NWP Reps/Members:
I would like to start out by wishing each and every one of you a very safe and happy holiday season. Please take the time to cherish your family and re-energize yourself for the coming New Year and the challenges that lay before us.
This past week, Mike Hull and I traveled to Tucson at the request of our LR Rep Allen Bieber. Allen did exactly what an LR rep should be doing by keeping a very close eye on the state of affairs at TUS Tower as well as the other facilities for which he is responsible.
On Tuesday December 16, 2008, we met with close to twenty (20) members from TUS and U90 (Tucson Tracon). For the most part, our visit focused on the state of affairs at TUS, since U90 appeared to be doing quite well under the leadership of an excellent FACREP, Mike Schrock and VP, Mike Ragucci. I talked to young CPCs and veteran twenty year CPCs and one theme was quite common; the poor morale and hostile work environment at the Tower. As one young CPC told me, “I have never been treated like such a child.” “There appears to be no trust in the Controllers.” Meanwhile, the twenty year veteran advised me that, “They need to change their philosophy of ‘us’ against ‘them’ and that this had been the worst working conditions he had seen in any tower during his twenty year career with the FAA.”
The sole first line manager in the tower (24 hour operation) spent the vast majority of his time doing paperwork. When he did come into the tower, it was to yell at the controllers. The only workplace where this type of behavior would be effective is “Boot camp.” Our professional members do not need to be treated as children, belittled, badgered and threatened; they just need a little oversight and a friendly reminder to use good operating practices. This type of hostility will do nothing to improve the operation at TUS and instead serves to create a distraction for those who are entrusted with public safety.
This type of FAA mentality is seriously flawed and contradictory. It was Bobby Sturgell who stated in a recent speech that we need to focus on our employees. It’s Hank and the ‘CRM’ (Crew Resource Management) training which talks about team work among all of us in the operation. Employees should be the most prized commodity of any successful company/organization. The principles of CRM will never work when this type of behavior is allowed to flourish in places such as TUS. This does not promote a team atmosphere. CRM will not flourish in a dictatorship.
While waiting for my flight in TUS, I received several calls and emails about the rumor circulating about President-elect Obama’s pick for DOT Secretary. No one in the Aviation industry had even contemplated or considered Congressman La Hood for the position. As such, I think everyone was just as surprised as NATCA that he was the nominee for DOT Secretary.
My initial thought was “Why?” As I began to look into this and read more and more about Congressman La Hood, I began to understand why President-elect Obama had chosen him for the position. I have been extremely impressed by the organization and speed by which our President-elect has planned his Presidency. I think that his nominee for DOT Secretary was a very strategic move. He realizes how important this job will be to the success of his economic recovery plan.
If you recall, the President-elect plans to use investments in infrastructure (Transportation) as a catalyst to economic recovery. Congressman La Hood knows all of the players on the Hill, he is very familiar with the appropriations process, and he can reach out to both Democrats and Republicans in order to push the multibillion-dollar surge in infrastructure spending and design a new system for funding transportation projects.
I think many of our members were and continue to be very weary of Congressman La Hood’s less than favorable voting record on Labor issues. I personally do not see this as an issue. The second the former Congressman agreed to accept the nomination for DOT Secretary, he agreed to serve under a Labor friendly President who has his own agenda for Labor and for middle class America. I think Congressman La Hood said it best during a news conference on Friday December 19, 2008:
“Good afternoon. I’d like to thank President-elect Obama for his confidence in me and his commitment to working across party lines for this country. President-elect Obama and I share the same philosophy on infrastructure. His agenda for the Department of Transportation is my agenda for the Department of Transportation.”
As you can see, even though Congressman La Hood did not support many issues that were important to Labor and NATCA, he has now stated publicly that the President’s agenda is his agenda. His voting record is now just a matter of history.
Here is what one of our greatest allies on the Hill, Congressman Oberstar, had to say about Congressman La Hood:
Oberstar said “LaHood may be the ideal choice to engage in the bipartisan give-and-take that will be needed in the months ahead.
“I don’t know what other motivation the president and his team had, but he said during the campaign that he intended to reach across party lines,” Oberstar said. “I think he picked the right guy to move ahead with that.”
During this holiday season, I am very grateful for the work that each and every one of you does every day of the week. You keep our skies safe and you help bring smiles to the face of family and friends who are flying home for the holidays, thank you.
In Solidarity,
Ham
NWP RVP
· There are some very important changes to the FAA Form 8500-8, “Medical Application”. Some of the big changes include the requirement now to report history of ANY “alcohol or substance-use related arrests” not just convictions. There is also a requirement now to report any disability benefit even those such as a minor disability rating when separating from military service. The NATCA LR Department has created a terrific document on the changes to the Form 8500 on the NATCA National website, members only, Labor Relations, under “Know Your Rights”; http://www.natca.org/laborrelations/KnowYourRights.msp
· NWP Constitution Lead Troy Verville, Mike Hull, and I worked with SMO Facility Rep Pam Choi regarding a tie in seniority and whether to attach the policy on the lottery to the local Constitution or have a stand alone document. It’s best to incorporate your Seniority lottery policy into your local constitution and keep it simple.
