Facility Update May 13th

Buckle in, lengthy update ahead, but I’ll try to be a succinct as possible. Just let me know if you have any questions or anything.

Facility Visit

Nick Daniels and Jamaal Haltom, running for NATCA President and Executive VP respectively will be in the facility on Wednesday the 15th from 1pm-3:30 and then returning after a meeting, sometime after 6pm.

Events Committee

Lots to go over here. 

• We have the winners for the ZSE step challenge random raffle: Travis Beus, $50 gift certificate; Jessie Dias, $35 gift certificate; and Chico, $15 gift certificate. Please contact Lisa Marshall, email: lisabrookemarshall@gmail.com, text: (775) 247-4123 to let her know whether you would like that for Costco or REI. 

• In celebration of NATCA’s 37th birthday, the Events Committee is going to be throwing a BBQ. It will be on June 18th and will be held up front near the grills. 

• The Events Committee would value your input on what events you would like to see so they know how best to plan. Please fill out THIS short survey so they know what you are interested in. 

Collaborative Health Assessment (CHA)

Quick background: each facility has two Collaboration Facilitators (CFs), one management and one NATCA. Their primary focus is on the relationship between the FacRep and the ATM and how effective they are as a pair. Normally, the interaction between the FacRep/ATM and their CFs is pretty informal, mostly just a call/text to see how things are going. Every couple of years though, they come to the facility and conduct a CHA. This has nothing to do with the Flight Surgeon or anything like that, it is a short survey on the state of collaboration in the facility. Then, at the end, they compile the de-identified data and provide the ATM and FacRep with what could be described as a report card. They will be here May 22-23 and will be interviewing as many people as possible. While not required, it is strongly encouraged and will be on duty time, you do not have to use your break time. More information HERE. If you will not be here those days but would still like to be interviewed, please contact Marilou Scherer at scherermadness@gmail.com.

Childcare Survey

A couple of weeks ago, Drew sent out a survey link. It’s really important that we get as many people to fill this out as possible so we can try to get childcare in the area again. Here is the information again:

Linked below is a survey created by Jen Teshima to help us try to get childcare in the area. We have no guarantee that this will move the needle at all but we need maximum participation in this to be able to have a shot at getting childcare back in the area.

This is for people who currently need child care OR THINK YOU MIGHT IN THE FUTURE!!

Survey:  Childcare Survey

Thank you in advance for your help!

Drew

Contact Your Representative

We are so close to the FAA Reauthorization being voted into law and then we don’t have to talk about that for another 5 years. The Senate passed it, and it is in the hands of the House right now, but as you know, not a lot of things are moving quickly these days. You probably received an email from NATCA National today asking you to contact your representative to pass the FAA Reauthorization Act now. It is super simple and will take less than a minute, you don’t need to think of words to say or who your representative even is, the form does it for you. If you can’t find the email, the link it HERE.

I know this was a lot. Thank you for making it to the end. Enjoy the sun while we have it for the next week or so.

Amy

Childcare Needs Assessment Survey

All,

Linked below is a survey created by Jen Teshima to help us try to get childcare in the area. We have no guarantee that this will move the needle at all but we need maximum participation in this to be able to have a shot at getting childcare back in the area.

This is for people who currently need child care OR THINK YOU MIGHT IN THE FUTURE!!

Survey: https://forms.gle/DFvLMTtG1nVpUoaA7

Thank you in advance for your help!

Drew

Fatigue Mitigation Changes

You've likely seen the FAA Administrator's announcement concerning the fatigue mitigation changes. While not inherently negative, the issue lies in the unilateral nature of the announcement, which lacks collaboration. The Administrator views himself as a "regulator," asserting the authority to enact this change independently.

We had a regional telcon this evening to discuss this announcement and here are a couple of key points:

RVPs learned about this this morning and got notified of a call at 9PDT along with a 114-page fatigue study. Medical personnel and FAA officials were on the call. They talked about a controller questionnaire that was against the rattler. They asked for the questionnaire but most of the report was lost on 9/11. This questionnaire was done in 1999.

Fatigue mitigation has never been in the top 5 of focus items in the FAA. The FAA Adminstrator and Dean Iacopelli were in the meetings. The Adminstrator is adamant about using his authority to impose this on us. He was reminded of the contract in place and said he would try and do it anyway. He was reminded that summer traffic is coming, and he said this is happening regardless. The Agency is convinced they can just unilaterally use Article 7. 

There were a couple of people on the call also:

Joel Ortiz, Western Pacific RVP:

Last summer showed a rash of NTSB investigations. The common theme was staffing and fatigue. The FAA did a fatigue study that did not include controllers. NATCA told the FAA that, obviously, the rattler is not desirable but don’t have a lot of choices given the staffing levels. The FAA did all of this without collaboration and without debriefing NATCA afterward. They released everything 7 minutes before the national email blast. Collaboration has taken a massive hit over the last two years. This was under a union-endorsed administrator in a union-friendly administration.

Josh Waggener, Northwest Mountain ARVP:

They are still researching as to whether this is something they can even do. If so, the impact and implementation need to be worked out, too. It might be carried out in 90 days or it might be for next year’s schedule. There is also the possibility that the managers “won’t have the authority” to negotiate MOUs if this gets drawn out too long.

Eddie DeLisle, P80 FacRep:

Management can try to do whatever they want, but it is important to remember that it does not supersede the contract. Industry will be on our side because they are concerned about their bottom line. Collaboration is not dead. We decide when it’s dead.

