Brothers and Sisters,
Crew 5 mid line is up for bidding. The line is a temporary line that may become permanent. Any interested bidders please call or talk to me about the details of the temporary line before bidding.
SUN MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT
08 06 2230 RDO RDO 15 14
In Solidarity
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
1. Pre-Approved Leave Slots and Schedule:
a. SC is moving on to another opportunity outside of the FAA. We wish her the best in her new endeavor! As a result, adding a new line to the schedule has been delayed.
b. We ended up with 31 pre-approved leave slots available after Round 6 of the vacation bid. The dates of the pre-approved slots available are between June 4th and September 9th, December 31st, and January 1st. Only days with less than three leave slots filled are available because that is the maximum number of CPCs that can be off the schedule. I’m negotiating how to make those slots available in a fair way and we haven’t come to an agreement. Until then, anyone wishing to get pre-approved leave should submit a Web Scheduler request and we will try to work it out.
c. Canceling pre-approved leave: If the leave is canceled more than 58 days in advance, the leave slot may be filled by someone else. Please let me know if you cancel pre-approved leave in advance so that we can make sure that the leave slot does not go unfilled if someone else is requesting leave. You may cancel pre-approved leave and then request XTU but the credit hour request gets in line with all other requests. Credit hours taken have the same priority as spot leave. You may not substitute credit hours for pre-approved leave.
d. When a schedule request is approved, it is management that approves the request. It does not matter who the controller is. If you think management made a mistake, please bring it to my attention. Most of the time there is a solution and everyone gets what they want. If you are harmed by a mistake on the schedule, ask for an Article 8 meeting. I’ve had several Article 8 meetings with management about schedule issues. Anyone can ask for an Article 8 meeting.
e. Reminder, when overtime is assigned you will automatically have a request for your RDO published on the schedule. If you do not want the request cancel it as soon as you can.
2. Airspace and Procedures:
a. S46 LOA: A Collaborative Work Group (CWG) is forming to establish a new LOA. JM, OD, and I will represent ZSE/NATCA with the possibility of adding one more person to that group.
b. The B Area is in the process of adding a sector in the vicinity of Redmond, OR. They have asked us to take some or all of Sector 04. It appears that we are the best option to help out the B Area. I have insisted we take all of Sector 04 as its own sector (not part of Sector 02). A Collaborative Work Group will be formed to figure out what we need and the best way to accomplish this, including training and certification. I have told Airspace and Procedures we need one more controller for every shift, except the mid, to make it work out. That adds up to 14 shifts that need to be covered, so ideally we would need three more controllers to cover the 14 shifts.
c. I’ll be looking for volunteers to be on the CWGs; let me know if you’re interested.
3. Training:
a. Congratulations, Patrick Long, our newest CPC!
b. AA and DK are now on the floor. AA is training on Sectors 01 and 31 and DK is training on Sectors 02 and 32.
c. Ryan and Steve have started in the DYSIM.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
Management is soliciting volunteers for an Article 5 detail to Training. The detail begins February 19, 2017 and ends on April 1, 2017. Please let your Supervisor know by January 4, 2017 if you are interested in this detail. Also NATCA is soliciting volunteers to be CADRE facilitators for the IST training during March, CADRE training runs February 28, 2017 to March 1, 2017. Let me know if you are interested in this before January 4, 2017.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
Now that the schedule bid is complete, it’s time to make shift swap and AWS requests. The deadline for making requests is December 2nd. The forms are available in the area. Please use the same form for shift swap and AWS requests.
The schedule was built with very little flexibility to change bid lines. The Guideline/Ancillary shift MOU gives us very little flexibility to change our bid lines. The Guideline MOU states the schedule will be published to minimums in the mornings and evenings. The schedule was designed to accommodate the MOU. The most likely scenario to have a shift swap approved is to have two people with requests that line up, one person wants to swap from a 15 to a 16 and some else wants to go from a 16 to 15. The most likely way to have an AWS request approved is add and delete hours in the middle of the day. For example, if you want to make your 1500 shift a 9 hour day request a 9 hour 1400 shift. Also, if you want make your 0700 shift a 7 hour day request a 7 hour 0700 shift. I hope that makes sense and helps.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
Management is soliciting volunteers for an Article 5 detail to Training. The detail is from January 9, 2017 to February 17, 2017 . Please let your Supervisor know by November 30, 2016 if you are interested in this detail.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Brothers and Sisters,
There are two agreements that affect how CIC assignments are distributed. The new CBA and a new local MOU. Please follow the rules outlined below when working or being assigned to work the CIC position.
