Weekly Update August 6th

Good Afternoon, just a couple of things for you today.

Nominations

Nomination season is in full swing. Please stop by the black box outside the reading room near the mailboxes to make your nominations. After closing on August 15th, the Election Committee will validate all responses, print and send out ballots as soon as possible. Elections will be completed by September 15th.

Backpack Stuffing

Due to a scheduling conflict, I will be changing the date of the Backpack Stuffing Party to this Friday, the 9th at 12pm. Please feel free to stop by anytime after noon, we will probably start the project around 1.

10503 174th AVE E

Bonney Lake, 98391

Please RSVP via email amatc20@gmail.com or text 2538806414

MOU Negotiations

We will start negotiations beginning of September. Our goal is to complete as soon as possible and start bidding early October. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact any member of the E-board.

OSHA Representative

We are looking for volunteers to serve as our OSHA rep. Mainly this would constitute sitting in on a couple of TELCONs, walk-throughs of construction projects and being our point of contact to the national OSHA leads. If you are interested, please let any member of the E-board know.

As always, it is a pleasure to be able to address you,

Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update July 29th

As we are a little over midway through the summer and peak traffic, I want to take a moment to commend you all on your dedication and professionalism during this trying time. I hope that despite the heavy traffic load and the six day workweeks, you are all still finding some time to enjoy the great weather we’re finally getting with your friends and families.

Thank you to all of those that made it to last weeks “town hall” style local meeting. The Eboard gathered a lot of input from you and will be assessing how and what to apply to our MOU proposals to management. Again, we can not promise anything in particular, as that contradicts the spirit of negotiations, but we will be pushing for the best MOUs we can get for the 2020 leave year. If there is anymore input from the membership, please feel free to share it with the Eboard so it can be considered and the negotiation team can begin to prepare.

Many of you have probably heard of the new nationally sponsored training initiatives that are going to be rolling out over the next few weeks. We already do a phenomenal job at ZSE of getting our students training time, so we will probably not see that much change. The big change will be that management has to identify any impediments that prevent a student from receiving their expected training time each week. I will be following the process closely to ensure that management is doing their job correctly in this identification process.

A few members of the Eboard and I were able to sit in and walk around with the TR2 team last week discussing the new scopes that will be rolled out early next year. The monitors are 43” widescreens (as compared to our 20” square) and appear to be absolute monstrosities. (See below for examples from the powerpoint we recieved). 

The rollout will take place over three phases over the course of three to four months beginning in February of 2020. The TTL will have four monitors put into place first and the workforce will be receiving training time to get used to the larger monitors and the area reps will have an opportunity to work with different strip bay configurations to see what works best for their areas/sectors. More to come on this as we approach the end of 2019.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week and finds some time to get out into the sunshine (even if it is just for a couple laps around the building).

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams 

Weekly Update July 22nd

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I can honestly say that it is good to be back to work. I truly do love this career and I really enjoy working airplanes, which I got to do a bit of last week to ensure I kept my proficiency.

As many of you know we recently lost a sister out of Tulsa Riverside ATCT (RVS) to suicide. This deeply saddens me and my heart goes out to her family, her coworkers and her community for their loss. We are a strong and capable workforce, but I think we try so hard to maintain our tough exterior, we sometimes forget to take care of our inner selves. We have programs in place including EAP to help you when you need it, but beyond that, I want to extend myself to you when you find yourself in a time of need. I am always happy to meet at work or outside of work just to chat or talk about more serious matters. I am in no way a councilor, but I can always be a friendly ear. Please remember that if you are in a time of need, please reach out to your brothers and sisters. Our differences aside, we are on the same team and want the best for each other, our Union and our great profession.

MOU negotiations are quickly approaching and the Eboard wants your input. Please join us tomorrow, July 23rd in the East/West conference room from 1130-1530 to provide your thoughts and ideas. A reminder though, just because we say it or think it, when negotiations start to happen, we have to take a back and forth approach. The Eboard and the negotiation team is going to put together the best proposal we are capable of, but when we’re at the table we must have the latitude to make moves during the negotiation process. Nothing that is brought up tomorrow is guaranteed, but simply ideas for us to craft our proposals.

Elections are right around the corner. If you have any interest in running for office or you have someone in mind who you think should run for office, please be prepared to come forward. I find it is always easy to sit back and criticize, but often taking a leap into the action and making a difference is much more difficult. I encourage anyone that wants to get more involved to throw their name in the hat. Remember, this is not my Local nor is this the Eboard’s Local…this is OUR Local.

As always, it is an honor to work on your behalf.

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams

Weekly Update July 15th

Hello all. I’m officially back in the facility full time. I want to say thank you all for your patience with me as I take care of some personal matters and I also want to say thank you to Amy and the rest of the Eboard for holding down the fort and giving me some much needed time.

I don’t have a whole lot for the update, mostly because I will be spending the remainder of the week getting caught up on the last few weeks. Although the Eboard has done their best to keep me looped in on everything, some face-to-face meetings will help me get fully up to speed.

One thing I do want to discuss is member representation. Lately management has been using “grab-a-rep” to have just any Eboard officer represent members during meetings with management. The Eboard and I are letting management know that this is unacceptable. If management cannot meet with the member and their area rep, at a minimum, they should contact me to designate a rep. Also, meetings never need to take place immediately unless it involves safety or drug/alcohol testing. If you are approached by management telling you when to meet, please reach out to me or your area reps so we can help handle the situation. With member input I will help designate a rep or I will make myself available to rep. Also, remember that just because management tells you no rep is needed, you still have the right to ask for one. If nothing else, having a rep present prevents the possibility of hearsay. Please don’t hesitate to call if you find yourself in a situation with management that doesn’t seem right.

I will wrap it up with that. Please remember to call, text or email if you need anything. Although I still have some personal matters to deal with, I will be much more available and since I have OT the next five Fridays, I will be around the facility a lot.

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams

Weekly update July 8th

I hope you all had an awesome 4th of July! Just a quick update today.

ALL MEMBERS MEETING

We will have an all members meeting on the 23rd of July in the East/West conference room from 1130-1530. The meeting hours are longer so that you all will be able to drop in as your schedule permits. We will be discussing MOUs and online bidding. We will provide lunch, probably pizza.

FACILITY AIR QUALITY

For those of you in the D area, you have already seen this message, but I thought I’d add in what Drew put in his last update.

“Several people have mentioned getting headaches and feeling rundown at work as well as a metallic taste in their mouth. This was reported to B area supe Joe Herrera who turned it in to Kevin Nolan. He talked to the SOC about it and they discovered a fan belt that was broken on something in that hallway right outside the control room. They fixed it and think that it might solve the issue. They said it was not attached to the HVAC system. They also said there is no reason to believe it is asbestos related.

I am not going accept that as a final answer though and I have reached out to see what our regional OSHA rep says. I’ll let you guys know more as I know more.”

Please pass any concerns on to your area rep.

ELECTION SEASON

The election committee will be accepting nominations starting August 1st, ending August 15th. Please be thinking about people you’d like to see representing your interests. Also, your area reps will be coming around to each person and verifying mailing addresses with you. This is so that we can ensure ballots go to the correct address.

In Solidarity,

Amy Sizemore