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Facility Update September 23rd

Reminder: All Members Meeting Tomorrow

The All Members meeting will take place tomorrow at 1:00 PM in the East/West Conference Room. Lunch will be provided at 12:30 PM.

We’ve noticed an increasing interest in “bid windows” over the years, and we’re considering introducing them this year. Tomorrow’s meeting is an excellent opportunity for you to share your thoughts, whether in favor or against. We look forward to hearing your input! HERE is the link if you would like to attend virtually.

WIFI

You’ve probably noticed some slowing/outages on the NATCA wifi lately. Matt Coughlin and Devin Carlisto are working hard to fix those. Most of the issues will be resolved but Matt will be doing some work on Thursday, there might be some intermittent outages.

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Facility Update September 17th

NATCA Shirt Day Winners

Congratulations to Nick Meyer and M’Lynda Jallinger! You two are the lucky winners of this month’s $25 gift certificate to The Rock. Any suggestions for next month’s prizes?

All Members Meeting

The meeting is next Tuesday at 1pm, lunch will be available at 12:30 in the E/W Conference Room. Agenda items: MOU update, Schedule Update, and of course, anything else you all want to talk about. The virtual link is HERE if you would like to attend that way.

Voting Update

First off, I want to thank you all for the great response we've seen so far! We’ve passed 70% of ballots turned in for ZSE, and I’m incredibly proud of this facility! We’re making great progress!

If you haven’t had a chance yet to mail in your ballot, no worries—there’s still time. If it’s sitting on your countertop, just take a few moments to fill it out, send it in, and let me know so I can update our sheet.

As I’ve mentioned before, participating in this process is crucial for two reasons. First, this is your voice. Please make sure it's heard. Second, the FAA is watching. Our election participation numbers are visible, and when we don’t engage fully, it can give the impression that we’re not fully invested in our internal business. We want to present a united, strong front, both for ourselves and externally.

Thanks again for all your effort! Let’s finish strong!

In Solidarity,

Amy Sizemore

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Facility Update September 12th

HEY EVERYONE I’M BACK!

I appreciate the trust that the eboard has placed in me to reprise my role as VP. Ligaya did an amazing job as VP and I look forward to picking up where she left off. Here is a quick update on what I know so far after taking over officially yesterday.

MOU Update

We have conducted our first official meeting regarding MOUs and we expect steady progress on that front in the coming weeks. We will update you all as soon as we know something substantial. Expect your reps to continue engaging the areas on schedule types that might work for your specific areas.

Parking Lot

In the next few days, a new parking lot project will begin (yay!). This one should take a little less time than the last one. SHOULD. This time they are installing an ADA ramp to enter the building from the front by the lockers.

TSHIRT DAY!

This Sunday 9/15 is NATCA Tshirt day. If you would like a chance to win a $25 gift ceritficate to The Rock, wear a NATCA shirt and find a NATCA Rep to give you a raffle ticket. Ligaya will be on the day shift and find any of the reps on the swing to get a ticket. When you receive a ticket, make sure you put your name and area on it and place it in the black box by the mailboxes.

Thats all I have for now. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Amy or me with any issues or questions.

Drew

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Facility Update August 23rd

New Construction Project

They will start work on the ADA ramp on 9/16. This will affect a couple of the front parking areas and the front row of lockers by the windows. Please ensure you are adhering to all the restricted area signs/tape/etc, they are quick to turn people in for violating those.

Voter Canvas

A small group of people in the building will contact every ZSE member to ensure they got their ballot (there were an alarming number of people who didn’t get ballots during the regular election) and ask whether the member has mailed it in yet. The national voter turn out was (in my opinion) abysmal at about 39%. I cannot stress this enough, it is in our best interests to do these simple but important things and ensure the FAA knows that we are active, we care and are paying attention to our workplace.

Fatigue Mitigation Schedules

The reps are close to finalizing a schedule that best suits each of your areas. This process has involved countless hours of work and brainstorming to balance the old rules, new additional rules, contractual requirements, and to ensure you have a decent stretch of time off during your RDOs. We are doing our best, but every schedule that meets these parameters will have pros and cons.

To make things easier, I've created a brief overview that combines the key rules from the new MOU, the 7210.3, the contract, and the OPM guidance. Please note, this list is not all-inclusive, but it covers the basics.

Current 7210.3 rules:

  • If an employee is assigned more than two (2) consecutive ten (10) hour midnight shifts, all of the consecutive ten (10) hour midnight shifts require a 2100L (Non flex) start time. 

  • Ten (10) hour midnight shifts are limited to no more than four (4) in any six (6) day period. 

  • No day shift may immediately precede a ten (10) hour midnight shift. 

  • Have at least 30 consecutive hours off−duty within each seven−day period.

Additional new 7210.3 rules:

  • Have at least a 10-hour break from the time work ends to the start of any shift.

  • Have an off-duty period of at least 12 hours preceding and following a midnight shift.

  • A minimum of seven (7) hours core time each workday, except for the purpose of a fatigue flex-shift, then a minimum of six (6) hours core time on the shift immediately preceding a midnight shift. Core hours: Day - 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Mid 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m)

Contractual requirements:

Article 24:

  • Employees shall be authorized the use of all leave they will accrue within a leave year. 

Article 34:

Flexible Work Schedule (FWS):

  • Maxiflex-40 is the name of all variations of an FWS

  • Must work 40 hours in an administrative work week (Sunday-Saturday)

  • Credit can be earned

  • Flex times can be used

Compressed Work Schedule (CWS):

  • An employee works eight 9-hour days in a pay period and one 8-hour day for a total of 80 hours in a pay period (i.e. 5/4-9 schedule)

  • Credit cannot be earned

  • Flex times may not be used

Additional Information:

Credit hours and flex times are only available to employees on a Flexible Work Schedule (FWS), such as Maxiflex-40. Employees on other schedules, such as a Compressed Work Schedule (CWS) or a basic work schedule, will follow the rules applicable to those schedules as defined by OPM and cannot earn credit hours.

For the basic work schedule via OPM, employees have a fixed work schedule (i.e., 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week) with predetermined start and end times. There is no provision for earning credit hours because the schedule does not allow for flexible variations in daily or weekly work hours beyond what is predetermined.

I understand this is a lot to take in. If you're interested in a group call with all members or a one-on-one conversation to clarify things or address any questions or concerns, please let me know, and we can arrange it.

In solidarity,

Amy Sizemore

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T-shirt Drawing Winners

Congratulations to Robert Marshall of the C area and Jen Teshima of the B area, they are our two winners for the month of August! They will both receive a $25 gift card to The Rock. We had about 20 tickets turned in.

Any feedback on this would be welcome. Should we go to twice a month? Do you have any ideas for gift card locations?

Thank you,

Amy

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