January 23, 2020 Update

Hello all,

Last week I attended a meeting with a few individuals from Seattle TRACON.  Amongst other things, we discussed issues with speed coordination on departures.  There have been some ideas to improve the entire process and I have been working with Eric Tandberg on addressing some changes that will improve the safety and efficiency of the existing procedures.  I will have more information as to what that might look like as we work through the process.

Thank you to those who volunteered to be the SME for TR2.  As you heard from Amy, this has been suspended indefinitely due to issues identified by the key sites.  I will let you all know when I have more information regarding TR2.

The facility is looking for 2 volunteers to teach the entire 2 weeks of the next round of IST.  The cadre class will be April 7th and 8th, or April 9th and 10th.  The class will be taught during the weeks of April 26th and May 3rd. If you are interested, please let me or anyone from the eboard know.

The new NUW LOA will be rolled out next week.  The intent of the new letter was to bring the LOA more in line with the 7110.65, and to streamline the process by forcing Whidbey to be accountable for their mission control.  We are no longer in the business of policing what they do within the SUA.  As with any change, there may be some growing pains.  If you start to notice trends that that impact us negatively, please let me know so I can address them with Whidbey command.

Representatives from ZVR will be coming to ZSE next Thursday to talk about some things that they would like to have happen in the future.  I will be there to represent our area.  If there are any concerns that you would like me to address with them, please let me know.

Lastly, during the last membership meeting, it was voted that each area rep may nominate an alternate area rep to be approved by the eboard.  I have nominated Matt Beckman as the alternate for our area and he has been approved. I chose Matt because of our positive working relationship and his interest in becoming involved in NATCA.  There is also a need to have representation on the side of the watch opposite me.  Please feel free to communicate any concerns to MM in my absence and we will work together on addressing the issue.

In Solidarity,

Jared Zimmerman

Spot-Leave Requests for the 2020 Leave Year

Just wanted to write a quick update to let you all know that you can officially enter your spot-leave requests for the 2020 leave year into web scheduler on the morning of Tuesday, November 26th, at 12:00 am. This information is also posted in the area by the headset bins. If you have any questions please contact me via phone, text, or email.

Also, there will be an all members meeting on Monday, December 9th, at Oddfellows Pub and Eatery, 102 W Main St., Auburn, from 2:00-4:00. Items on the agenda include local constitution changes, financial report, and feedback on bidatc and MOU’s. We would love to see you there!

In Solidarity,

Jared Zimmerman

zse.natca.a.area@gmail.com

(801) 635-9184

November 5, 2019 Update

Bidding, as you all know, is well underway. Thank you all for you patience with the new process. The feedback I have received has been mostly positive. There have been a few glitches with the program but I think it will be a process that will continue to get better every year. If you have had any problems with bidatc that you would like to see addressed in the future please let me know.

As we continue bidding round three and beyond this week, please remember to leave a proxy bid if you will be unreachable during the next few weeks.

There are AWS request forms posted in the area near the headset boxes that need to be filled out and returned to me by 12:00 pm on Saturday, November 9th. You can put them in my headset box or my mail slot. I will be reviewing the requests the following week and will be meeting with management to negotiate the changes.

I was officially notified yesterday that we are in need of TWO article five volunteers for the training department. One for a stage three class, and one for a stage four class. Both classes will begin on Dec. 30, 2019. The D-side class will end on Feb. 13, 2020, and the R-side class will end on Feb. 20, 2020. As, the memo indicates in the area, this solicitation request will close at 12:00 pm on Saturday, November 16th, in order to give Damien enough notice to work on the schedule.

Looking ahead, IST training will be during the first two weeks of December. I will post the schedule in the area in the next couple of weeks.

Don’t forget about the NATCA holiday party on Saturday, December 7th, at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Tacoma from 6 to 10 PM. Catering and drinks will be provided by Pacific Grill. If you are interested in helping make the party a success please contact Amy Sizemore or you can let me know.

That’s all I have for now. Keep up the good work!

In Solidarity,

Jared Zimmerman

zse.natca.a.area@gmail.com

(801) 635-9184

October 14, 2019 Update

First, I would like to thank everyone for allowing me to represent the area.  I hope that I can live up to your expectations, and I welcome any feedback to help me do the best job possible.

As Brooke mentioned before, there has been a delay in bidding due to the Article 46 solicitation.  It is my understanding that the bid will get started soon after the solicitation closes (last week of October).  The bidding process is going to be different this year but, going forward, I think it is going to be a much smoother process than what we have done in the past.

Here is the link to the bidATC website:  http://www.bidatc.com/zse#/register.

