Weekly Update September 9th

Good Evening All! It’s been an eventful week, here are a couple of the highlights. 

First and foremost, congratulations to Steve Drossart in the A Area on finishing training and becoming our newest CPC!

Elections

If you haven’t already, please vote and mail your ballots as soon as possible. All ballots must be postmarked by the 15th or they will be invalid.

MOU Negotiations

Drew Stewart, Derek Adams and I finished negotiating our 2020 MOUs last week. They have been signed by both parties and have been sent up for Agency Head Review. Their job is only to confirm that there is nothing that violates the contract or any other labor laws. Since we are confident that everything is in order, they should return soon and we can start the briefings shortly thereafter. The Area Reps are finishing the schedules with the OMs and getting it all put into the new bidATC program which will also be briefed along with the MOUs. 

All Members Meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for September 20th, 12:30-3:30pm in the East West conference room. We will be discussing the 2020 MOUs and welcoming our newest Eboard members. It will be another “town hall” style meeting so people can come and go as the break board or your schedule dictates. Pizza will be provided!

Charity Walk

Pierce County is hosting a Charity Walk along with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The AFSP’s goals are to: 

• Fund scientific research

• Offer educational programs for professionals

• Educate the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention

• Promote policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention

• Provide programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people at risk, and involve them in the work of the Foundation

Sherri O’Neil in TMU has put together a NATCA team to raise funds. If you would like to come out and show your support, please join us on September 28th, 10am at Bradley Lake Park in Puyallup. If you cannot attend but would like to help, here is a link to donate:

https://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.event&eventID=6119

Please contact any one of us if you or someone you know needs help. We are family here at ZSE and will do whatever we can to be there for each other.

In Solidarity,

Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update September 2nd

Hello all and happy Labor Day. This day has many different meanings for many different people. For some it is just another long weekend. For others, it is the day before the kids go back to school. For me, it is a day when we should remember all the sacrifice that came before us to make NATCA the great organization that it is. I have believed in NATCA and Unions since the day I joined and I continue to believe in them more and more everyday. I hope everyone enjoys this day, but also takes a moment to think about what it truly means to us and this Great Union.

That carries me into the next topic. I would like to discuss membership rights and how those translate to me and the rest of the Eboard. As elected officials we have the obligation to the membership to hold management accountable for their actions everyday. These can be as small as scheduling issues and sneaking training into CEDAR and as large as investigations and disciplinary actions. We also have the obligation to all employees to maintain a certain level of confidentiality. I know that when something takes place in our building, the rumors spread like wildfire. As one of your leaders, I do not believe it is part of my job to participate in rumors nor openly discuss ongoing investigations or disciplinary action that is still in managements hands. NATCA is never in the position of administering any kind of punishment or judgment of any employee. We, as your representatives, have to protect the process to ensure integrity across the board. Please be aware that anyone of us, at anytime, may need Union representation. I can assure you, I will afford all of you the same level of respect, confidentiality and ensure the process is adhered to. If there is anyone else who would like to discuss this further with me, please feel free to call, email or catch me at work.

MOU negotiations are beginning on Wednesday morning. At this point we are putting the final touches on the online bidding portion, but other than that we are set to go. Please remember that during the negotiation process there will not be open discussion about the specifics of the negotiations. We are hoping this process will be somewhat quick and hope to start briefing and bidding very soon.

Last week I attended Representative Training and I have to tell you that it was a phenomenal class. I have always felt I had a good handle on our contract and how it applies to us, but his class dove really deep into more specific articles and really dissected them for us. The days were long, but the quantity and quality of the information was so valuable. I look forward to applying what I learned to continue to make ZSE a great place to work.

I will be on the road again beginning Sept. 9th and I will be back in town Sept. 19th. During this time I will travel to OKC for TRB training and then from there to LAS for the Center FACREP meeting and CFS. I apologize that I’m on the road so much for this bit of time, but my hope is to further grow as your FACREP and a NATCA leader. Thank you for your patience as I continue to improve my skills to better serve all of you.

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams 

Weekly Update August 26th

Good Afternoon All! Just a short email today, hope this finds you well.

