Announcement

Good Morning,

Effective immediately I will be resigning my position as your FACREP. In my absence Amy will be taking over for the remainder of my term before beginning hers in January and Drew will be taking over as VP for the same duration. I want to say thank you to all the members for their support, feedback, activism and professionalism over the last 2 plus years. It has truly been an honor to serve the members at ZSE and I plan to continue to serve you and our great Union in any capacity that I can.

In solidarity, 

Derek Adams

Executive Order 14043

Executive Order 14043 (Vaccine Mandate) 

This message was sent out from the national office this morning:

“On Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, the White House released an Executive Order (EO) requiring vaccination for all federal employees, subject to such exceptions as required by law. Over the course of the last few days, we have received many questions and varying reactions to the new policy. We understand that there are widely differing views of a vaccination mandate. However, the law is clear that employers, including the federal government, may implement a vaccination requirement for their employees.  

Throughout the pandemic, we have worked to implement a variety of measures specifically intended to protect the health and safety of our membership. We view this EO as another such measure. NATCA will continue to ensure that our rights under our collective bargaining agreements and those provided by law are protected.  

We are reviewing the legally recognized medical and religious exceptions and will ensure that any such exceptions presented by members are evaluated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is a matter of public health, and we have an obligation to protect the health and safety of those that we represent. As such, concurrent with the vaccine mandate, we urge our members to get vaccinated. We will continue to ensure that the implementation is handled in the best interest of our membership and adheres to all laws and our Collective Bargaining Agreements.”

Key point to keep in mind: “...legally recognized medical and religious exceptions…” This is something the national office is still ironing out how this will look. Details to follow.

When: there are not any dates associated with this yet but as soon as the exemption and tracking details are finalized a date will be announced too.

At the end of the day, this is an executive order that must be followed just like every executive order before it. What we do have a seat at the table for though is how it is implemented. 

 Here are the two executive orders if you would like to look at them in totality.

Executive Order 14042

Executive Order 14043

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore

Facility Update September 10th

Executive Order Vaccine Mandate

As of writing this, we know there is an Executive Order for Federal workers to get the covid vaccine but we still don’t know exactly what it looks like. As soon as it comes out, we will send another email and get some more specifics. Right now there are more questions than answers.

Attestation Form

If you happened to check your FAA email, you may have seen an vaccination attestation form. The email was sent out before consulting NATCA and is not applicable to us yet. Do not worry about filling it out until we get back to you on it.

Covid-19 Testing Adminstrative Leave Change

There was a change to the HR Policy Bulletin 120 (covid procedures). The change pertains to vaccinated individuals and reads:

The Parties have agreed that the Agency shall grant up to three days of excused absence to fully vaccinated employees that:

a.     Have been identified by a RFS as a close contact during a work-related contact tracing, and;

b.     Have requested time to obtain a COVID-19 test through their supervisor to be scheduled between the third and fifth day from the identified potential exposure.

It is important to note that in accordance with CDC guidance, testing should occur between the third and fifth day from the identified potential exposure, not from the notification of potential exposure.

The full change can be found HERE.

Elections

All the positions except for the Secretary position and the C area rep went unopposed and here are the results:

FacRep: Amy Sizemore

VP: Drew Stewart

Treasurer: Devin Carlisto

TMU: Sherri O’Neil

A Area: Dan Rasmussen

B Area: Loren Cameron

D Area: Trevor Laush

C area people: If you have questions about or are interested in being your area’s representative, please let James know as soon as possible. 

Thank you all for you patience with the sporadic nature of these updates the past few weeks, 

Amy Sizemore and Derek Adams

Facility Update August 20th

Good afternoon all, hopefully you are staying as safe as possible. 

Contact Tracing / Covid Information

Just a reminder, if you are given a contact tracing form, it is required to be filled out. Furthermore, every question must be answered. Recently, we saw a situation where test results took many days to get back to the facility and by that time the overlap was substantial and management ended up deciding to give contact tracing forms to everyone in that area. In that case, people that can prove that they didn’t overlap with the covid positive case (ie, Your shift ended at 1300 and the other person’s shift didn’t start until 1400). 

We need to stress that lack of candor will not be taken lightly by the FAA. We are seeing this nationwide. Long story short, don’t mess around with this. 