· Troy Verville also provided some guidance to NCT VP Ron McAulley on whether a “run-off” election is considered a new election for the purposes of an election notice or a continuation of the original election.
"If the original election notice contains the required information about a possible runoff election, a separate 15-day mail notice is not necessary for a runoff election. However, members must still be notified in some manner, such as posting at the work site(s), if it becomes necessary to conduct a runoff election for any office(s)."
· NWP Hardship Lead Bob Guerra advised me of two hardships that have been approved out of LAX and BFL.
· It’s that time of year again when the quota driven SCI is determined. Some members of management are advising developmentals that they are not eligible for the SCI since they are in a training status. This is complete garbage, just like their SCI program. Developmentals are absolutely eligible to receive a SCI.
· Effective January 1, 2009, the new NCT Facility Rep will be Steve McCoy. I would like to welcome Steve back as the NCT Facility Rep. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Steve Hefley for his service to the NCT Local and NATCA. Steve Hefley will remain on as our NWP OWCP Lead and as a member of our NWP LR Team.
· I would also like to congratulate Chris Brazys as the new Facility Rep at FFZ and thank outgoing Facility Rep Jaime Torres.
· Effective January 1, 2009, Thomas E. Thomas will be the new Facility Rep at CMA, welcome aboard Thomas. I would like to thank outgoing CMA Facility Rep Don Hiebert for doing a terrific job as the CMA Rep.
· In a sign of changing times, we FINALLY received a good decision from the FLRA (Federal Labor Relations Authority). Congratulations to the NATCA LR department especially Gretchen McMullen. Here is what they had to say:
“The Federal Labor Relations Authority summarily denied the Federal Aviation Administration's Exceptions to an Administrative Law Judge's ruling that the Agency violated the law when it issued a letter of reprimand to a FAC rep which was issued in retaliation for his union activity. Complaint issued on this matter and the FAA failed to respond. Their failure to respond resulted in a finding of the violation. The FAA appealed that determination for several reasons. First, they said that the complaint, which indicated that an answer was required, had been lost among the thousand of grievances filed by NATCA. The FLRA rejected this argument saying that misplacing a document is not a sufficient reason to not answer the complaint. Moreover the FLRA said that the Agency had provided no evidence to support its claim. Another specious argument raised by the FAA was that the Notice posting would violate the Privacy Act as it mentioned the name of the NATCA FAC rep. As with the first exception the Agency provided nothing more than a bare assertion and, as such the Authority rejected this claim. The next argument raised by the FAA is that a grievance had been filed over the same matter and thus barred the ULP. The FLRA denied this claim for two reasons- the FAA had not raised the matter previously and they provided nothing more than a bare assertion. The final argument raised by the Agency is that the matter was moot since the Reprimand had been rescinded. The FLRA stated that even if the Reprimand was removed a cease and desist and Notice posting are still viable remedies. It was on that basis that the FLRA rejected all of the FAA's claims and ordered that the FAA comply with the Order and including a posting”.
· Mike Hull and I worked with LAX Facility Rep Mike Foote regarding the unilateral change to the working conditions of staff specialists at LAX.
· Effective January 1, 2009, there will be a new NATCA expense voucher. Kevin Sherwood will post the new voucher on the NWP website, http://nwp.natca.net. Please use this new voucher for any expenses incurred in 2009.
· I spoke with ZLA Facility Rep Garth Koleszar about some disturbing news about possible abuse of authority by the acting manager of Systems Operations at ZLA. Apparently, the acting TMO has been approving overtime (more than 100 hours), credit hours (more than 40 hours), and compensatory time off for himself. Apparently, he has also been approving his own sick leave and annual leave. This is not an isolated issue within the FAA these days. In another case out of HWD Tower, it was discovered that the ATM had approved herself for six weeks of leave and had given her sole supervisor a week off also. Meanwhile, there was no management present at HWD for over a week. This issue is currently being worked by NWP LR Rep Dave Caldwell and the SFO Hub Manager. There appears to be very little accountability in the FAA these days. Have no fear, change is right around the corner!
· Mickela worked with P50 Facility Rep Tim Krieger to correct a membership application issue for one of the P50 prospective members. Mickela has done a terrific job this year supporting all of us; please thank her the next time you speak with her. She absolutely loves her guys and gals.
· Flight standards had finally made the determination that ALL DH8’s are to be considered as large aircraft. This issue first came up at P50.
