grievance stating that the only remedy for those Agency failures to allow presentations and provide timely responses is for the grievances to be elevated to the next level.  NATCA argued that the instant grievance was arbitrable and requested that the Agency be held accountable for its contractual violations.  Arbitrator Craig Overton ruled that NATCA’s grievance was arbitrable and sustained the grievance.

Merits: The arbitrator noted both documents require the Agency to grant an opportunity, if requested, to present the grievance orally prior to making a decision.  “What is of extreme importance is that the hearing of the oral presentation regarding a grievance shall (mandatory) take place if requested.”  The hearing of presentations is within management’s duties and the failure to do so is “inexcusable.”  The Arbitrator stressed the importance of making an oral presentation before a final decision has been made so that the management official has all pertinent information to make and informed decision.  Also, there is a requirement for the Agency to address each of the grievances filed.  He found that the fail safe system that allows a grievance not to languish and be elevated when a grievance decision is not rendered is the exception to the rule.  “The rule is to hear grievances and render decisions on those grievances after the Agency representative has been made aware of all facts prior to rendering a decision.”

Arbitrator Overton awarded that:

“The grievance is arbitrable.  The Agency violated the language in Article 9 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement by not allowing requested oral presentations to be made and by failing to provide timely decisions.  This process shall cease and desist.”

·        Kevin Sills settled a case with the FAA for a member who had been charged with improper use of his Government identification and suspended for three days.  The agency reduced the three day suspension to a letter of reprimand.

 

·        Kevin Sills also settled the case of Robert Vance, our Chief Warrant Officer that was recently terminated from Oakland Center while he was serving his country with the California National Guard.  He received a favorable settlement that requires the FAA to rescind the termination and allow him to retire from Federal Service.

 

·        As a reminder to all, Mike Hull and I will be at the Miami Convention the rest of the week.  If you have any urgent issues, please call us AND if no response, then e-mail us.

NWP “Hot Sheet” Week of 8-11-08 and 8-18-08

NWP Reps/Members,

It’s now been close to 723 days since the FAA imposed what they believed were fair conditions of employment.  Meanwhile, with every retirement and every resignation, the workforce in the FAA is telling the FAA that nothing about these work or pay rules is fair.  The FAA told us that it was all about the money, but then walked away from the exact cost savings for which they were looking.  It was last Father’s Day, in front of Chairman Oberstar/Costello, when the FAA finally admitted that “Well, it’s not ALL about the money”.

I think the FAA is getting close to the point of realizing that their new conditions of employment are failing, and failing quite miserably.  But rather than approach us in good faith in order to resolve our differences at the bargaining table, they continue to apply band aid fixes to the system hoping that they will just go away.  One of these band aid fixes is to throw money ($$$) at the transfers hoping to attract controllers to short staffed facilities such as SCT, FAI, N90, TPA, etc.  This is from the very agency that was/is claiming that they don’t have any money.

We have some perfect examples of their failed policies and a system on the verge of collapsing in the Western Pacific Region.  Just take a look at SCT (Southern California Tracon), NCT (Northern California Tracon), L30 (Las Vegas Tracon), RNO (Reno), etc.

NCT had eleven (11) Operational Errors in thirty days!  Management at NCT directed a training stand down for four (4) days.  Two (2) days after training resumed, NCT had another Operational Error.

During a recent visit to NCT, it appeared that the Western Terminal Director wasn’t that concerned about the number of Category A/B (Most serious close calls) Errors at NCT.  Well, here are the numbers for NCT, and as former Administrator Blakey used to say, “Facts are stubborn things”:

·        FY '08 Category A/B Operational Errors- 11

 

·        FY '07 Category A/B Operational Errors- 6

·        FY '08 Category A-2, B-9, C-11, PE (Proximity Error)-1, Total = 23

·        FY '07 Category A-1, B-5, C-5, PE-1, Total = 12

 

·        In FY 2008, NCT will double the amount of overtime spent in the previous year.

