2020/2021 NATCA Convention Update

We are all finally home from convention. The schedule was intense, day one lasted until nearly 9pm and started early the next morning but we got so much important business done. Seeing this democratic process done in person is very powerful and I hope you all get a chance to attend Convention to experience this as well. If you would like to reference it, HERE is the link for the amendments and HERE is the link for the untimely amendments. Below is a list of how each amendment vote resulted.

A 21-01

This was the amendment to go through the entire constitution to replace all gender specific references with the gender neutral they/them. There was a lot of discussion about this amendment but was ultimately deferred to a committee to ensure that we do not incur any unintended consequences by changing this language.

A21-02

This was the amendment to change the order of NATCA’s mission statement to state safety first. The arguments against this stated that while safety is important, we are first and foremost a labor union and that will continue to be NATCA’s main goal. The amendment was defeated.

A21-03

This was the amendment to make a member unable to run for national office. The issue was that it is potentially possible for a person to be elected to office, retire and still sit as the national officer. While the voting body understood the potential “hole” in the constitution, the voting body felt that the membership should hold that power when they vote for RVPs, EVP or President. The amendment was defeated.

A21-04

This was the amendment to allow the NEB to publish their meeting minutes at a more realistic timeframe. The amendment passed with little discussion.

A21-05

This was the amendment to create an RVP position specifically for Federal contract towers (FCT). While there were a couple of delegates speaking in favor of this it was ultimately defeated. The main argument against this was that the current RVP for each FCT already handles any issues that may arise already and there isn’t enough workload to necessitate a separate RVP.

A21-06

This was the amendment to make the convention committee a standing committee and give it a very specific structure.  It is currently determined by the President. The amendment was defeated.

A21-07

This was the amendment to state that the addresses of national officers and chairs will no longer publish the addresses of national officers/chairs. Their contact information is available on the members only side of the NATCA website. This amendment passed.

A21-08

This was the amendment to create a standing election committee. The voting body chose to postpone this amendment indefinitely due to lack of information.

A21-09

This amendment was defeated on the basis of not wanting to curtail the membership’s voting authority.

A21-10

This amendment was defeated with the same rationale as A21-09.

A21-11

Withdrawn.

A21-12

This amendment was heard with R21-21. Former NATCA president John Carr took over as speaker for this discussion since it involves sitting national officers. This amendment would tie the President/EVP salary to ours and keep us from debating this every convention. The President and EVP haven’t received a raise since 2018 while in that time the membership has received roughly 5%. The average leadership salary for most jobs ranges from 5-10% and the amendment would make the air traffic leadership 1.85%. This amendment was amended to say the president’s salary will be level 12 salary plus 1.85% and the EVP to be $5000 less than the President to ensure there is not an ever-widening gap but maintains a difference between the two jobs.

A21-13

This amendment closed a repeating loop caused by local constitutions referencing the National and the National referencing the local.  Now if Locals do not have the voting members defined, the National document takes care of that for them.  If they do have voting members defined, they can keep it however they have it.  This amendment passed.

A21-14

This amendment would give current members their seniority back if they took a supervisor position. The amendment was overwhelmingly defeated.

A21-15

This amendment was to change the way we count seniority for a small number of members known as “retired annuitants.” There are currently only about 10 members nationally that this affects. This amendment was defeated.

A21-16

This amendment was defeated.

A21-17

This amendment would include Mike Moroney time in seniority. It was defeated.

A21-18

This amendment would allow for military air traffic controllers to get seniority for their time in service. This amendment was not seconded and therefore not heard.

A21-19

This amendment would change the seniority tiebreaker. This amendment was defeated.

A21-20

This amendment was mainly for formatting and clarifying wording in the constitution. The amendment passed.

A21-21

This amendment was to require membership approval before extending any contract. This amendment was unanimously defeated.

A21-22

This amendment would restructure how each Local’s delegate entitlement is determined and would have increased the number of delegates at convention, mostly for larger facilities. This amendment was defeated.

R21-01

This resolution is already covered in another resolution and was adopted.

R21-02

This resolution would dissolve the “BBS” system that is no longer in use. This resolution was adopted.

R21-03

This resolution removed reference to “Unionware” since NATCA doesn’t use it anymore and goes one step further to generalize language to ensure we don’t have to do this again with any future software changes. This resolution was adopted.

R21-04

This resolution was tied to R21-02 and was adopted.

R21-05

This resolution was adopted.

R21-06

This resolution would create an audit policy that better suits the way business is currently done. The resolution was adopted.