As an aside, we are hearing some very justified frustrations with the speed of the contact tracing process. There are a couple of issues that are at play. First, they will not contact trace for a “possible” covid hit. Only when it is determined to be a positive test result will they start the contact tracing program. Secondly the testing process itself. That may be delayed by a number of things like the testing facility speed, the availability of tests, hours of operation, etc. 

Another question asked often is why there isn’t a “mass announcement” when there is a covid positive in the building. The sharing of medical information is very strictly governed but for this pandemic they have developed a process. Contact with another person is defined as being within 6 feet of another person for more than 15 continuous minutes. If you do not meet that qualification, you will not be notified of another person’s medical information. 

Gym

The gym downstairs has been reopened. Here’s an email from Patrick Long, our OSHA Rep:

The gym will be reopened in a “Full” capacity with some precautions and procedures to ensure proper COVID-19 safety standards are met, which have been directed from FAA Headquarters.  As of this message the entire portion of the gym is usable to include the free weight area.  There are a handful of machines that are wrapped out of service, which need to be left as is.  There is 6 feet of space between usable machines/equipment and this must remain, please do not move equipment.  The free weight section is usable with free weights available.  In order to comply with HQ cleaning requirements, when complete with a workout all weight must be returned to either one of the pyramid rack stands or the side of the machinery.  When returning the plates DO NOT STACK the plates.  Each post/peg shall only have 1 plate on it.  This will allow for the cleaning crew to clean both sides of the plate without the need to lift or move it.  As a common curtesy to other users, do not leave plates attached to bars or the active area of the machines (ie Leg press).

The reopening of the Fitness Center is due to the cooperation of the FAA, PASS, and NATCA.  All parties understand that the cleaning requirements must be allowed to occur without interference.  If all users of the fitness center are able to comply with the requirements as stated above, the fitness center can remain open.  Seattle ARTCC is incredibly fortunate to have a fitness center of this size and quality.  It took several months for NATCA and the ZSE OSHA Committee to come up with a solution that would comply with HQ requirements and satisfy safety concerns of all parties.  Please do your part in maintaining safety, which will also ensure the fitness center remains open. 

Have a good night,

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore

Facility Update August 13th

As you all might have seen, masks are back. This is a VERY recent development so we do not have much more than everything that was sent out in the national email. If you did not get that, please let us know, we can forward it. Here’s what we do know: the actual start date for this MOU at ZSE is to be collaborated between the FACREP and ATM and that will be done within the next couple of days. Just a reminder, when this goes into effect, the control room is considered a “shared space” and therefore masks must be worn at all times regardless of distance from others or vaccination status until our county’s covid rate goes down.

CA-1 Workplace Injury Form

The OWCP (Office of Workers’ Compensation Program) has expanded the CA-1 to include covid as coverable. What this means to you is that if you test positive and therefore cannot come to work you may apply for this program. This is oversimplifying it but basically, you will be paid a “straight 40” (no night diff, etc.), and you will not be charged sick leave. There is also an avenue to pursue this retroactively, just let us know if you would like more info.

Contact Tracing Form

The contact tracing form has changed and includes a question regarding your vaccination status. All questions on this form are mandatory and must be filled out in totality. The following was sent out from National:

“Disclosure: Submission of this information is mandatory. Failure to complete this form in its entirety, or providing misleading information may warrant disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, removal from Federal Service.  This information will become part of the Privacy Act System of Records OPM/GOVT-10, Employee Medical File System Records, 75 FR 35099 (June 10, 2010). 

We have also agreed on how this information may be used as follows:

The intent of making completion of contact tracing forms mandatory, to include all questions, is for the purposes of contact tracing to support the health and safety of employees. The information within the contact tracing forms will be used by the RFS to make a medical decision regarding a potentially exposed individual’s ability to return to work safely. The information may also be used to ensure compliance with the negotiated mask MOU.”

Please remember the importance of honesty on government documents and in the MOUs. If you are found to be otherwise, you are putting yourself at risk for disciplinary actions.

Nominations are ending this weekend, get those in! In case you forgot, the forms are on top of the box outside the control room. Have a great weekend,

Derek Adams and Amy Sizemore