 

·        So far in FY 2008, NCT has lost 15 CPCs to transfers, promotions, terminations or death.  They will lose three (3) more in October of '08.

 

Meanwhile, down at the Southern California, Management is spending overtime dollars like it’s going out of style.  Therefore, it would only be natural that when you force controllers to work six (6) day work weeks and ten (10) hour days that the stress and the fatigue will translate to a sharp increase in Operational Errors.  Let’s take a look at the cold hard facts for SCT:

 

·        FY ‘06 Operational Errors (OE) - 19

·        FY ‘06 Proximity Errors (PE) - N/A

·        FY ‘06 Operational Deviations (OD) - 4

 

·        FY ‘07 OEs- 21

·        FY ‘07 PEs- 1

·        FY ‘07 ODs- 3

 

·        FY ‘08 (Year to Date) OEs- 30

·        FY ‘08 PEs- 9

·        FY ‘08 ODs- 7

 

One would hope that those at the helm of the ATO, the FAA, the Congress, and the White House would look at the cold hard facts and realize that the imposed conditions of employment at the FAA have not worked, will not work and will most likely result in a tragic accident sooner rather than later.

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·        On Tuesday August 12, 2008, there was another critical power failure early in the morning at Burbank Tower. The failure was identical to the August 3, 2008 power failure with the exception that the SCT BUR area did not lose their radar. The sole CPC on duty at BUR Tower stated on the log: Critical power failure. RADAR DISPLAYS, RADIOS, ASOS, SAIDS OTS. During the outage the CPCs at both facilities displayed excellent teamwork so that no flights were delayed.

 

·        I sent a sample new hire/transferee welcome packet to all Facility Reps in the Western Pacific Region.  This welcome packet is from our awesome brothers and sisters at ZID.  Please find someone at your facility to help you come up with a similar packet that is tailored to your facility.  If you have any questions regarding the welcome packet and/or the NATCA Re-Loaded project, please contract our NWP Re-Loaded Rep Joseph Segretto (joseph.segretto@natca.net).

 

·        I went to Oklahoma City for the meet and greet with the academy students on August 14, 2008.  I must tell you that the fine folks at NATCA OKC local are some of the most hospitable folks that I have ever met.  Jeff Cox and Dave Osteen always make us feel so welcome.  We had a terrific turn-out by the academy students for lunch and dinner.  There were close to 112 academy students in attendance for dinner.  I also got an opportunity to meet each and everyone of the folks that were headed to the Western Pacific Region.

 

·        Two of the students who are headed for HCF (Honolulu Control Facility) told me that they weren’t getting COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) while at the academy.  HRPM Policy Bulletin 54 changed the policy so that COLA is now based on the effective date of one's assignment instead of the report date.  Thus new hires at the Academy should be receiving COLA.  I emailed Enroute VP Rick Day and Acting Western Enroute Director Heather Leonard from the meeting and asked them to correct the pay issues for these two individuals.

 

·        Mike Hull and National Pay expert/Contract Team member Jeff Walukonis worked with the FFZ NATCA Local regarding facility upgrades and what’s needed.

 

·        Kevin Sills, Mike Hull, and John Paiva begin to work on the arbitration case out of EMT.

 

·        I am working with the Las Vegas HUB manager to resolve an issue dealing with PCS and an employee’s entitlement to time for House Hunting.

 

·        The Western Pacific Region will be sending five (5) representatives to the Basic Arbitration class and one (1) representative to the Advanced Arbitration Class.

 

·        We have included a very fine power point lesson on how to use the Grievance Tracking system on our website, http://nwp.natca.net, under the “Labor Relations” tab entitled “NATCA GATS Training Presentation”.

 

·        If you are attending the Miami Convention and would like to attend the retirement briefing on Tuesday September 9, 2008 at the Miami Convention Center, please sign up in advance by contacting Katie Gressang (kgressang@natcadc.org) at the NATCA National office.

