Facility Update September 28th

Good Afternoon All,

It is getting close to bidding time again, we are trying to get the MOU briefings done 10/11-10/17 and bidding on or close to 10/18. Also, just a reminder that if you will not be able to access the bidATC website to complete your bid, you must provide your area rep with a proxy or you will be skipped.

Wifi 

Matt Coughlin gave me an update on the sign ups, it looks like we’re sitting at about 50% of you all signed up. Great progress! We are looking to shut down the old wifi setup next Saturday, October 8th. Please get that done so you don’t have a break in wifi service. As a reminder, here’s the previous messaging:

• Join the NATCA-Members Wifi (password: membersonly)

• You will get a pop-up “splash” page similar to what happens when you attempt to join a hotel’s wifi. On that screen there will be an email (natcazsewifi@gmail.com). Send an email to that address requesting a login for the wifi.

• Once you receive a reply with your username and password, rejoin the NATCA_Members wifi and log in with the username and password that was emailed to you.

You could also just directly email natcazsewifi@gmail.com to get your sign-in and then access the wifi with that username and password. Please retain this username and password as you will be using it for all your devices. Do not share this password with anyone, every member will have their own. Matt and Devin are processing these all individually so please be patient when waiting for your sign in information.

UNUM sign up extended

Arguably one of the most important and valuable NATCA benefits is the disability insurance available through UNUM. It is no secret that we can lose our medical at the slightest hint of a problem. Please consider taking advantage of this and protecting your assets. The open season has been extended to October 7th and we are unsure as to when the next open season will be. 

“For over twenty years NATCA’s LTD plan has protected our members' income and given participants peace of mind. We have seen it pay out over $21 million in claims. We have seen and heard from numerous members about how this coverage has saved homes, kept cars from being repossessed, and paid everyday bills,” Board of Trustee Chair John Bratcher said. “Many of our members don't realize what a catastrophic disability can do to their income. The one statement we hear most from our claimants is, 'I don't know what I would have done without it.'”

Don't delay your protection any longer. Sign up today at natcadisability.com.

 ATX

NATCA’s National Executive Board (NEB) is proud to announce that registration for our Union’s first Activism and Training Expo (ATX) is open now through Nov 1. The Expo will take place from Dec. 12-16, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Whether you can attend for the entire five days, only one, or any number of days in between, ATX is an opportunity to expand your knowledge in a variety of areas that can prepare you to help shape the future of NATCA

https://www.natca.org/events/atx/

2023 NATCA Important Dates

We will be bidding very soon, here are some important dates and the training schedule to keep in mind:

Convention - June 20-22

CFS - September 18-20

NATCA in Washington (NiW) - May 1-3

Talk to you soon!

Amy

Doors and Wifi

All,

Door Closures for ADA Compliance Updates

The agency notified you all via CEDAR about a week and a half ago that there would be some construction that would prevent the usage of certain doors in the building starting next week. However, they did not share the schedule of which doors would be closed and when. Our resident OSHA Rep, Patrick Long, has obtained the following tentative door closure schedule.

These doorways will be closed for most of the day (0800-1600).

Monday (9/19) - doors 2&3 (near the water fountain at control floor entry)

Tuesday (9/20) - doors 6-4 (main stairwell)

Wednesday (9/21) - doors 1&7 (near kitchenette on control floor entrance)

Thursday (9/22) - door 5 (ready room with pool table). This one will begin AFTER 1100 as to not interrupt sleeping controllers.

Wifi Protocol

To this point, 58 of you have signed up for the new Wifi protocol. That is about a third of the building. Not bad! If you haven’t done it yet, do it ASAP so you can avoid any interruption in service. As an additional note, some devices have had an issue connecting. This could be smart watches, e-readers, or even your Tamagotchi. If your device will not connect to the wifi, send the MAC address to natcazsewifi@gmail.com to get it manually added. If you do not know how to find the MAC address of your device, a quick google search should be able to answer that question for you.

Reminder: Email natcazsewifi@gmail.com and request a sign-in for the Members Only wifi if you have not done so yet.

Hope y’all are enjoying the last 4 days of what seemed like a very fast summer,

Drew

A Quick Note about the Wifi

All,

Devin wanted me to let everyone know that the wifi access that we are transitioning away from will remain active until the transition is complete. This is estimated to be about 2 to 3 weeks but we can extend it if necessary. So don’t fret about losing wifi access, you have some time before we cut the old one off.

Drew

NEW WIFI PROTOCOL!

All,

After much hard work from Matt Coughlin and Devin Carlisto we are happy to roll out our new, much more secure wifi setup. There is a short process to get you going on it but I promise it’s pretty easy. Here are the steps:

1. Join the NATCA-Members Wifi (password: membersonly)

2. You will get a pop-up “splash” page similar to what happens when you attempt to join a hotel’s wifi. On that screen there will be an email (natcazsewifi@gmail.com). Send an email to that address requesting a login for the wifi.

3. Once you receive a reply with your username and password, rejoin the NATCA_Members wifi and log in with the username and password that was emailed to you.

You could also just directly email natcazsewifi@gmail.com to get your sign-in and then access the wifi with that username and password. Please retain this username and password as you will be using it for all your devices. Do not share this password with anyone, every member will have their own. Matt and Devin are processing thee all individually so please be patient when waiting for your sign in information.

Thanks again to Matt and Devin for their hard work on this.

We expect to begin briefing the MOUs to you all in the next few weeks and then bidding shortly after that. Not much else to add at this time. Please let us know if you have any issues.

Drew & Amy

Labor Day

Good Afternoon ZSE,

I know a lot of us are working but hopefully some people are getting some well deserved rest and relaxation today. Being Labor Day we thought it was important to highlight a couple of important facts surrounding the tumultuous and often deadly history that got us here today.

Labor Day Became an Official Holiday 12 Years After the First Labor Day Event

The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated September 5, 1882, in New York City. The Central Labor Union organized a parade for workers. Workers took unpaid leave and marched through the city. At that time, most Americans worked 12-hour days, seven-days a week to make ends meet. On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. Oregon was the first state to celebrate Labor Day as a legal holiday in 1887.

The Difference Between Labor Day & May Day

May Day and Labor Day are often confused. While May Day actually originated in the U.S., it is not a federal holiday; however, it is a recognized holiday in over 80 countries across the world. Why not the U.S.? Because on May 4, 1886, a labor union rally (calling for shorter working hours) in Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned violent when a bomb exploded in the crowd, killing seven police officers and four civilians. What became known as the Haymarket Riot outraged working people and their allies across the world, and they started May Day to remember its martyrs and celebrate the struggles of working people. However, when choosing a day for Labor Day, President Cleveland chose the first Monday in September as a way to avoid commemorating the Haymarket Riot, fearing it would build support for communism or other radical causes.

We as a society have come a long way from working 12 hour days, 7 days a week but the work is never done. Our economy as we know it would be nothing without the American worker and we have to remain vigilant to not only retain what we have fought for but continue to fight for what we deserve. 

If you are interested, here are a couple of very interesting articles highlighting some of the hard fought labor battles, one of the most brutal being the Everett Massacre that took place right here in Washington in 1916.

Everett Massacre

Mental Floss: 6 Deadly Labor Disputes

In Solidarity,

Amy Sizemore