Basically, nothing should be currently happening at the facility level. Our agreed-upon schedules are protected, and our bid leave is guaranteed. If you hear anything about a manager requiring schedule changes or anything of that nature, please let us know right away, and we will address it.

Amy

Facility Update April 16th

Greetings from the Northwest Mountain Regional meeting in Salt Lake City. When the meeting is done, I will ensure I disseminate notes for you to review.

Area Training Rep Solicitation

We are moving forward with developing Area Training Reps. Lindsay has created an extensive list of typical duties an Area Training Reps would do. If you are interested in the role, please peruse THIS and if it interests you, let me or your area rep know.

Sign up for the ZSE Step Challenge Drawing

So far, we’ve only had 3 people fill out the form to make them eligible for the ZSE step challenge drawing. The NCF Step challenge goes until May 3rd. As a reminder, here’s the previous update info:

The NATCA Charitable Foundation (NCF) Step Challenge started last week but you can still join at any time during the challenge. Your steps will backtrack to March 20th through your tracking app/device. We have a little ZSE teaming going but you may join another team, make up your own or do it alone.

As mentioned in the last update, your NATCA Events Committee will be offering 3 gift certificates for 1st ($50), 2nd ($35), and 3rd ($15) place to your choice of either Costco or REI. The Step Challenge ends on Fri, May 3rd and we will announce the winners the following week. In order to pick the winners, all the identified participants will have their name in bowl and we will randomly pick 3 names out. Just fill out the form to get your username matched with your real name, and you're in! Don't miss out on supporting the NCF—join in now!

Google Form to be eligible for the drawing HERE

Link to join the Step Challenge HERE

Southern Insurance Group (SIG) Visit Next Week

As most of you know, the Federal life insurance that people sign up for at the start of their careers loses its cost efficiency and  value the older you get. NATCA has negotiated this benefit to provide you with a cost savings avenue to ensure your family is protected. Please do yourself a favor and stop by their booth in the cafeteria on Tuesday, April 23rd or Friday April 26th from 10am - 4pm. Just to provide some more info, here’s an excerpt from the email the SIG Rep sent me:

To remind you of the benefits we offer, our primary focus is on individual life insurance policies. For those who have the FEGLI group life insurance (which is a horrible deal and skyrockets in price as you get older), we sit down with them and show them a no-obligation comparison between what they have with FEGLI and what we can do for them on an individual basis. Everyone is different, based on current health and medical history, but it’s not uncommon for us to save people $20-40k, or sometimes more over the course of their career and beyond. Over 6,000 NATCA members have switched over from FEGLI, and we have saved them millions!

We can also take a look at members’ survivor annuity, which retirees can pay into with their retirement income to provide a death benefit for their family if they pass away in retirement. We can look at an individual life insurance policy as a replacement for that, which could provide a similar benefit for your family at a much lower cost.

Lastly, we specialize in UNUM disability insurance for controllers, which can protect their income if they should lose their medical clearance and are unable to work. Open enrollment for this ended in October of 2023, but should be available again this fall. I’d be glad to educate members on this, so they know the benefits of signing up next time open enrollment comes around.

Construction

Please do not enter any of the construction zones. This is for safety and liability reasons. They are being very strict about it and are reporting people who violate the barriers.

Amy Sizemore

FACILITY UPDATE MAR 25, 2024

Happy Spring! I mean..the rain won’t last forever, right? This is my first Facility Update, so please keep expectations low. Thanks!

4TH ANNUAL STEP CHALLENGE

The NATCA Charitable Foundation (NCF) Step Challenge started last week but you can still join at any time during the challenge. Your steps will backtrack to March 20th through your tracking app/device. We have a little ZSE teaming going but you may join another team, make up your own or do it alone.

As mentioned in the last update, your NATCA Events Committee will be offering 3 gift certificates for 1st ($50), 2nd ($35), and 3rd ($15) place to your choice of either Costco or REI. The Step Challenge ends on Fri, May 3rd and we will announce the winners the following week. In order to pick the winners, all the identified participants will have their name in bowl and we will randomly pick 3 names out. Just fill out the form to get your username matched with your real name, and you're in! Don't miss out on supporting the NCF—join in now!

Google Form to be eligible for the drawing HERE

Link to join the Step Challenge HERE

COOLANT PIPE REPAIR

It was discovered that one of the very large pipes in the basement that runs water through the HVAC for the building is failing. The contractor will be out on Wednesday to perform a test that involves briefly shutting down the water. This is to see what types of repairs will need to be done. They will return and do this work on Saturday unless the test shows that it needs to be done immediately. This work will start between 2 and 4 am, and the estimated completion time is 30 min. Let the OM know if it gets too hot in the control room. I don’t think it will affect the heat, but maybe bring a hoodie just in case.

CIC CADRE

You may remember they will require certified people to teach the CIC class. The class will be taught via Zoom and held on May 16th and 17th. If interested, please let me or your area rep know by April 16th.

ALL MEMBERS MEETING 3/20/24

Thank you to all those who came in person and online to the All Members meeting! We had a packed room with many new faces. Chico will send out the meeting minutes soon.

DRUG & ALCOHOL TESTING

The testers have been in the building a lot over the last 2 weeks. Please always ask for a NATCA Rep if you don’t see one. We are here to protect the process for you.

I will be at Parents Weekend at WSU next weekend for my oldest and away for spring break with my youngest April 8-14. I come back in time to attend the Northwest Mountain Region Meeting in SLC on April 15-17. We will send out meeting notes after we return.

If you have any questions/concerns please contact any of your Eboard members.

With Warm Regards,

your Veep

Ligaya Corbitt

312-952-3191