CBA
Article 18, section 8; Procedures for the equitable distribution of CIC duties;
a. The agency shall maintain a roster of qualified CIC bargaining unit employees for each area.
b. Upon request the agency shall provide the Union a copy of the current CIC roster.
c. CIC rosters shall be updated on a daily basis. CIC duties shall be tracked in hour and minute increments.
d. Whenever practical, assignment of CIC duties shall be made to the BUE with lowest cumulative time. All ties shall be resolved by seniority.
e. Once annually, the Parties shall jointly develop the process to be used when a CIC is required for a full shift.
f. Effective the first full pay period in January, CIC balances shall be set to zero.
g. CICs added to the roster shall have their cumulative time set to one minute more than the highest total on the roster for their area.
MOU
When full shifts of CIC duties are required, the expectation for the CIC is to maintain shift continuity and integrity. Frequent rotation through the CIC position impact operation awareness and is therefore undesirable. When full shift CIC assignment is required, in addition to the lowest cumulative time, qualification and experience may be considered as a condition of assignment, and consultation with the Union will occur accordingly.
Effective October 10, 2016 CIC time will be tracked by using the Currency Dashboard Automated Tool located in CEDAR for the purpose of the equitable distribution of assignment to the CIC position. For the remainder of 2016, the cumulative CIC time from the beginning of the year will be utilized in the assignment of CIC duties as outlined in Article 18, Section 8 of the CBA.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Schedule and vacation leave bidding is going great! There was an oversite in leave slots when vacation bidding began. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day should have had two extra leave slots. We have added two more leave slots to Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. We are going to add the two leave slots to Christmas day after CV bids. The reason for adding the slots after CV bids is because he was the last one who had an opportunity to bid Christmas day in round one. I know this isn’t a perfect solution for adding leave slots to Christmas day, but I think it’s as fair as we it can be. Round two will start as soon as management and I ensure that all the bids are in compliance with the CBA. This process will continue after each round. There is also a change in the way we tally days bid this year. Every day bid counts against the accrued leave you will earn for the year. This means, holidays and “days in lieu of holidays” will count against your accrued leave you will earn for the year.
The CPC-IT/Dev bid will begin next week. Management and I will determine how many lines are available per crew. That includes how many r-side and d-side lines per crew. There will be one vacation leave slot per day.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Brothers and Sisters,
Schedule and vacation leave bidding begins Monday! NATCA is running this year’s bid and will continue to do so for the duration of the contract. I am responsible for this bid. The area designees for this bid are the same as last year: Tony Germann, Brooke Dawson, and Derek Adams. The bid must only be run by an area rep (or designee), or current supervisor/CIC on position.
The bid rules are similar to years past. Days off and round one of the vacation bid will be conducted together. The Basic Watch Schedule MOU states: “Employees scheduled to be away from the facility/area have the option of providing their bid requests via written proxy to the NATCA designated representative for submission.” If you are going to be away from work, please leave a proxy with me for your schedule and vacation bid or some way to contact you. Round one of the vacation bid is one or two consecutive or non-consecutive work weeks. Rounds two through five are up to five days within a work week. A work week is defined as seven consecutive days. In round six, you may bid the rest of your accrued leave for the year in individual daily increments.
S46 LOA: The LOA is not going to change to the extent that was previously discussed. On November 10, the northern boundary between ZSE and S46 will change to accommodate the up numbered MADEE arrival and the future RNAV arrival to KPAE from the east. These changes will be discussed in briefings the week of October 31.
Route Channelization: The transfer of control between our area and the C Area is expanding. We will have control for altitude changes, 30 degree turns, and speed adjustments from the high altitude sectors. The C Area high altitude sectors will have the same control from us. Within our area, the transfer of control between Sectors 31 and 03/12 will be simplified. These changes also take effect on November 10 and will be discussed in briefings the week of October 31. Please try to attend!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
We are adding a line to Crew 4! As soon as this line is filled and a line is subsequently vacated, the vacated line will be put up for bid. Lines that are bid will always have a maximum two week bidding period. The bidding period may close sooner depending on who bids and how quickly they do so.
SUN MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT
08 07 RDO RDO 15 1330NF 10
This bid will close no later than September 14th at 2359 local time.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please find me, email me at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Brothers and Sisters,
I’m a few months behind on sending out updates; I apologize.
1. Professionalism: One of my goals is to try to encourage everyone in our area to be professional in the workplace. If you hear inappropriate conversations or observe inappropriate behavior, please politely ask the people involved to be professional. Be the best you can be!
2. NATCA Membership Meetings: Attendance at the NATCA membership meetings on August 15th at the Rainbow Café and August 19th at the Spunky Monkey, is very important for CPCs and trainees alike. Some of the National Constitution amendment proposals will have a huge impact on us if they are passed. The seniority and privatization amendments address issues that I personally have very strong opinions about. The local membership will be polled at the meetings and will determine what positions our delegates take to the Convention. The new contract will also be discussed and questions will be answered. Please try to make it to one of the meetings as that is the best way to make your voice heard.
3. Credit Hours: When you have a request for credit hours worked approved, expect to work. Do not come in and take a low pass or take a break after a few minutes on sector. Management does not have to approve credit hours worked and we do not want to give them any reason to deny these requests. Be prepared to work when earning credit hours and do not complain about the work you are assigned.
4. Payroll: The payroll system is not set up for BUE to earn credit hours. Your pay statement from Pay Period 17 will not show any credit hours earned or used. Your pay statement for Pay Period 18 will be amended to correct the problem from Pay Period 17.
5. Overtime: The overtime MOU was renegotiated mid-term. The biggest change is that overtime is now being track by the minute using Web Scheduler, not by opportunities. The way call in overtime is assigned was also discussed and may be interpreted differently than in the past. Some of the management team believe that if you are on the “yes” list and you answer the phone, you cannot turn down OT unless you are incapacitated in some way (sick, alcohol, etc.). Be prepared for this if you answer your phone and are told that you have OT. If you are on the “no” list, the rules have not changed. The forced OT rules have also not changed. Please talk to me if you want any clarification or if you believe that an OT assignment has not been handled properly.
6. S46 LOA: Although we agreed on the changes that I informed you about in my last update, the S46 LOA has not yet changed. I’m not sure why there has been such a long delay in implementing these changes, but at this point I’m happy to stick with what we currently have. The delay has been entirely on S46’s side and I do not have an estimated time for when this will be resolved.
7. Makah Radar Outages: We have finally made some headway into getting everyone with a vested interest in the QKW radar to talk to each other about scheduling outages. The outages will now be coordinated with input from everyone, including those from our area. As a side note, we have been trying for some time to get the NUW radar piped into our system and along with some Canadian radars to help mitigate the effects of outages.
8. Watch Schedule Development: I have not started designing next year’s schedule yet. Before I begin, I would like input from the area. With maxi-flex schedules (first week: 9-9-9-9-8-RDO-RDO, second week: 9-9-9-9-RDO-RDO-RDO) back as an option, I’m requesting ideas of how to incorporate them into the schedule. My preference is to have at least one maxi-flex line per crew, meaning that line would have a three day weekend every other week. Please let me know your thoughts and ideas on this and other elements of the schedule.
I’m sure there is something I’ve omitted. If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
There is a lot going on within the area! Your input on any of these issues is welcome and encouraged.
1. We are currently in the middle of the bidding process. For more details on the lines available and the bidding process, see my last update and the wall near the headset boxes.
2. Only a few of the AWS requests have been agreed to by management. The other requests are pending a grievance as the discussion between the front office and NATCA regarding some finer points of AWS was not successful. Hopefully we’ll have a resolution soon.
3. On behalf of one of our brothers, I’m going to take a survey about how we assign mid shifts. I’ll have the survey in your mail slots at work this week. Please return the form to the black NATCA mailbox near the mail slots by May 21st.
4. At KSEA, 16L/34R is now open again. 16C/34C is scheduled to close as soon as the 16L/34R ILS passes a flight check. The 16C/34C closure is scheduled for 21 days and the arrival rates should be higher than during the previous closure.
