Local Update

Here are the latest musings around ZSE:

MOU’s - About 4 weeks ago, we were able to send our MOU’s up and out of the building for review. This is the most bogged down and cumbersome part of the process. The region has assigned 1 person at a regional level to mark up all the MOU’s for the entire region for potential illegal language. The BWS MOU is the only that has not been sent out of the building for scrutiny as we are still collecting area specific details. Admittedly, it is frustrating but part of the process nation wide especially with the anti-labor POTUS EO that is having all federal management scrutinize anything that could even potentially infringe on “management rights”.

Center Rep Meeting - Derek Adams and I went to San Diego to attend the Bi-annual Center Rep Meeting. Here are some of the highlights:

• A new training order is on the horizon that could have some pretty significant changes that I would be more than happy to discuss. One of the main hold ups is (once again) the residual effects on the anti-federal labor EO that has management wanting to remove all mention of “collaboration” as it could infringe on management rights.

• We discussed DataComm implementation and the concerns of how to train D-Sides due to the immediacy and almost stealth-like manner a trainee can issue an instruction. We will need to be very vigilante when this rolls out.

• When it comes to the NEST, the worst thing a developmental can do is to withdraw from training. The NEST advises that they run for as long as they can to make themselves more palatable for retention and reassignment.

• Paul and Trish told us that the NCEPT process is a living program that is meant to be constantly changed to meet the demands of the workforce. They (the NCEPT team) just recently scaled back from pulling a movement list from 6 times a year to 4. The reason was because the higher frequency of movement was leading to facilities checking people out just to release another person. The move to slow it down a little is so that a facility can stack resources for a little bit in order to progress towards being healthy.

• As far as the NCEPT goes, long term absences are now being taken out of our numbers. To be considered a long term absence you would have to be a permanent medical DQ, military deployment, or an RVP.

Thank you all for your time and support and hopefully we can start bidding for next year very soon.

-Alex Navarro III

NATCA Disaster Relief Fund

As the East Coast braces for what could be a devastating storm, I would like to encourage all of you to give anything you can to aid our Brothers and Sisters. The linked website has the details and multiple options to enable a 1-time or recurring donation. Please keep in mind that this Fund is a mainstay and is the same vehicle that was used to help Houston and Puerto Rico last year. Thank you for at least taking the time to read this.

-Alex Navarro III

HATCH ACT - DO NOT OPEN AT WORK What the "Pay Freeze" Really Means

Dear Member

In case you didn't receive this already, I wanted to pass it along because I know that a lot of our membership has been fearing the worst and giving wild interpretations based on what they hear in the news or, even worse, on social media. Here is a summary of how the Presidents plan would actually affect us and the procedure that would have to happen to make it go into effect. 

It is times like this that demonstrate whey we develop relationships constantly on Capitol Hill and why it is not sufficient to become "legislatively interested" only when something negative happens. I encourage you to get involved legislatively, even if this simply means donating to the NATCA PAC. This is a good example of how investing a few dollars into educating our Members of Congress can affect your pay and benefits for the rest of your career and retirement. You can't afford not to participate. 

Richard Kennington

Northwest Mountiain Legislative Chair

"Brothers and Sisters, 

Yesterday, the President transmitted an alternative pay plan to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the President of the United States Senate, in accordance with the discretion provided in the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990. The alternative pay plan includes a zero percent general increase for 2019 and a zero percent locality pay increase. Although some media outlets are referring to this as a "pay freeze," it would only affect the January pay adjustment and would not affect any other contract-related pay increases.

It is important to note that the President's alternative pay plan will take effect only in the absence of congressional action. The Senate already passed the Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill that includes a 1.9 percent pay increase for federal employees, effective the first full pay period in January. However, the House of Representatives did not provide for a pay increase in its Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill, 2019. Ultimately, the House and Senate will have to reconcile their bills in conference, otherwise deal with this disparity as part of a larger appropriations package, or pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) before appropriations expire at the end of September.

If no appropriations bill or CR is signed into law before Oct. 1, the government will experience an emergency shutdown. If Congress passes a bill that includes a pay increase and it is signed into law, the President's action yesterday will be overridden.

We will continue to keep you updated as this issue progresses.

In Solidarity, 

Paul Rinaldi, NATCA President 

Trish Gilbert, NATCA Executive Vice President"

Local Update (MOUs and Local Meeting)

Good afternoon. A quick update on a couple of things:

We are progressing very well on the MOU's but have not been able to finalize them as of this e-mail. They are being vetted at the regional level for accuracy with the CBA and other non-negotiable items and should be back this week. No guarantee but that's the hope.

Mark your calendars:

• All Members Local Meeting in Auburn at the Rainbow Cafe on Aug 27th @ 3 PM. Topics will be:
  • Art 46 as it pertains to employee movement
  • Proposed change to the finance policy for alcohol
  • Holiday party potential
  • Because the finalized BWS and PT MOUs will still be in negotiations we will be limited in what we can discuss on those 2 items but we WILL have plenty to talk about regardless.

As always, thank you for the time and the opportunity.

Alex Navarro III 

CISM info and Handling Media Requests

Good afternoon. I'm certain everyone is familiar with the stolen aircraft last night. I would first like to thank all of the amazing ATC work that everyone put in last night. In a situation that could have been much more terrible, you all once again made it work. Truly amazing work.

As far as the incident itself, our own Chris Schenk will be the POC for CISM if anyone needs to talk about the events from last night. Below is the info for CISM. If you would like to talk to a CISM team member that is not in our building, please, let myself or Chris know.

CISM hotline
202-505-2476
Website
Natcacism.com
EAP
1-800-234-1327

If you receive any media request, we are not commenting on this because it is an ongoing FBI investigation. All requests need to be funneled through your E Board and we'll forward it up through the chain. Again if you have one, please let us know. 

Please feel free to reach out to me at 206.406.0194 if you have any questions whatsoever. Thank you for your time.

Alex Navarro III, NATCA ZSE FacRep