Good morning. After a long couple of months, we were able to sign all of our MOUs for 2019 last week. Starting this week and through Sat 10/13 we will be briefing the floor on some of the changes with appearance and content. Barring any setbacks, we will begin to bid on Sun 10/14. I have put a link to the signed MOUs below. Thank you for your patience and support.
-Alex Navarro III
2 weeks ago, Devin Carlisto and I went to Washington DC to participate in what is known as a Rolling Lobby Week. This event is typically done with short notice and an effort to combat a threat/issue to our profession. Last year I went to educate and encourage our local WA representatives on the Hill to protect our retirement. Specifically preserving the social security annuity. With the current funding stream is set to run out on Sep 30th, our goal was to ask representatives to keep the government running and avoid a shutdown.
It was very encouraging to get unanimous support and praise from those on the Hill. However, it is also something we should be cautious about because the conclusion of an extension always leaves us susceptible to the same partisan fights over unrelated issues that can shut us down.
As you all may have read from the national update, a deal is in place to extend current fiscal levels until Dec 7th of this year and is very likely to pass. The House had already passed a fiscal plan that would give us 5 years of funding and sent it to the Senate. With everything that the Senate has on the table there was simply not enough time to get this House plan on the Senate floor and passed before Sep 30th. With this Dec 7th extension the hope is that now the Senate can give the House funding bill time to hit the floor and passed in order to avert a shutdown just before Christmas. I have my own opinions (that I will gladly discuss), but, just know that NATCA will be very involved in encouraging the prevention of a shutdown and constantly reaching out to members on the Hill to protect our profession. Thank you for your time.
-Alex Navarro III
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
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
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"