· There are only a few days left before the Dec. 31 deadline for nominations to be received in the National Office for the fifth annual Archie League Medal of Safety awards. All flight assist events that have occurred in 2008 are eligible. Any NATCA member may nominate another NATCA member. Please submit all nominations to Courtney Paquette at cpaquette@natcadc.org. You can also reach Courtney by phone at 202-266-9844.
Added bonus: This year’s winners for each region will receive an all-expense-paid trip for two to Las Vegas for the awards ceremony, which will be held in March at Communicating for Safety.
· I would like to congratulate the following members for completing the Basic Arbitration course: Mike Ward (ZOA VP), Bryan Baker (Outgoing L30 Facility Rep), Thom Gurule (HCF Terminal VP), and Mark Knabel (VGT Facility Rep).
· I would like to recognize P50 Facility Rep Tim Krieger for doing an outstanding job of keeping his members informed via frequent updates; great work Tim.
· While I was getting some currency, Mike Hull dealt with a member from LGB, had several conversations with our STS Rep Jana Pitre, discussed an air traffic incident at RNO with RNO Facility Rep Rich Ferris as well as an agency plan to forcefully promote two CPC’s to temporary supervisory positions (RNO is so short staffed that they have been working six-day work weeks for many months), discussed the RNO-NCT Consolidation with ZOA Facility Rep Scott Conde, worked with SCT Facility Rep Mel Davis about an employee having ‘shy bladder’, etc.
· I have asked FAA Headquarters to look into why a developmental at U90 has yet to receive her recruitment incentive. She was constantly reassured by a specialist that her paperwork looked great and that she would see her incentive, for having a prior CTO, when she reported to her first facility. When she reported to her first facility and inquired the status of her incentive, she was advised that the specialist didn’t submit any paperwork on her behalf and as such she was no longer eligible for the incentive. Needless to say, this is just plain wrong and no way to treat our developmentals.
· Mike Hull and I worked with U90 Facility Rep Mike Schrock regarding a training review board, the ERR process, and the general working environment at U90. It was also great to see Mike and some of his members while we were in Tucson last week.
· NWP LR Rep Dave Caldwell worked with the SFO Hub regarding some issues at HWD Tower, STS Tower, and some issues with travel for a class at SCK. Dave has done a terrific job in being there for the facilities assigned to him as LR Rep.
· Mike Hull worked with Rick Ducharme at the national level regarding some travel issues for some of our members from TOA and SCK. The FAA initially wanted our members to attend a class in ONT and NCT for several days without any offer of lodging or per-diem. Mike worked with Rick to resolve these issues for our members.
· I would like to congratulate the new officers at PRC Tower:
o Noel Kingston - Facility Representative/President
o Geoff Kusel - Vice President
o Whitney Johnson - Secretary/Treasurer
· Geoff Kusel has graciously designated Noel as the Facility Representative for the remainder of the year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Geoff for his service to PRC and NATCA.
· In yet another sign of changing times, NATCA received a favorable decision from Arbitrator Kathy Eisenmenger who reduced a 10-day suspension to a Letter of Reprimand and ordered back pay with interest. The Arbitrator found that the grievant did violate the Agency’s policy regarding unauthorized transmissions on the frequency, but found that the violation was relatively harmless. The grievant was accused of making unauthorized transmissions on the frequency when he engaged in friendly conversation with pilots unrelated to air traffic control instructions during early morning hours when there was no other traffic in the airspace of the tower.
However, the Arbitrator reasoned that the 10-day penalty was excessive based on several factors, including that the nature of the violation was not serious but was technical and inadvertent and not done maliciously. The Arbitrator stated that “in the relative scheme of things, the Grievant’s infractions constitute minor violations of the Agency’s policy goals.” The Arbitrator chastised the Agency for enhancing the penalty simply because this was the grievant’s second offense, even though the first offense was unrelated.
The Arbitrator noted that the guidance in the Table of Penalties counsels supervisors to use common sense when enhancing a penalty based on previous disciplinary action, and that “to use the second offense penalty range when the offenses are not related may lead to an unfair, if not absurd, result.” The Arbitrator reasoned that the Agency has the burden to show that the first offense had some relationship to the second offense in order to enhance the penalty. The Arbitrator found that the evidence did not support enhancing the penalty based on the first offense since the facts were completely unrelated. Treating this as a first offense, the Arbitrator reasoned, a Letter of Reprimand was sufficient to correct the grievant’s behavior. Congratulations to Gretchen McMullen and Kris Koke (ZFW) for this victory.
· NATCA reached a settlement with the FAA concerning a five day suspension for failure to report an operational error. The Parties were able to agree to reduce the suspension to what equates to a paper suspension. The five day suspension will be reduced to a two day suspension, which will be treated as having been served on his regular days off and the employee will be made whole for the three days. Any record will be removed from the employee's personnel files effective January 1, 2009. I would like to congratulate Kevin Sills for doing an excellent job with this settlement.
