Facility Update September 15th

Good Afternoon All!

Ecuador was incredible, but being gone for a week really lets the work stack up while you’re gone. I am finally close to catching up, thank you for your patience.

UNUM

The 2023 UNUM Open Enrollment period is rapidly approaching the deadline of September 20th.   

I have attached the enrollment form you can complete and send back to Bill Liberty bliberty@natca.net directly. He does not recommend you sign up on the website and will ensure they are entered into the system. 

HERE is the brochure, and HERE is the enrollment form.

Parking Lot

As of this past Wednesday, the FAA will no longer be working with the current contractor for further work on this project. They will finish up the ramp, which will open up the door to the OSW building, and button up some electrical projects. I believe this should all be done by the end of next week. After that, all parking lot work will pause until next spring/summer.

Potential Government Shutdown

This is looking increasingly likely. Since this sits squarely in the House of Representatives' hands, there’s not much we can do about it other than prepare. In the event of a shutdown and depending on how long it lasts, there is a potential that paychecks will be delayed, so take that into consideration.

I will be at CFS next week but will be available by phone/text/email.

Amy Sizemore

Labor Day Lunch

All,

NATCA ZSE Local will provide lunch on Labor Day (Monday, September 5). There will be 4 boxes of Jersey Mike’s subs. Each box serves 12 people. Lunch will be arriving around 11:30. There will also be several Union-made snacks like chips and pretzels.

Just wanted to make sure you all plan accordingly!

Facility Update September 1st

Just a couple of quick things for you:

• The Varda event next week is not happening. I don’t know what happened to the vehicle that was supposed to be recovered, we only know that everything got canceled. 🤷

• If you didn’t read the national email a couple of weeks ago, the MOU that includes the increase to 20% for performing OJTI got extended for another year.

• They are updating cru-Art on 9/15 and will not be available for sign-in/sign-out purposes. For those who have not experienced this before, you can also expect to have a sign-in form on sector. Nothing too crazy, just a heads-up.

• MOU negotiations started yesterday and are still in progress, no update on estimated completion.

• Lastly, I will be on leave, out of the country next week, Drew will be the acting FacRep in my absence.

Amy Sizemore

Facility Update August 25

Varda Space Operations

A company called Varda (they manufacture drugs in space) has put a satellite into orbit and will have to retrieve it in the next few weeks. The estimated reentry time is September 5th between 2-3 pm, but there will be a massive TFR in ZLC that will impact all the air traffic that would typically transit that airspace. HERE is a screenshot of the TFR, you can expect a briefing shortly to explain the finalized routes around it. 

All Members Meeting

The next All Members meeting will be September 27th at 1 pm. East/West Conference room. Agenda items to include some local constitution change proposals. Please let us know if you have any other agenda requests, and we’ll add them.

Security Changes

The security system in the building is being upgraded. This should mostly go unnoticed, but they did say some badges might not work. Just let someone know, and they’ll point you in the right direction to get it fixed. The other change is in regards to the blue “employee” badges, which are mostly only used if a person forgets their ID at home. The new system will be for the gate to issue a badge that looks similar to our current badge but has a “T” instead of a picture. 

Thank you,

Amy Sizemore

Facility Update August 21

Good morning all,

Hopefully this smoke will clear soon and we can get back to breathing easier. Other than traffic picking up like crazy, there hasn’t been much to update you on. Our MOU meetings were rescheduled again, right now, we’re scheduled for the 31st and 1st. I have expressed concern over pushing this too far and affecting January leave slots, but the front office has assured us they won’t cancel again.

Wildfire Activity

While all the areas have TFRs due to fires, the fires in the C Area currently pose the greatest impact on air traffic control. There is a possibility that GEG will have to evacuate and, in turn, have to divest the YKM, PSC, and GEG airspaces back to us. As of right now, there has already been a transmitter, a VORTAC, and a RADAR site affected by the fire and shut down due to the fire destroying the power lines leading to these sites. The techs were able to return to the area and survey it, and sent back THESE pictures of the damage. The C area currently has 7/11 combined until further notice because of the outages. Currently no restrictions as a result of this, but that could change anytime.

SOC Desk Construction

There will be some re-arranging of the SOC area within the next 2 days. I have been assured that it will have minimal impact on air traffic but if for whatever reason it gets too loud, please let the OM know and they should be able to mitigate that.

Thank you for all your hard work,

Amy