Just a reminder that we'll be having our all members meeting this Friday at 3pm at the Spunky Monkey in Auburn.
On the agenda
Contract Updates on the Contract talks, Convention, Labor Relations, Staffing, "Privatization", Safety Council, web schedule and Staffing.
Local Constitution
Also we'll have a briefing on the new ERR MOU.
We have a lot to go over, so expect this meeting to take up to 2 hours.
Over my weekend I received some complaints that some were unable to connect to Natca_WiFi. I believe I have tracked down the Issue. In the simplest terms we have out grown the basic setup of the network IP server. There are 220 spaces available for clients to connect and the issue occurs when we run out of spaces for your device to connect. So after 24 hours your "lease on the network" has expired and you have to wait till another is available. I have changed some settings so that your "lease" on the network will only be 8 hours and hopefully that will keep the pool clear of devices that belong to people not at work. In the meantime If you run into intermittent issues with connections and I apologize. Ill update you all as soon as possible, thanks for you patience.
Devin Carlisto
Medical
Recently we've had a few issues with employees not scheduling their annual or bi-annual medical in a timely manner to where they've been temporarily disqualified. Joni Foushee (you know Joni that works on our schedules by the OM desk) will now be taking over the scheduling of all medicals. Now what does that mean?
You don't have to worry about scheduling your medical. However you still have the "old school" option to schedule your medical, just coordinate with either your FLM or Joni (which is a better idea). Another option is to inform Joni when you would like your medical to be schedule for and who.
Retirement info
Here's an email from retired D area controller Renee Soerink.
I retired on August 31, 2015. I received my first full pension April 1, 2016. I went into “Interim Pay Status” on September 14, 2015. The pay is about 40% of actual retirement annuity. Not including social security supplement. They withheld estimated federal tax but no health insurance premium. I received my leave balance cash out , mid October 2015. I received a payment on March 15, 2016. This was a lump payment of social security supplement from September 1, 2015-February 29, 2016…minus additional federal taxes and all unpaid healthcare premium. April 1 wasfirst normal retirement pay.
I tried email and phone contact with OPM at least 5 times, no success. Their phone line is ALWAYS busy. Email routes you to standard response prompt. The 2 or 3 times I did receive an email, I was told my case was in another department. Email response is at least 30 business days or longer. I am not sure if NATCA is aware of the inefficient service (lack of service) of OPM.
I hope this is helpful information for future retirees.
Drew Stewert was kind enough to make an effort to improve our local constitution via amendment proposals. If you click the rectangular title box above it will lead to his rationale for said proposals and if you click on the title box on that page it will show you the exact proposed changes. These proposals will be voted on at our next local meeting which should be the week of May 9th. Please take some time to review as he spent a considerable amount of his own time to craft this.
I’ve been approached by a number of our regional members asking about the Hatch Act given that we are in the middle of the craziness that is election season. It seems that controller’s favorite pastime is to try and find loopholes in the rules so let me answer some of your questions. For example, may you wear a t-shirt to work from 1992 that says, “Clinton for President”? What about putting a sticker on your locker that says “Pro Life, Pro American”?
Remember that employees may not engage in political activity while:
1) On duty,
2) In a government room or building,
3) Wearing an official uniform or insignia,
4) Using a government vehicle.
The answer to the above questions are found in the definition of political activity which is “any activity directed toward the success or failure of a partisan candidate, political party, or partisan political group.”
You can talk about the debates, speculate about pieces of legislation, or even argue specific issues if you can do it without being a distraction. But you must not tie anything back to a political party, candidate for partisan office, or partisan political group. If you do, it a Hatch Act violation. Violations include wearing candidate/party/partisan group buttons or t-shirts, displaying screen savers, posters, candidate photographs, or making online donations, just to name a few. Other common violations include emailing, blogging, tweeting, posting to social media, etc. This is true even if using a personal device or email account sharing or forwarding content authored by others. This includes “liking” or “re-tweeting” posts or tweets that constitute political activity. All of these activities cannot be done if ANY of the 4 criteria are met. Out side of that, feel free to campaign for your favorite candidate, party, or group as much as you like or until your family and friends get tired of you and cut off all communication.
The exception to that (com’on, you had to know there would be exceptions) is you may NEVER solicit, accept, or receive political contributions. This includes asking for donations in anyway, working a phone bank (if asking for contributions), or hosting a fundraiser. In fact, sharing or liking fundraising posts on social media is a violation. The exception is that you may solicit for the NATCA PAC as long as it is off duty and outside the workplace.
If you are in doubt, contact me and I will get you an answer. Let’s look out for one another and we will get through this thing just fine. And incase you were wondering, No, you may not wear a “Clinton of President” t-shirt from 1992. The Office of Special Council (OSC) has said that you’re not fooling anyone, your intent is pretty clear… and that no self-respecting individual is still wearing t-shirts that old. (Apparently the OSC is very fashion conscious). Lastly, Yes, you may have a sticker that says Pro Life, Pro American” because it references a political issue, not a candidate/party/partisan group and therefore is not considered political activity.
Richard Kennington
Legislative Chair to the Greatest Region
