Center FacRep Meeting Notes

The meeting in Chicago went great. The hosting facility had our schedule jam-packed with many speakers, it was very informative but made for very long days. Here are some of the items we discussed:

Disaster Relief Fund (DRF)

The DRF has been a vital resource for NATCA members since 1992 after Hurricane Andrew. Originally founded to help with natural disasters, like hurricanes and tornadoes, they have been able to expand their reach and help with things like house fires and flooded basements. The DRF was on call and ready to assist members in our area in 2020 when the wildfires forced evacuations for many of us. HERE is the link to their page to learn more about what they do, but also, if you’re interested, they could use your help. You can donate time, resources, or money, all are greatly appreciated. Use the contact info on the link above to talk to someone about volunteering, or if you prefer a monetary option, click HERE to set up a payroll deduction. (Currently, three people at ZSE have a monthly donation set up, I’d love to see more!)

I wanted to separate this next point so it doesn’t get lost in the mix. It is really important that you keep your address up to date with NATCA. The Disaster Relief Committee has a program that overlays a map of any particular disaster with the addresses of all the members. Then they are able to target specific members to offer resources. Please ensure you address is correct on the myNATCA website or let us know, we can help too.

ABACUS

As many of you know, no ARTCC has ever had an accurate traffic count. They can do simple things like count airplanes, but it goes downhill quickly when you start trying to figure out things like military aircraft and complexity factors. The FAA and NATCA have been developing a program called ABACUS with the goal of accurately counting traffic. It is an extremely involved, highly technical program that, when tested, has about a 99.7% accuracy. They do not currently have ZSE scheduled for a test run, but it should be within the next year or two, this program is highly dependent on continuous funding. If you are interested in what goes into figuring out determining a facility level, it HERE in the contract. The section starts on page 232, but the formula specific to enroute starts on page 248.

Training

The national training rep gave an in-depth briefing on the happenings in the training world. The 3120.4 has an update coming out soon, the OJTI Cadre class (this is the one to certify people to teach OJTI class) schedule has been released, if that interests you, please let me know. There is one here in April, but more around the nation. The TRB class schedule also has been released.

Drug and Alcohol Committee (DAC)

Saliva testing has been approved, but DOT has no current plans to use it. They are waiting for other people to work through problems. There isn’t even a lab to process them.

There were so many more topics that we discussed, these were just the most useful for the general membership updates. We left there with a huge “to-do” list and have already started checking items off. Meetings like this make us stronger leaders and are a huge benefit to be able to share info between centers and not be on 20 individual islands.

Thank you,

Amy

Facility Update October 13th

Happy Friday (the 13th) all! We have an annular eclipse in southern Oregon around 8 am, I will be interested to see how it turns out, I believe it’s supposed to be fairly cloudy across the main path, but I haven’t gotten any tops reports ;)

MOU Negotiation / Bidding

Talks are still in progress with the front office. We are getting closer, but just not quite there yet. Again, I still cannot disclose details, but we are heading in the right direction. MOU season has always been challenging, but this year has brought some unique difficulties, and ZSE is not the only one facing them. There are very few facilities in the Seattle district that have signed MOUs. We are working diligently and meeting as often as possible to get this done.

Legislative Info

To clear up one piece of misinformation that seems pretty common: Some people have been told that this means we are safe from the November 17th potential shutdown because the FAA has been reauthorized through December 31st, which is not the case. The FAA will shut down just the same if there are no continuing resolutions or full budgets passed.

We will be at the center FacRep meeting this Sunday through Tuesday. We will both be available through call/text/email if you need anything. I will be back in the facility on Wednesday and hope to have some good information to share with you after the meeting.

Amy

All Members Meeting Minutes 9/27

Hey membership! Here are the meeting minutes from the meeting a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, some of it is irrelevant now because the government shutdown was averted. However, it may come in handy whenever the next deadline comes up and these questions come up again. We are still looking for anybody interested in helping plan events! Let a rep know. Thanks, heres the minutes,