 

·        LAX Tower management demonstrates its priority by, apparently, adding a deputy and another staff manager to the ranks of LAX management.  The new total for management and support staff at LAX Tower is twenty-eight (28), which includes; contractors, TM, and administrative support.  Meanwhile, there are thirty-six (36) controllers on board!!

 

·        I was advised by SJC Facility Rep Rich Burton that a controller who showed up to work on his day off for some other issues was asked to work overtime.  Here is the show stopper though; he wasn’t dressed properly!!! Management didn’t care and asked him to work anyway.  No NOTAM was issued and everything went well with the less than professional attire being worn by a CPC!

 

·        I talked to Steve Hefley regarding the recent spike in operational errors and retaliation by a first line manager against one of our area reps.  Meanwhile, Steve advised me that Carmel Torres, wife of our recently deceased brother Anthony, recently found out that she is expecting a little boy.  This would have been Anthony’s first son.

 

·        Four (4) terrific members stepped up for the NWP OWCP Lead position.  I must admit that it’s very difficult to choose among the four very talented and qualified individuals.  However, I have decided to select NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley as our new NWP OWCP Lead.

 

·        We have a new retired NATCA member on the “Boots on the Ground” program, Todd Wilhem, formerly of P50.  Todd will be working with some folks from NATCA that have set the bar very high in Pennsylvania; Bob and Valerie Butterworth.  I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Todd for stepping up and dedicating his time to Labor and NATCA.

 

·        NWP Finance Lead Eric Hughes discussed the fiduciary duties of a Facility Rep with some interested members and offered some suggestions on budgeting and a financial policy.  Here are some of the suggestions from Eric:

 

“My recommendation, adopt financial policies which define things like "appropriate expenses", how much of each rebate check will be designated for convention attendance, meal limits, etc.  My Local designates 25% of all rebate checks to convention attendance, and 25% to regional membership meeting attendance. The National Expense Reimbursement Policy is an excellent starting point for Locals if not adopted as written.”

 

I wanted to remind all SRF-12 Facility Reps that if you or your members attend NATCA training courses or regional meetings that your expenses will be paid in accordance with the NATCA Expense Reimbursement Policy. http:/www.natca.org/assets/Documents/members/NEB-Policies/ExpenseReimbursementPolicy.pdf

 

SRF-12 Reimbursement for Training/Meetings (9/04, 4/06)

For any local receiving $3,000 or less in annual dues rebates, transportation and lodging expenses required to attend NATCA training courses or regional meetings will be paid by the region or department hosting the event, in accordance with NATCA’s expense reimbursement policy. All such expenses require pre-approval by the individual responsible for the budget before costs are incurred.

 

·        With the Miami Convention fast approaching, I wanted to make sure that all delegates are aware of Article 2, Section 18 of the Contract.  Please note that official time is NOT to be used while conducting internal Union business at the Convention.  ONLY, annual leave, LWOP, compensatory time off or credit hours may be used for the convention.

 

Article 2, Section 18.  At facilities with one hundred (100) or less Union members, one (1) Union delegate shall be granted annual leave, LWOP, compensatory time or credit hours to attend the Union's annual convention.  At facilities with more than one hundred (100) members, one (1) additional delegate shall be granted such leave for each additional fifty (50) Union members.  Annual leave, compensatory time or credit hours for other employees, who wish to attend the convention, may be approved unless operational requirements do not permit.  Leave requests under this Section shall be submitted six (6) weeks in advance.  Any questions regarding the number of Union members shall be resolved using dues withholding figures pursuant to Article 11 of this Agreement.

 

·        For all members, please remember to plan your trips for regional meetings and/or NATCA training courses to ensure that you are there for the entire time.  Also, if you plan to drive your private vehicle, please make sure that you do a cost comparison for airfare.  If airfare is cheaper than driving and you decide to drive, be advised that we will only cover the reasonable cost of the airfare and not the mileage.