5. Following negotiations, the S46 LOA will be updated in the near future with the following changes:
a. The airspace around the PAE VOR will change to accommodate new MADEE arrival restrictions and a new RNAV arrival to KPAE. The new arrival to KPAE is from the east and will parallel the GLASR arrival. The updated MADEE will require aircraft to cross PAE at or above 16,000 and EVRTT at 14,000 and above. There will be a shelf north of PAE where Sector 03/12 will acquire additional airspace at 14,000 and above.
b. Group B and C aircraft will no longer be stopped at 13,000 entering Sector 31 and Sector 32 (when filed over SUMMA) unless there is traffic.
c. S46 is not going to allow us to go direct WOODI, ARVAD, or HUVUS any longer. They claim that they are jammed regularly and cannot handle it any longer. Of course, you can still try to APREQ these shortcuts. Direct WOODI during Sleepytime is still approved per the Sleepytime Procedures attachment.
d. S46 would like us to continue to emphasize frequency changes in a timely manner. That is one of the main reasons that they will not allow us to go direct to WOODI, ARVAD, or HUVUS. On our end, we have asked S46 to take handoffs in a timely manner and to make that an emphasis item.
e. S46 wanted us to sequence DH8Cs with Group A aircraft at MARNR/JAWBN. We did not agree to that.
6. NATCA and the FAA are partnering on making the workplace professional. The lack of professionalism is enough of a problem that the union and management have, on a national level, decided to work together to effect change. There have been a few incidents here that are not acceptable. Without going into any detail, some self-reflecting would be helpful. I know that there are times when I am not professional enough, and I personally know that I can be more professional. If we all could take a look at ourselves and do our part to effect change, our area will be better off for it.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
We are finally adding two lines to the schedule! One line will be on Crew 1 and another will be a CWS line on Crew 2 (Saturday, Sunday, Monday RDOs). Dave Wilson has already selected the CWS line, which consists of all 1200 shifts. The lines now up for bid in the area and listed below are the new Crew 1 line plus the lines vacated by GX and AV. Bidding begins today, May 3, and will close no later than May 17 at 2359 local.
SUN MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT
CREW 1 RDO 14 08 08 08 08 RDO
CREW 3 07 RDO RDO 16 1330NF 09 07
CREW 1 RDO 15 1330NF 08 07 07 RDO
As soon as a line is filled by the person with the highest seniority, that person’s vacated line will be put up for bid. Lines will be available to bid for a maximum of two weeks and may close sooner depending on who bids and how quickly they do so.
As a side note, management did not want any more staffing on the weekends. I proposed a line on Crew 6, Crew 7, or Crew 1 plus the CWS line. They chose the line on Crew 1. If we are able to add another line in the future, it will help with staffing on the weekends.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Brothers and Sisters,
I’m sorry that it has been awhile since my last update. As you will read below, there is a lot going on behind the scenes. Your input on any of these issues is welcome and encouraged.
1. Your AWS requests have been submitted to management. As with the other areas, your requests are pending discussion between the front office and NATCA regarding some finer points of AWS. Hopefully we’ll have a resolution sometime next week.
2. At KSEA, 16L/34R will be closed from April 1st to May 15th. The arrival rates will decrease significantly when ILS approaches are required. Also, 16C/34C is scheduled to be closed immediately after the 16L/34R closure for 21 days. Expect heavy metering when the weather deteriorates.
3. There is a workgroup addressing Sector 46’s metering issues and our area is being represented at these meetings. Sector 46’s oversaturation is being handled inconsistently on different days of the week and we hope to come up with a solution that will help Sector 46 while not overwhelming our controllers. The tentative plan is as follows: If metering delays become too great to be absorbed by the B and D areas, Sector 02 will take more than a 1 minute delay. How much of a delay it takes will be defined and communicated by TMU. Sector 32 will reroute aircraft out of Sector 46 when necessary. The reroutes will be defined and coordinated by TMU when they are required. The tentative reroutes are DSD..JUNEJ.Q7, DSD..JUNEJ..BOWLS.TUDOR arrival (KSMF), and DSD..JUNEJ..next fix along the route. Aircraft on the OLM1 arrival will be positioned west of the HAWKZ arrivals. All of this will be organized into a Notice or MOU.
4. This summer, there will be TMIs on the HAWKZ when KSEA is in a north flow. The TMIs will be miles-in-trail at FOOTT with the MIT variable based on traffic and weather conditions. This is much preferable to the speed restrictions S46 initially wanted us to give aircraft (such as 250K at HAWKZ) which contradict the restrictions on the STAR.
5. S46 has come to the conclusion that the north flow transition of the HAWKZ allows for too much compression and too little time to blend aircraft from other arrivals. The north transition may be redesigned if the TMI’s do not alleviate the issues S46 has in a north flow. I am participating in a workgroup with Airspace & Procedures, S46, and the users (Alaska Airlines, etc.) to come up with a solution that works for everyone. The current proposed redesign will take the north flow transition west of Ft. Lewis. The altitudes on the arrival will place KSEA arrivals below KBFI arrivals.
6. S46 has also had some issues with the MARNR and JAWBN arrivals in a south flow. Remember that the MARNR and JAWBN arrivals are procedurally separated in a south flow when the JAWBN arrival is at 100. If there is a KBFI arrival at 110, the arrivals are not procedurally separated because the MARNR arrival can descend to 110 immediately after MARNR. If you leave a KBFI arrival at 110 then you have to use radar to separate them or else appreq the MARNR arrival at 120. Sorry if this is obvious, but a number of S46 controllers have been confused about various aspects of the LOA and I want to make sure that everyone on our end understands and is compliant.
Also, there are some folks at S46 that think we’re required to sequence turboprops (specifically DH8Cs) and jets over MARNR/JAWBN. They are incorrect and have been advised that is not a requirement.
7. The Vancouver LOA has been updated. There are a few minor changes that do not affect the way we have been operating and reflect what is already going on. The effective date is March 31st.
8. Route Channelization will be discussed in the near future. I am going to address transfer of control throughout our entire area. I would like us to have control from sector 07/47 and from Vancouver Center. Within our area, I think that some of the transfer of control agreements can be simplified and made more user-friendly.
9. Finally, as many of you know, Dave Wilson is out on extend leave. He has been accepted into the On-Line Voluntary Leave Transfer Program. For more information on donating, talk to a supervisor.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Brothers and Sisters,
The Vacation Bid is still plugging along. We’ve have assessed and approved all of the Recurring Shift Change Requests possible. The next step is AWS. The AWS Request forms are in the area or available online @ natca-zse.com/bids. The forms are due on February 26th. Please place the completed forms in the black NATCA box near the mail slots. I will try to approve more recurrent shift swap requests while going over the AWS requests.
If anyone sees any problems with the schedule or the way OT is being administered please let me know.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
The Vacation Bid is in round 6! I’ll keep the bid going until everyone passes. The bid binder will remain open all year. If anyone decides they would like to bid more vacation after everyone passes they will have to notify me. At that point I will essentially start another round of bidding.
The CPC-IT/Developmental Schedule Bid is complete and the Vacation Bid is in round 3. The same as above goes for the CPC-IT/Developmental Vacation bid. Bidding until everyone passes and then if anyone wants to bid more vacation we’ll start a new round.
The Recurring Shift Swap Request forms were due by February 5th. I won’t be back to work until the 8th so that will be deadline for our area. If that is problem for anyone, please let me know and we can work something out. Return the form to the black NATCA box next to the mail slots. After the shift swaps are completed we’ll take AWS requests.
The Area Manager has informed me that the facility is being scrutinized on several fronts. Operationally calling weather is a huge issue. I’m sure we do a good job calling weather just remember this is an emphasis item. Time on Position (TOP) is also a big issue, especially with all the overtime being assigned. I realize this isn’t necessarily our problem but be aware when you are asked to staff a slow position they’re trying to keep our TOP up. CEDAR and ELMS are on the list of issues that are being watched too. CEDAR is our responsibility to accomplish every day. ELMS is management’s responsibility to assign. I’ve been informed that enough people are not reading the CEDAR that it’s a problem. Read the CEDAR it’s our responsibility!
S46-SEATAC: We are in the process of renegotiating the S46 LOA. The TRACON initiated the negotiations. They have a few issues that they need help with. The biggest thing they need help with is the HAWKZ arrival in a north flow. They need to talk to the arrivals ASAP. If we could make an extra effort to ship them earlier it would help them out. They have asked us to include language in the LOA that say’s we’ll transfer communication at least five mile from the S46 boundary. The long term fix is to redesign the north flow portion of the arrival. Another item they wanted to include in the LOA is to keep the DH8D in the jet flow to the extent possible. I'm pretty sure we already do this.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Brothers and Sisters,
The Natca-zse.com/bid website now has all the CPC-IT and Developmental information available and it's updated and accurate. Hopefully this information will make it easier for all of you to bid your vacation.
If you have any questions, please come find me, email me at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
Paul Skorniakoff
Sisters and Brothers,
The Schedule has been bid and the Vacation bid is into round 3. Progress has been amazing! We’ll keep the bid going until everyone bids all of their accrued leave or everyone with accrued leave passes. Now that leave slots are filling up we have to be careful about the 5 consecutive days or less per round rule. 5 consecutive days may go around your RDO’s but not through a day that is not available.