R21-07

Withdrawn. 

R21-08

Withdrawn.

R21-09

This resolution would change the amounts eligible for the NATCA Education Reimbursement Fund. This resolution was amended to remove the portion of extending the amount and passed.

R21-10

Withdrawn.

R21-11

This resolution sets the time to voucher internet expenses to 360 days. This resolution was adopted.

R21-12

This resolution was adopted.

R21-13

Withdrawn.

R21-14

This resolution specifies the process involved for NATCA endorsement of candidates for public office. The resolution passed.

R21-15

This resolution would remove redundant language in standing rules and was passed.

R21-16

This resolution passed.

R21-17

Withdrawn.

R21-18

This resolution would ensure the Professional Standards Program would remain a permanent program. This resolution passed.

R21-19

This was not seconded and therefore not heard.

R21-20

This resolution passed.

R21-21

This resolution was heard with A21-12.

R21-22

This resolution would ensure that any elected RVP forced into an LWOP status would continue to be paid by NATCA. The amendment was defeated.

R21-23

This resolution sought to limit discussions NATCA would be allowed to be involved in when the topic would involve alternative funding streams. The voting body rose in strong opposition to this resolution because of how important it is to be involved in all conversations involving NATCA members regardless of what side of the “argument” NATCA is on. The resolution was defeated.

R21-24

This resolution was not seconded and therefore not heard.

R21-25

This resolution was seconded but was defeated.

R21-26

Withdrawn.

R21-27

This resolution was passed.

R21-28

This resolution was ruled out of order and therefore not voted on.

R21-29

This resolution was to clean up some financial policies. It was passed.

R21-30

This resolution would provide SRF-12 facilities with lodging for convention. It was amended to strike a couple of sentences, basically making it a requirement rather than up to NEB. This amendment passed.

R21-31

This amendment was not seconded and therefore not heard.

R21-32

This resolution allows for contractors to supplement training departments. The resolution was adopted.

R21-33

This resolution would raise the internet stipend for SRF-12 facilities. This resolution was passed.

R21-34

This resolution fixes a grammatical typo. The resolution was passed.

UA21-23

This amendment was solely to fix grammatical errors and was passed.

UA21-24

This amendment limits national officers to only BUEs and no age 56 waivers. This amendment was adopted.

If you have any questions about any of the amendments or processes, please let us know.

Amy Sizemore and Drew Stewart

Facility Update November 30th

Control Room Lighting

Tomorrow, December 1st at 4:30pm the hanging lights in the control room will be shut off for a test for approximately 10-15 minutes. The lights in the ceiling (the maintenance area behind the sectors) will still be operational during this test. The current lighting system will need to be replaced within the next couple of years and will take 4-5 months. They are testing whether we need auxiliary lights installed before the old ones are shut down. Please let us know of any comments or concerns that come up during the test.

NATCA Charitable Foundation Donation

As a part of their mission to contribute to local charities, NCF has a check for the Leap for Lupus Foundation in Lacey. This group was started by former B area controller, John Mitchell. We are looking for people willing to deliver this check sometime within the next month. Please let us know if you are interested in helping out.

Convention

I will be out of the facility next week for the convention/leave but will be available via text/email. We will recap the convention and which amendments were passed, etc. as soon as we can.

Thank you,

Amy Sizemore

All Members Meeting This Friday

We are having an All Members meeting this Friday a1 10am. It will be held virtually via the link below and in person in the East / West Conference Room. Our RVP, Alex Navarro will be there. This is an excellent opportunity to voice your questions / concerns at a national level. We will also be talking about the finances and also going over the few new constitutional amendments that were sent in after the deadline extension.

Coffee and pastries will be available (only in person, I will not be delivering to your house :)

This is the email sent out by the NNM leadership team:

Please give us agenda items HERE

These are turbulent times; however, your regional leadership is continuing to work for everyone to get through these unprecedented times. We are committed to providing you the support you need and the answers you seek. In an attempt to further this goal, we would like to conduct virtual meetings with all of the Northwest Mountain facilities throughout the fall. These meetings will be an open forum and designed to allow you to speak directly to the regional leadership.

It is certainly recognized that there are many stressors directly impacting all of you right now including: shifting pandemic guidance, new and reinstituted mandates, short staffing, training delays, leave obligations, overtime, and increased operational oversight. All of these issues are at the forefront of our concerns as well. We would like the opportunity to ensure that your concerns are heard and voiced directly as well. We strive to deliver the most up to date and accurate messaging on these issues and you need to be able to respond to our decisions and positions.