 

·        Pat Forrey advised that he had talked to Enroute VP Rick Day about the proposed changes to the 7210.3 on time between shifts, napping and other scheduling issues.... “Rick stated that this was intended to be sent to a small group of people for comment but it got out!! Both Terminal and En route have been told to NOT implement any changes, as these issues need to be negotiated with NATCA. He said that if facility managers are telling their reps that they are implementing these proposed changes to let him know where that is and they will fix it...”

 

·        Kevin Sills and Mike Hull work with Steve Costa regarding a grievance out of ZUA.

 

·        If you thought that the FAA “Good ole Boy” system (OSI/SCI) was messed up last year, just wait until this year.  DOI has apparently informed the FAA that final input must be received no later than December 15.  As a result and in order to complete the necessary reviews and prepare the data for processing, each Line of Business/Staff Office (LOB/SO) must submit their final lists of OSI and SCI recipients and ineligible employees to AHR by November 21, 2008.

 

·        I talked to Curtis Cannon VP PSP NATCA regarding a recent SCT bid. Curtis is on temporary duty at SCT and has been on TDY off and on for over a year!!

 

·        Mike Hull, Mike Foote, Mel Davis and I worked with SMO Facility Rep Pam Choi regarding a serious FAA break down in communications.  The FAA decided to change the closing time of SMO without involving all of the stake holders, namely NATCA.  The City of Santa Monica had no idea that the FAA had decided to do this either.  Needless to say, I was very, very disappointed in Western Terminal for allowing this to happen right under their nose.

 

·        I worked with SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis regarding their ongoing staffing woes, operational errors, power failures, Color in ARTS, the status of the Palm Springs consolidation, etc.

 

·        Senator Boxer’s staff contacted me and briefed me on their recent meeting with the FAA.  They have asked me to give them an update following our scheduled meeting with Rick Ducharme, Kathryn Vernon, and Linda O’Brien at SCT on Tuesday September 2, 2008.  I will be attending this meeting with Mike Hull, Mel Davis and Ron Geyer.

 

·        PHX Facility Rep Steve Palmer contacted me regarding a member in need at his facility.  I am always humbled by the show of compassion demonstrated by our brothers and sisters in NATCA.  As such, I am asking you to do your part and see if you can spare some annual leave or sick leave for a member of OUR family.

 

Tim Morgan will likely not return to work this year as he continues to care for his wife (in and out of remission for cancer for the past four year) and two young children (ages 4 and 6).  His wife’s cancer has come back and it’s pretty serious.  Tim’s leave balance is getting very low and Steve Palmer has worked to place him on the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP).  Tim previously worked at VNY and LAX.  Please do what you can to help our brother out.

 

·        Meanwhile, our dear sister and former LAX Tower Facility Rep Diane Aceves had major back surgery in mid-May, a double fusion between the lowest three vertebrae.  From the time she scheduled the surgery, she worked for comp time as often as possible to try to cover the needed time off.  Unfortunately, she just recently found out that she is required to be off for an additional eight (8) more weeks in the back brace and won't be able to return to work until at least the beginning of October.  Please do what you can to help our sister out.

 

·        If you can donate leave to Tim or Diane or both, please click on the link below from an FAA computer to donate.  When you click on the link, there is a menu on the left side.  Choose the recipients list and online donations, next click on Western Pacific and submit.  The list should then appear.

https://webapps.awp.faa.gov/ovltp/index.cfm?here=home

 

·        Our good friend Brian Franklin who was a high school student that attended the Berkeley Regional membership meeting and has been a very avid fan of Air Traffic Control, NATCA and Aviation in General is going off to College.  Here is what Brian recently sent me as he prepares for College in Alaska:

“Esteemed NATCA Bretheren--

My apologies that I haven't really kept you in the loop about all this, but I have been admitted into the Forty-Ninth State Fellows program ("the honors college within the honors college") at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA).  The Forty-Ninth State Fellows program is a component of the honors program at UAA and is a leadership-building program that allows students special opportunities to pursue internships, contribute to the community, and benefit from many extracurricular educational opportunities.  I had to go through about a million essays, letters of recommendation, and interviews to get admitted to the program.

