Weekly Update October 17th

Thanks to those that were able to make it to one of the two town hall meetings this last week. It was a pleasure getting to catch up and discuss bidding as well as other issues that have come up in the recent weeks and months. 

Bidding

We are hoping to begin bidding on Monday, October 19th. We are still ironing out the last bit of the schedule negotiations, but Monday is still our target to get the bid underway. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to look at the PowerPoint slides and video to refamiliarize yourself with the MOUs and BidATC. Ensure your password works. If not, there is a forgot password link on the login screen. Once you are able to log in, please double check that your contact information is up to date and if you are able to receive text notifications, please be sure you select this option to expedite the bidding process. If you have any trouble, please contact any of the reps and we’ll get it sorted out.

ZSE NATCA Website - this link has the MOUs and the bidATC video/PowerPoint.

bidATC - please log in to ensure your information and contact method is up to date.

Training

Our training plan was approved by the district. Now we start working on a plan to get the developmentals back into the building as safe and efficient as possible. This has been an unprecedented event, so we are learning as we go the best way to start training after having a 7 month lapse. All trainees are entitled to Article 67, also known as spool up time, which allows the trainee time to return to the knowledge/skill level they were at when the break in training began. The training department is working on a plan to help the operation by bringing in a couple of developmentals at a time, evaluating them on sector knowledge, running scenarios on the simulator, generally getting them to a point where OJTI will be more useful and not too overwhelming before going to work on a crew with live traffic. Please be patient with them when they get back, ATC is not really a skill that can be practiced outside of work and it will take time and effort to help them work past this hurdle.

Masks

With the imminent introduction of new people into the building and with flu season upon us, we wanted to stress the importance of mask usage. We know this subject seems to continue to come up, but it is very important that we stay vigilant in keeping ourselves and our coworkers safe. Please take special care during relief briefings, training and as you traverse the area and the building. It has not been a problem up to this point with management and we want to keep it that way.

We hope everyone is continuing to stay safe and healthy. As always, we are here if you need us. Here’s to another successful year of bidding. Thanks for all your hard work, professionalism and patience. 

In solidarity,

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update October 9th

Good Evening all!

Bidding Soon!

The 2021 MOUs are signed and we’re ready to go. There was a national mandate that all MOUs get rolled over so the only things we were allowed to change is if something was in last year’s MOU that would 100% not work in this year’s. For us that means that some of the areas had to tweak the lines to accurately reflect our CPC/trainee staffing. Everything else is the same. Click HERE for the PowerPoint presentation to refamiliarize yourself with the MOU and BidATC. You will also have access to it in CEDAR. We will be having two virtual town hall meetings on October 14th to answer any questions you may have as well. We will plan on starting bidding the week of October 18th. If you will not be able to be near a computer anytime in the next month or so, we suggest you get your proxy together. Remember, EA days are duty days and you will be expected to bid on them should you become eligible.

Virtual Town Hall links/times:

Wednesday October 14th, 11am - Click HERE

Wednesday October 14th, 5pm - Click HERE

Training Resumption

You may have heard that more trainees are coming back to work. Jointly, at the national level, they have come up with a tracking tool to try to only allow training when the covid numbers for the county where the facility is located in is below a certain amount. They have four levels (green, yellow, orange and red) and training is required to resume if the facility is green or yellow. ZSE is yellow. So we have submitted our plan to management to start bringing in developmentals. It still needs to be approved by the district and is subject to change so we’ll brief the details as soon as it is returned.

This has been a crazy busy week for both of us so we’ll cut off at two subjects this week but as always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update October 2nd

Hello all, we hope this update finds you in good health. It seems as though some rumors have been flying around the facility so we will touch on that quickly.

Apparently Don made a statement at standup this week that we would be returning to BWS within 7 days. Management has yet to engage in any talks with us about that, so we are not sure why this was said. Although we have no way of guaranteeing how long we will remain in a 5 and 5 schedule, we can guarantee that NATCA will be part of those conversations and ultimate approval to return to BWS will need to come from the district level. The Eboard will continue to work closely to do what is best for the facility based on traffic levels and operational need. As soon as discussions begin that signify we need to return to BWS, we will update the membership.

There are also a lot of things going on around the facility to prepare for phase 2 of the training resumption plan. Please know that these requirements need to be met but are independent of whatever schedule we happen to be on. With this you will see a decrease of seating in the cafeteria along with an increase in seating being socially distanced. Please leave the seating arrangements alone as they are part of the requirements set forth to continue bringing people back into the facility.

With that we would like to remind everyone that mask usage when unable to maintain social distancing is required. This includes relief briefings, training, cafeteria usage and any other area where social distancing is not possible. Although we have not had issues in our facility up to this point, there are facilities around the region that have pursued disciplinary action due to non-compliance. Please continue to stay vigilant in your mask usage and hold each other accountable.

As always we are here for you when you need us. We will continue to keep you updated as new information comes to light or things begin to change around the facility. Please reach out with any questions you may have and let us know what we can do to better serve you.

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update September 25th

Just a quick update on some things going on this week.

First we have officially resumed training in a limited capacity. This includes those partially qualified that were staffing as well as a few supervisors that were staffing but now will be moving to their respective areas to train. The timeline for phase 2 of the training resumption plan is still unknown but the talks will be ongoing and information will be pushed out to the membership as we get it.

Thank you to all of those that made it out for the virtual town hall meeting with the Northwest Mountain leadership team. There were a lot of great questions and conversations. I (Derek) have been actively participating in these meetings with facilities around the region, and I am continually proud of what a great facility we have at ZSE. Not to say that we don’t have our own issues now and then, but after hearing about some of the working conditions elsewhere, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Finally, the MOUs are officially signed. As you probably know, they are a complete rollover of the MOUs from last year. The eboard will be working towards setting a date to begin bidding as soon as possible and we will probably have a couple virtual meetings to brief the MOUs if there are any questions that have come up since last year. More to come on that in the next week or two. 

As always, thanks for all that you do and your flexibility as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times. Please call, text or email with any questions or concerns. 

In Solidarity,

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update September 18th

Just a reminder and to share the link for tomorrow’s town hall with the regional leadership. This is your chance to get the tough questions answered about everything from covid to the TikTok ban. We hope to see you even if you don’t have questions, it’ll be nice to get together again. We’ve set aside two times to choose from to help better meet your schedule needs (or attend both if you want.)

Before joining a Teams meeting on a computer or mobile device, you can download the Teams app HERE.  Otherwise, you will can participate via the Explorer or Firefox web browsers. It does not work with the Safari web browser.

If you’ve never used Teams, you may want to click the meeting link below 10-15 minutes prior to ensure that you are able to join and become accustomed to the features.  The visit will be interactive and we will be utilizing several functions (e.g. “raise hand”, chat). 

Join Microsoft Teams Meeting (1100 PDT)
+1 253-240-0613   United States, Tacoma (Toll)
Conference ID: 103 577 329#

Join Microsoft Teams Meeting (1800 PDT)
+1 253-240-0613   United States, Tacoma (Toll)
Conference ID: 951 608 490#

Please feel free to call/text us if you’re having troubles joining the meeting, we can try and help you out.

Hope to see you there!!!

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore