Hello All
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for your cooperation in making the transition to the new schedule as smooth as possible. Since we started this endeavor over a month ago, I have not heard from any of you that this change has been anything but doable and the appropriate measure to take during these trying times. That being said, there are some new challenges we are going to face in the near future, and I wanted to try to address the possible questions that you might have regarding the impact on the A area.
Summer is coming up, what about increased traffic volume? As it stands right now, our traffic numbers have decreased to the point where we can justifiably accommodate the workload with decreased staffing. If those numbers increase to the point where we can no longer manage the workload, that will be the time to start looking at transitioning to a schedule where we would have to increase staffing or begin using other mitigation strategies. Those strategies might include shorter breaks, longer sessions, and TMIs.
I’ve heard that we are staffing the CIC more often. Why is that? According to the facility SOPs we are required to staff a supervisor or CIC in the area at all times. At the beginning of this dynamic schedule, the A or B area supervisors were in charge of both areas. It was determined that in order to be in charge of both areas, they were required to maintain line-of-sight. That, of course, is an impossibility between the A and B areas so expect to share the burden of staffing a CIC part of the time during your shift. Believe me, I am as frustrated about that as all of you are.
Due to Hillsboro Aviation resuming operations at the Redmond airport, the B area is expecting the need to open up a 3rd sector more often between the hours of 1000 – 1800 local. During those times, expect the need to staff the CIC position to increase in the coming days.
Bid Leave? As of today, bid leave has not been a factor. Presumably because things are closed, and stay-at-home orders are in place. As things start to open up and restrictions begin to loosen, I anticipate that some bid leave will want to be used and conflicts will arise as a result. Prime-time leave will be honored, and that will definitely be a factor in determining our ability to manage the workload. Again, if the workload cannot be mitigated by other means, we may need to look at transitioning to a schedule with more staffing sooner rather than later.
Is there an end in sight? Currently, the state of Washington has extended their stay-at-home order until May 31st. That date has been set and extended multiple times so that date is in no way an indicator of the end of the restrictions. The schedule has been published through pay-period 12 (June 6th, 2020). Pay-period 13 (through June 21st, 2020) will be published later this week. There has been no indication as of yet that we are going to start transitioning back to our normal schedule before then. For your planning purposes, I would expect to work the published schedule until you hear otherwise from a member of the Eboard.
What will the transition back to a normal schedule look like? It is the opinion of the local to maintain the 5/10 schedule for as long as possible. It is my understanding that when we inevitably begin to transition back to a normal schedule, we can expect a phased-in approach and would hopefully have one pay-period’s notice prior to that transition.
I hope this helped to clarify some of your concerns moving forward. Please feel free to contact me via text, phone, or email if you have any other questions or concerns. I will try to get back to you as quickly as possible.
In Solidarity,
Jared Zimmerman
(801) 635-9184