Elections

You all should have received an email announcing the nominations for office last week. Ballots should be arriving shortly to the most current addresses we have. If you do not receive a ballot by August 30th, please let any of the E-board or election committee know. The members of the election committee are Angie Mcmahon, Laura Ryals, Mike Sellman and Dani Eliel. Please follow the instructions on you ballot to ensure your vote is counted. Ballots must be mailed and received by September 15th.

Nominations for ZSE are as follows:

FACREP- President
Derek Adams
Drew Stewart

Vice President
Amy Sizemore

Secretary
David Blaser

Treasurer
Devin Carlisto

TMU
Sherri O'Neil
Stephanie Tandberg

A Area
Jarad Zimmerman

B Area
Jeff Enticknap
Loren Cameron

C Area
James Darlington
Pablo Pescador

D Area
Trevor Laush

Certifications

It’s been a short while since I’ve announced certifications. Will Johnson in the B area was recently fully certified. Congrats man! We’ve had a couple CPC-IT certifications recently too. Fartun Strutin in the B area and Shanna Cole in the C area. Way to go guys! Breathe a collective sigh of relief and enjoy that short time between not being in training and getting your first trainee 😊

As always, it is an honor to be able to address you weekly. I work with such amazing people. You all make it fun, exciting, unique and challenging to come to work everyday. Thank you for continuing to be the awesome professionals that you are.

Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update August 19th

I hope you all have had a great week. I apologize to those that may have been trying to get ahold of me over the weekend and did not get a response. I was at the coast with friends and family for some much needed R&R and my cell coverage was almost non-existent.

The training department finally has a small lull on inbound new hires from the academy. We still have several ERRs on the way, but we are a ways down the list for academy grads. Hopefully this will give us a chance to get caught up with the students we have. For those that haven’t been up to the training department, it has gotten quite crowded.

The LSC is rolling out a series of SAFE briefings and I had the opportunity to attend one today. I enjoyed it quite a bit because it was quick but also allowed for some open discussion. The briefing gives controllers from multiple areas the opportunity to interact and discuss different ways to handle certain situations. I applaud the LSC on their work and I look forward to attending more of these briefings.

Just a quick reminder that the ballots will be hitting your mailboxes soon. I highly encourage you to take the time to vote for your next Eboard. As I’ve said before, this is not any individuals’ local but OUR local. Please use this opportunity to make your voice heard.

A final note, I will be out of town next week to attend Rep 1 Training in Las Vegas. I attended a previous rendition of this training called Basic Rep Training, but that was 11 years and 3 facilities ago, so it’s time for a refresher. Amy will be your point of contact while I’m away from the facility but, as always, I will be available by text, call or email. Enjoy the last remaining weeks of summer.

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams

Weekly Update August 12th

As many of you may know, it was quite a stormy weekend, but it looks like we made it through…for the moment. As always, thank you for your outstanding work during trying times. Hopefully we will be rewarded with sunshine for awhile to make it all worth while.

A final reminder that Eboard nominations are due by this Thursday, August 15th. Nomination forms are located on the black box next to the mail slots on the way to the lockers. Fill out the form and drop it in the black box. After Thursday, start looking for your ballot in the mail.

As you can imagine, this is a busy time for the Eboard as we near MOU negotiations. The area reps and OMs are finalizing guides and schedules while the negotiation team finalizes our U1 proposals. We will be trading proposals with management on August 22nd, so we will see what kind of uphill battle we have from there. Negotiations will begin September 5th. If you have any further input for your reps on the schedule or the Eboard on MOUs please let us know.

Don Amundson notified me that the national IST CADRE instructors will be here to train facilitators for our upcoming December IST training. The dates for facilitator training are October 29th - 30th and October 31st - November 1st. ZSE will receive IST instruction December 1st - 14th. If you are interested in being a facilitator please let your area rep or any member of the Eboard know no later than August 22nd.

A final note to those that live on the south side, there will be construction on Kersey Way SE beginning tonight and extending through late August. The link to the Auburn Reporter is here:

https://www.auburn-reporter.com/news/kersey-way-se-to-close-on-two-august-weekends-for-new-elementary-school-construction/

I believe during the week will be lane closures, flaggers and extra traffic while the weekend will have full closures in that area. Please be cognizant of the electronic sign on that route for upcoming closures and the depicted detours during the construction.

That wraps it up for this week. Please be safe and enjoy the last few weeks of summer.

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams