Facility Update June 20th

Northwest Mountain T-Shirt Drives

There are two new NNM shirts available for purchase, I printed up a flyer and a QR code for each of them, they are in the bulletin board. The first one is for Pride month. All proceeds go to Inside Out Youth Services, a charity dedicated to serving the LGTBQIA+ youth community in Colorado. That one is available until July 6th. The second one just launched today and features two brand-new logos. These patriotic shirts will benefit Project Sanctuary, a charity created to focus on the families of military members nationwide. Here are the links if you would like to learn more and see the designs:

PRIDE SHIRT

PATRIOTIC SHIRT

Your Vote, Your Union!

As you may or may not know, our NATCA National election is underway for President, Executive Vice President, and Regional Vice President.

It's crucial that we have as close to 100% participation as possible. Your vote is your voice. This is how we collectively make a difference.

Showing strong participation sends a clear message to the agency that we are united and engaged. Don’t let low participation diminishing the impact of our collective voice. We cannot afford to let our ambivalence be weaponized.

All members have the right to vote in this election.

New members are entitled to a ballot as long as they joined by July 15, 2024.

Missing Ballots can be replaced with a duplicate as long as your request for a duplicate is received by July 16, 2024.

If you haven't received your ballot yet, please email natcaelection2024@natca.org right away.

Please ensure your ballot is mailed by July 15th, all ballots are due by and will be counted on July 30, 2024.

If you have questions about the candidates or need assistance with election related items, please reach out to any of your NATCA reps. We're here to help and can provide you with the answers and support you need.

Let's come together and ensure our voices are heard, loud and clear. This is YOUR union. Please participate in this election.

In Solidarity,

Amy

Facility Update June 14th

Construction Update

I have been assured the big parking lot will open next week. They might block off the front parking lot this weekend in preparation for that. The lights will be turned off on Monday. I had to move some of the appliances around in some of the areas today to ensure Tech Ops had access to enough plug-ins for the supplemental lights. Please don’t move any appliances around or unplug any extension cords, we’ll go back to standard ops when this project is over in about a month.

Member in Need

Most people are aware of the Voluntary Leave Donation Program, it is intended to supplement someone’s leave balance when they have had to deplete it due to family or personal circumstances. We have someone in the facility who could use your help, Anthony Greer, a trainee in the A area has been approved to be on this program. He gave me permission to share his story:

"My mother, who has multiple sclerosis and lupus, was recently diagnosed with congenital heart disease after experiencing a shortness of breath and symptoms of pneumonia. She lives in Arkansas, and was hospitalized in the middle of moving apartments. I took time off to help her move from Little Rock to Fayetteville, AR, and to take her to doctor’s appointments and help monitor her medication over the course of a couple months. I exhausted all my accrued annual and sick leave in the process. “

Thanks for reading Anthony’s story. Please consider donating any leave you can by accessing the link below behind an FAA firewall.  

All leave donations must be made from an FAA computer https://ahrweb.faa.gov/ovltp/.

NATCA’s Birthday BBQ

Reminder: This Tuesday, June 18th, we will be having a BBQ out front from 11 to 1. We will have a variety of hot dogs and burgers, including some meatless options. Shout out to Jon Jones, he handmade a set of cornhole tables that will be out there to use too! I look forward to this being the first of many events that our new events committee puts together for us!

Thank you all,

Amy

Facility Update June 5th

If you haven’t already, please spend one minute filling out this SURVEY. This will help the events committee know what people are interested in when they plan the next event.

Control Room and Break Room Cleaning

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be clearing out excess items in the control room that are no longer used, do not comply with OSHA standards, or are simply trash. If you have any personal items such as coats, coffee makers, or other appliances behind the consoles, please remove them immediately. Alternatively, let me know if there is something you need me to set aside. Unclaimed items will be donated or discarded.

Once the control room is cleared, I will move on to the reading room and pool room. If any gaming consoles in the pool room belong to you, please retrieve them. All books in the reading room will be donated, so feel free to take any you want before they’re gone.

Construction Update

The parking lot project was delayed due to recent storms but should be completed soon.

The lights were initially scheduled to be turned off last Monday, but due to unforeseen issues, the process was delayed. While testing the supplemental lighting yesterday, the light panel got damaged, pushing the timeline back by approximately one month. We will keep you posted.

Election Information

Your participation in the upcoming election is crucial. While not everyone can/wants to volunteer for NATCA positions or details, voting is a way everyone can contribute. Make sure your voice is heard. Educate yourself about the candidates by visiting their websites, attending town halls, and asking any questions you may have. The e-board is also available to provide additional information if you wish too.

Thank you,

Amy Sizemore

Facility Update May 31st

All Members Meeting

Our next All Members meeting is on Monday, June 5th, in the East/West Conference room. Lunch will be provided at 12:30, and the meeting will start at 1 p.m. Agenda items include FAA Reauthorization, upcoming events, the NATCA National Election, area training reps, and possible effects of the fatigue mitigation on 2025 schedule bidding. If you would like to attend virtually, the link is HERE.

Control Room Lighting Project

It was put off for years due to budget constraints, but they are going forward with the lighting project in the control room. No light fixtures will be changed, it is just the panel that controls all of them. I’m sure I’m oversimplifying it because it will take them a month to complete this. We will do a final test of the supplemental lighting on Monday, and as long as that goes well, the project will commence. Please immediately report any outages of the strip lights built into the console so they can be replaced.

Parking Lot Construction

They are nearly done with the part of the lot that has been closed for the past couple of months. They are slated to finish it, strip it, and open it next week. Then, they will close the northeast lot and the remainder of the unfinished spots to pave those as well. Please use caution. The next project is the creation of an ADA-compliant ramp that connects to the door up front by the lockers and should start soon after the parking lot is complete.

Enjoy our little bit of sunshine,

Amy

**Reminder** CHA Wednesday and Thursday this week

Reminder from last week’s email:

Collaborative Health Assessment (CHA) (this does not have anything to do with the flight surgeon)

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.

Thank you for your participation,

Amy

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