The CPC-IT/Developmental Schedule and Vacation bid will begin tomorrow. We have 11 CPC-IT/Developmentals that are bidding, 5 R-sides and 6 D-sides. We are bidding 1 R-side per crew and 1 D-side per crew by seniority. Crew 5 will not have a D-side trainee and 2 crews will not have R-side trainees. The bid will determine which crews do not have R-side training.
CPC-IT/Developmentals will have 1 vacation leave slot per day available. All of the rules for bidding are the same as the CPC bid;
Round 1 - Prime Time, Up to two weeks of leave, consecutive or non-consecutive
Round 2 - Non Prime Time, Up to 5 consecutive days
Round 3 - NPT, Up to 5 consecutive days
Round 4 - NPT, Up to 5 consecutive days
Round 5 – NPT, Up to 5 consecutive days
This process will continue until:
1) all leave slots are gone or
2) all accrued leave has been bid.
AWS implementation or how to request an AWS schedule has not been negotiated. The BWS MOU has the nitty gritty rules for the AWS but not the procedures to request an AWS schedule. We should have the procedures complete by next week.
If you have any questions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Brothers and Sisters,
Bidding the schedule and vacation leave will begin next week. The schedule bid and vacation bid will be conducted simultaneously. The NATCA designated reps for the bid are Brooke Dawson, Tony Germann, Derek Adams and myself. I will have all the information available to view online during the bidding. We’ll being using Google Sheets to view the schedule/leave bid progress and leave availability. The rules for the allotted time to bid are very similar to years past. As soon as the rules are available I’ll ensure everyone has access to them.
Obviously time is of the essence to complete the schedule bidding. If you are going to be away from the facility during the next few weeks please comply with these rules: “Employees scheduled to be away from the Area/Facility have the option of providing their bid requests via written proxy to a NATCA designated representative for submission. Employees are responsible to ensure that their request contains sufficient prime time options to complete their bid.” Also if you are away and have access to the internet we can make this work too, using email and/or texting.
If you have any questions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff
Tentative Schedule and Vacation Leave Bidding Procedures
Each area controller in a duty status will be given official notification by a NATCA Rep or designee of their turn to bid their prime time and/or non-prime time annual leave. Once notified, each bid opportunity must be completed within a one-hour period. To the extent that staffing and workload permit, 30 minutes of the one-hour period will be away from the operational area.
Should an employee not complete their bid(s) within the allotted time or request to delay their turn; their opportunity to bid is passed and notification to the next senior employee will be made.
Employees scheduled to be away from the Area/Facility have the option of providing their bid requests via written proxy to the NATCA designated representative for submission. Employees are responsible to ensure that their request contains sufficient prime time options to complete their bid.
Delays to this process are undesirable; therefore employees that are away from the Facility/Area for more two days and that opted not to provide a written proxy will be passed in the process and notification to the next senior employee will be made. Employees that are passed in the process may bid after the person currently eligible to bid completes his/her turn.
There will be 6 rounds for bidding leave.
Round 1 - up to 2 weeks, consecutive or non-consecutive
Round 2 through 5 - up to 1 week
Round 6 - First come, first serve.
The bid book will remain open until one of the following:
Definition of a week
1) Five days of accrued leave.
2) Days contained within a week.
3) You may bid leave around your RDO’s.
Other notables:
· Employees may cancel/change their bid leave after round 5.
· If a BUE elects to temporarily pass, they must wait until the completion of the next BUE’s bid prior to select their leave.
· BUE’s on the same crew are allowed to bid the same day(s).
· Any NPT used between 1/10 & 3/5 will be counted against their accrued leave for 2016.
Any PT or NPT leave bid on a holiday, will not count towards your accrued leave for bidding.
A Area NATCA Sisters and Brothers,
Thank you for honoring me with your votes. I am excited to serve you as the Area Representative. This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly, and I will represent you with the utmost transparency and boldness.
Also, I would like to thank Brooke for running to be the Area Representative.
Here we go on our two year journey to make the A Area better than ever with:
· Improved Communication
· Input from everyone
· Transparency in decision making
· Collaborate when possible
· Push back when necessary
· Ensuring the schedule is administered correctly
· Bidding lines in a timely manner
If you have any suggestions or questions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066.
In solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff (PS)
