1. 2015 Leave -
Ok, this is likely your final warning from me. Management has told me that anybody who has overbid their leave (what you have plus what you will accrue this year) will have their requests canceled for any requests that you don't have the leave to cover. For example, if you have 24 hours of annual left for this year, and you have five days of annual requested, your first three days will stay there and the next two will be deleted.
You have until roughly October 12th to fix your leave requests. I say roughly because they aren't sure how much time Joni and Katey need to count up everyone's leave and then count up the requests, subtract holidays, etc etc. I do know management wants to have it done before the next pay period schedule is published because that one has Thanksgiving and they want to make sure people aren't illegally blocking somebody from getting leave. I would expect to see something posted in the area about this soon. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
2. NATCA Nominations -
Troy beat me to the punch notifying all of you last week, but nominations for all positions in the facility are open as of Thursday. You can nominate one person for each of Fac Rep, VP, Treasurer, Secretary, and D-Area Rep. You should have a nomination form in your mailbox (your work mailbox).
3. 2016 Bidding -
A lot of people are wondering when we will start the bidding process for next year. Renee says that the MOU's are basically done and agreed on, and they are at the region to be approved. They expect that to happen this week. They plan to brief the workforce on the new MOU's during the week of Oct 12, and then start bidding the week of Oct 19. Last year we took a very long time to get through the whole thing. I take a lot of the blame for that, as it became tedious to constantly keep track and notify people to bid. So, for this year, I want to say, let's try and move it along a little faster. Please be prepared to bid when it is your turn. I'll hopefully be better at keeping it going, and Joni will also be helping to move the bid along.
4. Red Book Ideas -
I don't know how many of you get emails from NATCA national, but they sent out an interesting one recently. The "red book" contract will expire next summer and so the process of negotiating a new contract will begin this winter. NATCA wants to hear from you if you have some ideas on things that could be changed, added, or removed from our current contract. Here is what Paul and Trish sent:
Brothers and Sisters,
Our Collective Bargaining Agreements for the ATCS, TMC/S and NOTAM bargaining units (Red Book) are set to expire in July 2016.
After a review of the existing articles and mid-term agreements reached since ratification, it has been determined that that we will open negotiations with the Agency in order to incorporate the improvements and benefits that we have secured since 2009. We will also explore improvements in a number of other areas.
We are in the process of identifying a team that will bargain on your behalf. It is anticipated that bargaining will commence early 2016.
It is important to know that NATCA successfully lobbied Congress to change the impasse procedure in the 2012 FAA Authorization Bill to prevent the FAA from unilaterally imposing work and pay rules as it did in 2006. The new law ensures that if the parties do not reach agreement upon a new contract that we will proceed to mediation. If the parties cannot reach a voluntary agreement through mediation, we will go to binding arbitration.
In advance of any formal bargaining, we are asking the membership to submit ideas for consideration in any new agreement. These ideas will be reviewed in preparation for negotiations. Please submit your suggestions to 2016contractideas@natca.net.
In Solidarity,
Paul Rinaldi
NATCA President
Trish Gilbert
NATCA Executive Vice-President
5. Article 5 Person -
They are looking for somebody to do an upcoming D-side dysim stint for Korri and Geoff. Let myself or your supervisor know if you are interested.
Ok, that's the latest news,
Chico