All,
I hope you are all having a good week. Not a ton going on in the area right now outside of line vacancies but here is an update on some stuff that I have worked on recently.
Juniper Complex
We have had a pretty good conversation going on on Slack about Juniper Complex procedures so make sure you get on in there if you have something to say. For now, no policies are changing but one thing did come up regarding transitioning the airspace. The B area doesn’t generally believe that they need to let us know ahead of time before clearing someone into Juniper. That being said, if you do choose to transition the airspace, be sure to call them and advise them not to clear anyone in the airspace until you say otherwise. I know there are different opinions on whether or not we should even be transiting the airspace while it is scheduled to go hot but should you choose to, I think this is a good practice.
Metering
Last Wednesday we did a little test run on the floor where we set the amount of delay taken by the B area to 0. The time we displayed was still the arc time but the delay was the full delay at BTG. Meaning the true arc time was the displayed time minus 5 minutes. I don't think this really gave us what we were looking for. I think what most of us want to see is the actual BTG time. So for now there will be no change. I am working with TMU to find a way to display the BTG time and no arc time. I think that might be the most seamless way to do it. In that case we would just cross the boundary into the B area with the 2 digit timer (count down timer) at 5 or under. I’ll let you guys know what I find out.
FLM Issues
We have had a few issues where an FLM remembered an exchange between an employee and him differently than the employee remembered it. I only say this to draw attention to the fact that if you decide to talk to an FLM on the non-recorded line, you are running the risk that the story changes after the fact. I’m trying not to just outright accuse anyone of anything, but you all know who to be weary of.
Shift Change Requests
Vaden is the scheduling supe now and he has been publishing the schedule a little earlier than we are used to. Overall this is a good thing but it brings back up the issue of people putting in requests too early. He deleted the first few he found and re added them, I would not expect that to continue. If you put your request in too early, expect it to get deleted and not put back in. Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period. So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit. A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.
B Area Article 46 Move
THIS IS ALL STILL IN RUMOR PHASE. However, I do want you to all be prepared in the event that it happens. Article 46 of the contract allows the agency to realign the workforce. The TL;DR version is that they will determine the eligible employees (likely D area) and then solicit a move to the B area. If they are unable to get a volunteer they would force the junior CPC to the B area. If you do volunteer you get a 1% bonus when you go and another 1% when you check out. I’ve attached Article 46 of the contract to the bottom of this post if you want to read it for yourself.
Bid Vacancy Waterfall
Looks like MK will be getting AL’s line and we have a pretty big waterfall about to take place so please please please initial ASAP as to whether or not you want the posted line. I will be hassling you if you don’t.
I feel like everyone who wants to be on slack already is. Hit me up if you have any issues with slack or anything else.
In Solidarity,
Drew
Article 46
Section 1
The Agency shall notify the Union at the national level as soon as possible, but not less than twelve (12) months, in advance of a facility closure, or relocation and/or severance of existing facility functions and/or services or inter-facility realignment requiring the reassignment of employees. The notification period may be reduced by mutual agreement of the Parties at the national level.
Section 2
In the event of a facility closure, or relocation and/or severance of existing facility functions and/or services, or inter-facility reorganization, the procedures outlined in Article 47 of this Agreement shall apply when a reduction-in-force is necessary.
Section 3
The Agency shall notify the Union representative as soon as possible, but not less than six (6) months, prior to intra-facility reorganizations (e.g. areas of specialization are realigned and/or established) involving bargaining unit employees.
The Agency shall notify the Union representative as soon as possible, but not less than three (3) months in advance, when a staffing imbalance exists within a facility that requires retraining of individuals to solve the imbalance.
These notification periods may be reduced by mutual agreement of the Parties at the local level.
Section 4
In exercising the provisions of Section 3, the Agency shall determine the number of employees to be selected. Solicitations for volunteers shall be facility-wide unless otherwise mutually agreed to by the Parties at the local level. If after this initial change has been completed another imbalance was created that requires further action, the Agency shall designate the area from which volunteers will be sought and the number of employees to be selected from each area.
Section 5
In facilities where staffing imbalances exist, volunteers shall be solicited from all qualified employees where no individual retraining is necessary to complete the change. If after this initial change has been completed another imbalance was created that requires further action, the Agency shall designate the teams from which volunteers will be sought and the number of employees to be selected from each team.
Section 6
In exercising and complying with Sections 4 or 5, each vacancy shall be filled by the reassignment of the most senior qualified volunteer. If there are no volunteers, selections shall be made using inverse seniority from among the qualified employees within the designated area(s)/team(s) which were identified in the solicitation. The transfer of employees shall be accomplished within three (3) months of the close of the solicitation. If the transfer is not accomplished within three (3) months of the close of the solicitation, the selection list shall be considered void.
Section 7
A CPC who has volunteered for an intra-facility reassignment shall receive an incentive bonus equal to one percent (1%) of the employee's Base Pay and an additional one percent (1%) once he/she has fully certified in the new area. When a CPC who is involved in an intra-facility transfer in accordance with this Article is unsuccessful in achieving certification in his/her new area, the employee shall be retained within his/her existing facility. The first priority shall be a reassignment back to the area that he/she was previously certified. Nothing in this Section precludes the Agency from offering multiple areas based on organizational needs. If more than one (1) position is offered, the employee shall be given the opportunity to select the area to which he/she will be assigned.
Section 8
In the event that an administrative/directed reassignment becomes necessary as a result of one of the actions stated in this Article, the Agency shall expedite existing selections awaiting release to/from affected facility(s) prior to making a decision as to the number of employees to be affected as well as the locations involved. Should it be determined that there are still employees subject to directed reassignments, the Agency agrees to set qualifications and solicit volunteers. The Agency will then assign the most senior volunteer(s). If there are insufficient volunteers, inverse seniority shall apply from among qualified employees.
Employees adversely affected by the conditions set forth in this Article shall be entitled to receive permanent change of station (PCS) expenses in accordance with Article 58 of this Agreement.
Section 9
Nothing in this Article is intended as a waiver of any bargaining obligation with respect to remaining substantive issues and/or the impact and implementation arising from any change as a result of the implementation of any provision of this Article.
Section 10
The express terms of this Article apply separately and distinctly to each of the following bargaining units: Air Traffic Controllers, Traffic Management Coordinators/Specialists, FSS, and NOTAM Specialists.