I will depart for Anchorage this Sunday.  I will be majoring in a business-related field.  I also gained admission to Purdue University (beginning one year from now), and I can choose to take advantage of that opportunity should I hate what Alaska has to offer!  In either case, I would study business, and both schools offer the additional opportunity to earn the CTI designation.

I will continue my aviation-related endeavors, including going after more advanced pilot ratings.  I would also like to continue working with you since yours is a cause I truly believe in, and your careers are the centerpiece of the aviation system.  Speaking of which, I do have a working demo of the TEC database site that is being held up only by the fact that my tech friend has suffered yet another death in the family and has yet to email me the instructions to present the demo to you.

Thank you for all the opportunities you have given me to learn about labor organization, human nature, doing the right thing, and aviation.  I will continue to work on the TEC route database as soon as I am afforded that opportunity by my friend.  I then hope you will allow me to continue working with you; the events you put on and the causes you work for really teach me a lot.  I only hope to give back.  I'll talk to you from Anchorage!”

I have already been in touch with Alaskan Regional Vice President Rick Thompson regarding Brian Franklin and he will be taking good care of our friend while he is attending school in Anchorage.

 

·        Since I will be travelling to SCT next week for a meeting with the FAA, the weekly “Hot Sheet” will be postponed to the following week.

NWP “Hot Sheet” Week of 7-28-08 and 8-4-08

NWP Reps/Members,

This past week, close to seventy (70) of you gathered with us in Las Vegas for the NWP Pre-Convention meeting.  We kicked off the meeting with me giving an update on the current state of affairs and going over some important points that will assist us in prevailing against this agency.

In case you missed the meeting, here are some of the issues that I covered in my opening presentation:

During political seasons, you always seem to hear how pivotal and/or important an election seems to be.  By now, our entire workforce should realize how important this election is to Aviation and to Labor in this Country.  As such, we need to help shape the future of our country and our organization through our participation and activism.  Our participation should not stop at the Labor 2008 program “Boots on the Ground”.  I am grateful to the likes of Bob/Valerie Butterworth, Chuck Munoz, Michele May, Kyle Johnson, as well as all others that are taking part in this most important issue, but they can’t turn the tide by themselves; they need our help.  Regardless of where you may be within the political spectrum, each one of us needs to step up and help shape OUR future.

I then discussed the eye opening experience of a NATCA Convention.  If you have never been to a Convention, it’s definitely an event that you won’t want to miss.  Ultimately, the Convention body is the one that determines the direction of this Union.  You can read all about your rights as a delegate/alternate/member at the Convention by going to our National Constitution under Section VIII “National Conventions”.  This is available on our regional website at http://nwp.natca.net.

I asked everyone who was attending our meeting and who planned on attending the Convention to listen carefully to Barry Krasner as he covered a lesson on Robert’s Rules and reviewed the Convention booklet.  Please go back to your facilities and discuss the various amendments and resolutions with your membership.  If you are a delegate for your facility then you are representing your members back home.  Your job is to be familiar with the booklet, be familiar with the will of YOUR membership, and listen/participate in the debate at the Convention.  Please avoid having to resort to name calling and belittling of your fellow brothers and sisters at the Convention simply because they disagree with you.  In a democracy, disagreement and robust debate is a necessity.  But at the end of the day, we are all part of the same organization, which should have one objective; to take back what was illegally taken away from us.

Please remember that ANY member can speak on any issue at the Convention, but only delegates can vote on amendments/resolutions/motions.  Feel free to take notes and refer to them while you are at the microphone in order to refresh your memory regarding what you wanted to talk about.  If you are going to talk, please make sure you have a well reasoned and coherent argument for or against a particular issue.  Also, please remember that all convention business is conducted via Roberts Rules of Order newly revised (RONR), and you will need to be familiar with this as well.  There will be a cheat sheet for Robert’s Rules available at the Convention and you may also find one on our regional website under the “Forms Library” tab.