The membership as a whole are likely reacting strongly to these pressures and we want to be able to help respond to these heightened emotions and opinions. It is imperative that all of the leaders in the region including local leadership remain steadfast in the commitment to the well-being of our workforce and our profession. It is imperative that we openly display this resolve to all the members in the Northwest Mountain region. It is imperative that we allow the membership to participate alongside us in this endeavor.

To achieve this, we ask for your attendance to your facility’s upcoming virtual meeting. These meetings are for any and all members. There will be ample time for discussion, debate, and if need be, displeasure. We understand that staffing challenges and employee morale may attempt to become roadblocks to member participation, but we will be there even if there is only one member on the call.

We appreciate your time and dedication to this profession, and your patience as we navigate these turbulent times.

TELCON INFO:

Friday, November 19th @1000 PST

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Or call in (audio only)

+1 253-240-0613,,335054440# United States, Tacoma

Phone Conference ID: 335 054 440#

Alex Navarro III

NATCA Northwest Mountain RVP

M: 206.406.0194

anavarro@natca.net

Facility Update November 6th

The update is a little later and lighter than usual, I have been taking a much needed albeit very short break.

Booster Shots

We are still pinning down the actual process in house. It has been tricky dealing with the wording of the MOU but for the time being, please try to talk with your crew/supe to try and figure out a good set of days that work to get your EA. Please put in a request for WX leave to save your spot in line and put something in the remarks about it being a booster. If you are denied the 4 hours EA on the day of a shot, management is required to do so in writing with justification. If you feel comfortable with sharing, please send your rep a copy of the denial justification.

All Members Meeting

We will be having an all members meeting Friday, November 19th. Our RVP, Alex Navarro will be speaking as well. This is a good opportunity to hear directly from the national office and voice any questions or concerns you might have. This meeting will more than likely be held purely virtually but we are looking into whether we can do an in person/online hybrid again. Details to follow.

Agenda Items:

NNM RVP

Annual Budget Review

If you have any other agenda items you’d like to see added, please let us know.

Thank you,

Amy Sizemore

Weekly Update October 29th

We are coming up on the 8th of November which is the deadline to complete the attestation. Management will be handing out paper reminders to everyone that has not completed that yet. Please either bring in any approved form of proof if you have not already. Any physical or digital copy will suffice. If your intent is to request a Reasonable Accommodation (RA) then you need to annotate that in the attestation form AND complete the RA form the FAA sent out in your email. That is currently the only form available.

Covid Shot / Booster EA MOU

This MOU that was sent out last week basically updates the previous vaccination MOU to specifically include booster shots. After talking with the front office, I reiterated the importance of people’s ability to get these vaccines and be afforded time as stated in that MOU. You should be able to work this out with your supervisor to try and find a time to get your booster. 

**Since the time to be fully vaccinated is limited, please let someone know right away if you are having trouble getting off the schedule to get your vaccine (J&J is the only one left to take and still be in compliance). If you like, you can let them know that it is for the J&J or that it is for your initial shot and they should know to try and do whatever they can to make that work.

OT List Preference Sheet

Please take a moment and fill out the OT form. It is on the bidATC home page for your area. Here is the OT List link too. If you forgot whether you did it or if you changed your mind, it’s ok to do it again. While we’re on the subject, end of the year OT list changes may take a couple weeks to show correctly on scheduled OT. This is because the schedulers have already published many weeks of the new year before we even get there. Immediate changes are still allowed and will follow the hours reset accordingly as set forth in the OT MOU. 

Employee Express

The FAA and NATCA have signed an MOU setting up the Two Factor Authorization allowing access to Employee Express outside of the firewall or without a PIV. You will need to set up an account on Login.gov. I believe there is a part of the process that needs to be done either on a government computer or have the initial signup code mailed to your house still though. Then you should have no problem accessing employeeexpress.gov at your home. 

Bidding

With round one completed, there are a lot of questions about dream sheets and permanent swaps. Dream sheets are for permanent schedule change requests that don’t involve trading with anyone else and just involve filling out a request. Depending on how your whole area’s schedule was designed, it may or may not get approved. Permanent swap requests are a little different. Obviously that requires the approval of both parties involved but there is an additional step. You also need to get the approval of everyone that is between the highest and lowest person in seniority involved. Nothing too crazy, usually it just looks like a paper with the intended swap and an area for signatures next to the name of the person.

Amy Sizemore and Drew Stewart