Chico

All Members Meeting 9/27/23 East/West Conference Room and Microsoft Teams

Attendance:  Tucker Enzien, Xylen Holmes, M’lynda Jallinger, Derek Adams, Jen Teshima (teams), Damien Littell, Patrick Beerman, Kenny Courts, Lisa Marshall, Josh Pate, Matt Simpson, Dave Dixon, Josh Palmer, Roger Adams, Kevin Thomson, Abbi Kennedy, Lindsay Williams (Training/Elections Rep), Evan Gwinn, Kari Box, Zach Rush, Dove Toche, Jacob Heuvel, Zoe Martin, Cody Edwards, Alex Fontaine, Chris Costanza, Taylor Choate, Andrew Cousin (PAE), Alex Mather, Daniel Dean, Kevin Nguyen, Noelle Walas, Ligaya Corbitt, Jennifer Urbina, Loren Cameron (teams), Nick Meyer, Derek Harris, Dan Rasmussen (A-Area Rep) (teams), Amy Sizemore (FacRep), James “Chico” Eastham (Secretary), Drew Stewart (VP), Devin Carlisto (Treasurer), Amanda Crumbley (C Area Rep), Tim “Pirate” Bizeau (B-Area Rep) (teams), Alan Zelez (S46 FacRep), Taunisha Karsh (Safety Rep), Mike Sellman (Tech Rep), Jon Jones (Staff Rep), Kip Karsh

Start time:  1:10 PM

Food:  Birria Tacos, Fries, and Churros, provided by ZSE Natca Local

Local Constitution Changes - 

We had planned to talk about some things here, but it’s not quite ready, so this will wait until the next meeting.

Potential Government Shutdown - 

We don’t have any insider information.  The information that is out there is what we have to work with.  It is hard to know how it will go.  If they don’t come to an agreement soon, the shutdown will start on Monday.  All non-excepted employees will not be allowed to come in.  Everybody without an A-side can’t come in.  If you have an A-side, you come in.

There was a question about whether the shutdown will start on Sunday or Monday.  Based on what we have heard, it will be Monday for sure, not sure about Sunday.

Trainees will be in the area, just hanging out and monitoring.  OJTI will continue as normal.  Keep track of the hours that you train, night hours you work, Sundays, etc.  This will help you to double check your pay stub for accuracy.

Any guidance regarding leave?  It’s always different every time.  There is a bill that has been signed into law, which guarantees back pay if you are on furlough from the federal government.  There are no paid leave statuses, only furlough.  Sick leave abuse is still possible, they can track the leave you are taking.  That being said, if you are sick you are sick.  You might hear people in the area talking about which rules they are going to break, etc.  Don’t try and cheat or abuse the shutdown for your own gain.   It is no fun to be a pawn in this, but we still have a job to do, and a duty to the flying public to keep things moving and give our best effort.

Will this affect training times?  This will affect everything.  Everything gets delayed when a government shutdown happens.  Refresher training will be delayed also.

Will there be financial assistance?  Sky One Credit Union will definitely have something available.  They are a partner of NATCA.  Drew mentioned USAA will put your mortgage on hold if you work with them.  Many financial institutions are generally understanding and can help you temporarily while you are not getting paid.

Activism - In the past we’ve done gatherings at airports where we hand out leaflets and hold up signs.  We want to tell legislators that their inability to get work done is having a real effect on our lives.  Certain HATCH act violations are suspended during a government shutdown.

What about scheduled leave that people have?  Can they use it?  Yes, you take your leave as normal.  If you have leave currently approved you can expect it to continue.  The leave gets canceled and converted to furlough leave.  You will be back paid at the end because of the GEFTA (Government Employee Fair Treatment Act) bill.

Will supervisors approve leave now?  They can’t approve leave, it will just be furlough.  Our contract is not suspended during a shutdown, it still has to be followed.  Leave should be normal aside from it being called furlough instead of sick/annual/etc.

Our paychecks had a lot of mistakes last time, and there will probably be mistakes this time also.  Anything you can do to help keep track of the hours you work, weekends, nights, training, etc. will help you make sure you get what you are owed.

For those that are not excepted, how will we know when to come back?  You’ll hear from Amy, NATCA national, work, or all three.  There will be notifications sent out.

Visitors - 

We have two visitors attending the meeting today.  Alan Zelez is the Fac Rep at S46.  Andrew Cousin is from PAE.  Welcome!

MOU Negotiations - 

In order to negotiate in good faith, we can’t disclose all of the details we are talking about with management.  Management is moving pretty slow in getting things done.  They have newer people that they are trying to educate on how this process goes.

Evan asked about the potential for losing bid leave slots in January.  If we don’t complete our schedule bidding by a certain time, the January schedule will already be published and we won't get a chance to bid leave then.  This is true, however, if we lose slots in January they will be moved to later in the year.  The number of slots will not decrease.  Management has a lot of incentive to try and have negotiations completed before this would become a problem.  You can still request leave as you normally would, it just wouldn’t be guaranteed.  There is not a real fear that it would come to this.  We think things should be completed before then.  Alan says that our facility is not the only one having difficulty this year with getting the MOU negotiations completed.  He is having the same issues at S46 as well, and it seems to be region wide.  Is our regional leadership aware of this?  Are they doing anything to help?  They are aware, but they can’t really step in until the parties come to an impasse at the local level.

Treasurer Report - 

There have been a few amendments that we’ve done to move some money around, but that has kept us on budget.  Should we do an event before the end of the year, we may look at using savings for that.  At our next all members meeting is where we will set the budget for 2024, so if you have ideas let Devin know.  We are looking to do more food for members for holidays or get togethers etc.  Devin also noted that we had used a good portion of funds to help build out internet at the facility, but now that it is in place and running we don’t have those costs anymore.

Events - 

We are still looking for somebody to help with planning events.  You wouldn’t be doing it all alone, Amy would be able to help some.  It would be nice to have somebody to take care of the logistical and planning aspects of it.  Events help us build relationships with each other, adjacent facilities in the area, and also Region X.  If you are interested let your rep know.

Meeting adjourned at 1:45 PM

Facility Update September 29th

I’m sorry to have to say we’re inching ever closer to the government shutting down with no shimmers of a reprieve.

The following letter was sent to the VPs and FacReps during the last shutdown in 2018/2019:

Just learned that the DOT has directed the FAA that starting tomorrow, FAA is required to report absences due to sickness to DOT at core 30 towers, large TRACONs, and Enroute facilities by noon each day. It will include normal sick leave usage as a comparison.

I've offered to get our reps connected to the reporting process at the local level to provide some level of accuracy, but will keep you apprised.

Seems this is based on media reports of organized sick outs. I'm told it's not just FAA, likely TSA has been directed to do the same.

Dean lacopelli

What does this mean?

With the increased publicity of the shutdown and how it affects federal employees, it is imperative that ATC does not become associated with an en masse sick out or any kind of job action. Such action is a fireable offense. The above policy is a precursor for the DOT directing the Agency to start taking action on employees that are viewed as abusing sick leave or causing a job action. For the benefit of everyone when this shutdown ends, it is important that ATC is seen as stepping up to the plate and not falling down on the job. It will help everyone in the long run when Congress is determining if Furlough leave will be back paid. Articles like the ones about the TSA calling in sick are not helpful when it comes to public opinion of how we handled our duties during this Shutdown.

Please be mindful of expressing or sharing sentiments on social media that could be construed as a call for sick leave abuse. And please utilize unrecorded phone lines when calling into work.

While nearly 5 years old, there are still valid points in this email. To say being a political pawn is frustrating is an understatement, I know. This one will make too many shutdowns and FAA Reauthorization lapses to count and none of us are here as volunteers. But the fact remains we have the unique pleasure of serving in the most vital yet probably most thankless public servant jobs. Making things work in spite of adversity is a key tenant of being an Air Traffic Controller and I am thankful for the wonderful company I keep when I tell people what I do for a living.

We are also hearing rumors of over-zealous supes who are trying to tell BUEs that, “I cannot approve leave during a shutdown.” While semantically correct, there are no paid leave statuses during a shutdown, the CBA and all MOUs are still in effect. Your rights and entitlements are not suspended during this time.

Correction/clarification to my last email: I said, “We are hearing that there will be people converting leave to the appropriate code once we are in a paid status again, but I do not know precisely what that looks like.” Under the current law, we will get back pay for furlough days. That will hold true as long as that law doesn’t change.

Helpful links:

NATCA Government Shutdown

OPM Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs

GEFTA Bill

FAA Furlough Resources Website

I know this has the potential to be extremely taxing on all of us but we will get through this and continue our legislative efforts to separate Air Traffic Control from the effects of government shutdowns.

Amy

Shutdown Info / All Members Meeting Reminder

The all-members meeting will be at 1 p.m. in the East / West conference room tomorrow. We will be talking over shutdown procedures mostly. There will be lunch provided.

With the government shutdown looming, here are a couple of pieces of info:

• Please do not speak to the media. NATCA Reps have contractual protection, but this does not extend to the general membership. This also includes comment sections on articles or social media posts. Anything that violates the FAA social media policy can potentially put you in danger of discipline. Please forward me any interview/media requests, and I take appropriate action.

• Our legislative activists have been working on this for a long time but have kicked it into overdrive in the past week. They are pursuing every angle possible with our elected officials to try and avoid this shutdown.

• There are no paid leave statuses during a shutdown. AL, SL, PPL, etc., will all be coded as furlough days until the government opens again. We are hearing that there will be people converting leave to the appropriate code once we are in a paid status again, but I do not know precisely what that looks like.

• Non-excepted employees (trainees with no certification, non-mission critical staff, etc.) will not be allowed to come to work.

We will continue to update you with information as we receive it, but as always, let me know if you have any questions.

Amy