Most importantly, please respect our NATCA employees while at the Miami Convention.  They work very hard on our behalf and they deserve our respect.

We ended the first day by handing out some well earned awards at our regional dinner.

Our first award, “The Hammer Award”, went to Garth Koleszar who is the Facility Rep at Los Angeles Center, a NWP LR rep, and our NWP OSHA Lead.  Garth received this award for his leadership and activism in the face of tremendous adversity.  Garth was the glue that kept the ZLA Local together and helped me pursue the ZLA ATC-12 settlement agreement.

Our next award, “The Sentinel Award”, went to Scott Conde who is the Facility Rep at Oakland Center, a NWP LR rep, and our National Lead on the GI Bill program.  As a veteran myself, I am very grateful to Scott’s perseverance in seeking a terrific benefit for our veterans.  While the FAA pats itself on the back for this program, it was Scott’s hard work and perseverance that finally got veterans what should have been theirs all along.

Next, we presented an award to former NWP Regional Vice President Bob Marks for his service and activism to our Union and our region.  Bob has been a Union officer in one capacity or another for the bulk of his FAA career.  Bob has also “arbitrated” for NATCA (inside joke)!

Lastly, we recognized one of the true icon’s of our organization, and the newest employee at NATCA, Mr. Barry Krasner.  I was so proud to be able to recognize Barry for he is a tireless advocate for our Union and one of the most talented individuals that I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

To the Western Pacific Region, thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with such terrific individuals.  I am also very proud of our regional leads, LR reps, Legislative reps, and a host of others for making our region one of the best in this organization.

 

Ham

NWP RVP

 

·        Please use extreme caution if your NATCA computer is hooked up to the FAA network and you access the internet using their infrastructure.  FAA security can look at everything that you look at and then some.  I would only recommend using these computers for accessing work related issues such as Employee Express, web schedule, TSP, etc.

 

·        Please let me know if your facility doesn’t have a certifying official for the GI Bill program.  Also, we are being advised that award letters to developmentals are currently being disseminated and that some of the developmentals are not getting the percentage of award to which they are entitled. If you are an eligible developmental/CPC-in-training, please comply with the appeal process to the Veterans Administration that is outlined in the award letter to ensure that you receiving the appropriate award.  Please direct any questions regarding the appeal process to the Veterans Administration. Members can find contact information for their regional VA representative by going to the VA website at www.va.gov

We have added the GI Bill fact sheet to our website, http://nwp.natca.net under the “Forms Library” tab alongside the other information on the GI Bill.  Please share this fact sheet with any new developmentals/CPCs-in-training who are veterans.

 

·        If you are injured at work and decide to file an OWCP claim, please be very cautious of a FAA representative calling you and claiming to be your best friend.  They may advise you that they are there to help you with your claim, but in reality they are there to find holes in your case and to help the FAA controvert your claim.  You are in no way, shape, or form required to talk with these individuals following an on the job injury.  Please refer these folks to your NATCA representative.

 

·        Please be aware that the UCR online system is still NOT to be used.  The agency is still only using the paper UCR.  The new order is still being worked on by the FAA.  Please let NWP Safety Lead Eric Carter know ASAP if your management is providing information along the lines of paper UCR's should not be used, since that would be incorrect.

 

·        During our NEB meeting in Berkeley, there was a lottery draw among the Regional Vice Presidents to determine Convention seating.  The NWP will be seated directly behind the New England region in the middle row, in the direct line of sight of the Chair, and close to the back doors.

 

·        Recently, there was a question as to whether or not the agency can require medical documentation in support of a claim for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act).  The short answer is that they MAY require supporting documentation for a request under FMLA.  There is a link to the US Code (Title 29) on our regional website for FMLA; it can be found under the “Links” tab.

 

·        NEW FAA SURVEY: Please consider filling out this ATO Safety “Climate-Culture” survey. You may read more about it by going to this link:

http://www.natca.org/assets/Documents/Climate-CultureSurvey.pdf

 

·        Mike Hull has put the finishing touches on LR Chronicles number 21 which was sent out to the Listserves and is also available on the regional website under the “Labor Relations” tab.  This is a very important item of interest for all facilities as they begin negotiations for their Basic Watch Schedule (BWS) and Leave MOUs at the local level for 2009.

 

·        I talked to P50 Facility Rep Kevin Van Uden and Mike Hull about the “De-consolidation/Re-alignment” of P50.  We are working with Kevin to address this issue.

 

·        I continued my discussions regarding the SCT De-Consolidation (6 to 5 areas) and the state of affairs at SCT with acting Senior VP of Operations Steve Zaidman.  Steve advised me that Rick Ducharme with support from Teri Bristol (former Acting Director of Western Terminal) would be conducting a data driven evaluation of SCT.

 

·        Western Terminal Director Kathryn Vernon contacted me regarding some potential dates for a meeting with her and Rick Ducharme at SCT.

 

·        ZLA VP and NWP LR Rep Chad Geyer provided some guidance to VNY Facility Rep Rich Velasquez regarding an employee working 7 days in a row.  While the FAA is ultimately responsible for a situation such as this, be advised that the employee ALSO bears some responsibility in ensuring compliance with the 7210.3 and applicable Federal Air Regulations.

 

·        Many of you have asked questions about the FLSA lawsuit.  Please keep in mind that lawsuits take time and that nothing will happen overnight.  Although the trial court has ruled on the issue of the FAA’s liability in maintaining comp time and credit hours programs that violate the FLSA since the 1996 implementation of personnel reform, many issues still remain to be resolved in this litigation.  These issues include, among other things, the scope of the recovery period (whether it will run two years back from the date of filing the lawsuit or three years back from the filing date); the calculation of damages; and the compensability of pre- and post-shift work.  Counsel for the NATCA plaintiffs intends to commence discovery on these issues as the next step in bringing the case closer to final resolution.  At this time, Counsel for the NATCA plaintiffs has no information about whether the FAA plans to appeal the court’s finding of liability, but are moving swiftly to proceed to the next stage of the litigation.

 

Meanwhile, several members have asked whether they can share all of their pay information from years back with our outside Law firm.  At this point, our attorneys have advised to please hold on to all pay stubs.  If and when they determine a need to check the veracity of the FAA produced data, they will be asking each member for their information.

 

·        Meanwhile, Mike Hull has disseminated the list of individuals by facilities that have opted into the Law Suit to each individual Facility Rep for all of our 55 NWP FAA facilities.  If you have any questions as to whether or not you opted in, please contact your Facility Rep.

 

·        An information sheet on how to join the lawsuit already exists on the front page of the NATCA website at www.natca.org  It's in the middle of the page and entitled, "NATCA FLSA Lawsuit."  If a member wants to opt-in, they need to mail a completed and signed consent and retainer form to Ryan Smith at the NATCA National office.  You can NOT fax it.  The Court will only accept an original signed document.  Once the National office receives the form, they will add you to the next filing.  A filing date for additional plaintiffs has not yet been scheduled.  Our presumption is that NATCA will add any additional plaintiffs sometime this fall.

 

·        LAS Facility Rep/NWP LR Rep and Constitution Lead Troy Verville answered a question for TUS Facility Rep Jay Cole regarding proxy type voting at the Convention.  Here is what Troy had to say,

“Unfortunately, without anyone attending the convention, TUS will not be able to vote on the proposed amendments and resolutions.. You should have received a green booklet from national that gives a complete listing of the proposed changes. If you did not receive the booklet please make sure the National Office has your most current mailing address. Change of address forms can be found on the Western Pacific web site. If you’re attending the regional meeting this coming week we'll have one available to take back to your facility. If your not attending let me know and I'll make sure we get one in the mail to you.”

 

·        I continued to work with Garth Koleszar, Bob Guerra, and Darrel Meachum regarding a hardship from ZLA to ZFW.

 

·        Based on some member input, I will no longer state in my weekly updates about when I get currency at ZLA, since I already send out an email to the listserves.  There was a question as to why I send out an email to the listserves letting everyone know when I get currency at ZLA.  Here is the short answer:  So that each and every member and Facility Rep knows where I am in case of an emergency and/or urgent situation which warrants an immediate response from the regional level.

 

·        I had a telcon with Western Terminal Director Kathryn Vernon.  Here are some of the issues that we discussed:

 

·        SEE break room air conditioner

·        It’s not a de-consolidation of P50, it’s a re-alignment!!

·        PHX Tower over 10 hours memorandum from Western Terminal

·        OAK new Tower construction

·        Self referral at one of our Terminal Facilities

·        PCS issues from HCF to SCT (They say they can’t offer a Flat Rate PCS)

·        TUS member picked up at ZAB with release date of 8-8-08, still no update PHX 20 (Retired Military Controller) and whether or not the age 56 rule applies to the initial 5-year contract term

 

·        Tuesday August 5, 2008, Troy Verville attended a Controller-Pilot Safety forum set up in Las Vegas by Eric Carter and Kelly Richardson.  Here is what Troy had to say about the event:

“On Tuesday evening we held our first Safety forum Meeting in Las Vegas. The meeting went very well with a great turnout from the controllers specifically from L30. L30 Vice President Sara George did a great job organizing and mobilizing her local.  I'm not certain of the numbers, but I believe more than 10 controllers from L30 were present. The tower had 4 controllers and I was pleased with that. The Tracon truly blew me away with their attendance and Sara should be very proud.

I was hoping, as was Sara that we would have had an Air Carrier presence, however Las Vegas being what it is, the General Aviation turnout was great. The pilots that showed up asked many questions and offered many accolades to the controllers for the hard work and the service that we provide. The GA pilots that attended were also potentially a very good and influential group. Since their cliental are some of the biggest players in Vegas, Boyd gaming etc.  I believe that this program is a must have to build these aviation industry relationships with the local users.

Overall great program still in it's infancy but I can see this growing into something much bigger. Kelly Richardson talked about having another meeting this coming spring, possibly March, April or May. Hopefully we can get the Air Carriers involved in our next meeting.”

 

·        There appears to be some confusion with respect to what financial forms need to be filed in specific instances.  Specifically, we have had an issue where a facility assumed that the IRS 990 E-Postcard relieved them of their requirement to submit their Affidavit.  Subsequently, they failed to submit their Affidavit and their 2nd Quarter dues were withheld.  Therefore, if you are a facility with $25,000 or less in revenue/property, you still need to submit an Affidavit.  If there are any questions regarding any financial issues, please contact Regional Finance Lead Eric Hughes or have your local treasurer get on the NWP Treasurers listserve and ask the question, nwp-treasurers@list.natca.net

 

·        If your treasurer is not on the listserve, please contact Mickela and she’ll take care of it.

 

·        I received a call from Senator Boxer’s office that they will be meeting with the FAA to discuss issues relating to SCT on August 12, 2008.

 

·        I was advised by NCT Facility Rep Steve Hefley that due to a rash of errors at NCT, training has been suspended for up to four (4) days last week.  Steve also talked to me about a potential hostile work environment issue at NCT.

 

·        I talked to Scott Conde regarding a developmental at ZOA who will be unsuccessful in the training program.  Western Enroute is apparently advising ZOA to just terminate the member since they had no D-sides, even though he is a good employee.  When I talked to Western Terminal, they re-affirmed that they were perfectly fine with showing this hard working member the door; what an absolute travesty and an utter waste of tax payer dollars.