Everyone will need to set up an account in order to bid.  You will need your NATCA member number. If you don’t know it, contact me and I can get it for you.  If you have any questions about the bid process or setting up an account, please contact me.  Briefings will be conducted this week to help everyone understand how the process will work.  In the meantime, here is the link to the bidATC tutorial video: https://vimeo.com/364230100           

I have heard from a few of you that you have interest in becoming more involved with NATCA.  I would encourage everyone to do so.  In my experience, getting more involved will have a positive impact on your career and will give you a better understanding of what goes on outside of the control room that directly impacts what goes on inside of the control room.  Please contact me or Derek if you have interest and we will keep you in mind when opportunities arise.  

Lastly, here is my contact information:

zse.natca.a.area@gmail.com

801-635-9184

Please feel free to call, text, or email me at any time.  I may not always be immediately available, but I promise I will get back to you as soon as possible.

In Solidarity,

Jared

Brooke’s Final Update

Well I’ve been procrastinating on this update because I’m terrible at goodbyes and it’s most likely a good thing. As all of you should know by now, the bid is being held up to due a Article 46 solicitation to move to the B area. Over the past month I have put the finishing touches on our guides and schedule as well as bringing Jared up to speed on everything going on behind the scenes. Now that my work is done with the schedule, Jared is fully in charge of the area. In preparation for online bidding, you can go to http://bidatc.com/zse#/register and create your account. You be asked for your member number and birthday. You will then be directed to choose your communication method either via text or email. When asked for your initial, it is referring to your operating initials. Once you are done with this you will be ready to bid. As the system is new to the facility, you will be contacted by a rep or designee when you are up to bid.

So with 2 weeks left, I’m going to enjoy my time working in the area. I want to thank everyone who trained me as a CPC-IT. I learned a lot and hope I leave here a better controller. I’m going to miss ZSE, the A area, and the PNW. If you find yourself in Cleveland for any reason (it really isn’t that bad), you have my contact information.

Lastly I want to thank everyone for having the confidence in me to represent you over the past 2 years. I hope I did not disappoint you as I always thought of the area as a whole when making decisions. I hope to see familiar faces at NATCA events in the years to come.

In solidarity,

Brooke

August 31, 2019 Update

We made it through another summer of traffic. After this weekend will see traffic drop off and then continue to slow until Thanksgiving. We will be transitioning to spring/fall guides and into winter guides by the end of October. Saturday swing guides were negotiated back to 8 for the remainder of the year. Unfortunately with my leave in conjunction with Kevin Nolan’s leave and Damien’s leave, it was never passed down the appropriate channels in time for the publication of pay period 20. While the guides say 7 they are actually at 8 and management is rectifying the 1 shift under guides.

I’d like to congratulate Jared Zimmerman as the next Area Rep. Jared and I will be working together over the next couple weeks to ensure a smooth transition before my departure at the end of October.

Please remember to vote for our FacRep/President. Ballots must be returned by September 15. If you have not received a ballot by August 30th please see any E-board member or Election Committee Members (Angie McMahon, Laura Ryals, Mike Sellman, Dani Eliel).

We are still soliciting an Article 5 to the training department for stage 3 training. The dates of this detail are October 28-December 13. A volunteer is needed by September 7. Please let me know if you are interested in this detail.

A new initiative has come down from the region regarding trainees spot leave. For our trainees, Spot leave is leave requested after the schedule is published. The initiative states that a trainee must get their minimum required training hours in for the week before they can take spot leave. I am unsure of the exact hours but they are around 15 and vary between d-side and r-side trainee. The region calculates the week as Sunday through Saturday. If your leave request is denied please let me know as soon as possible or contact Derek or Amy.

Brooke

Brooked85@hotmail.com

440-227-5591

July 22, 2019 Update

I apologize for not getting an update out sooner. Between our short staffing and trying to get my house ready to sell, majority of free time has been going to building next years schedule and negotiating guides as well as making sure our trainees are being taken care of.

I received word this week that guidance from the region is that we are to keep all trainees on the training side of the schedule everyday and it will be upon those trainees who need currency to get it for themselves. Since this is new information as of this week, I anticipate that on Pay Period 20, the trainees will no longer be scheduled a pro day. I ask once again that you do not ask trainees to staff for you so you can get a day of leave. While I want everyone to get leave, we need to train our way through this staffing shortage so that leave will be plentiful in the future.

Our flow of trainees is not going down anytime soon. If you were not aware, we have 6 trainees in the training department right now with 1 more scheduled to arrive today. There will be a lot of D-side training over the next year. With that said we will have 2 opportunities for Article 5s through the end of the year.

The 1st article 5 will be for stage 3 class for John Conley (CPC-IT from SAN) and Zachary Nelson (DEV from academy) beginning Monday, October 21-Friday, December 6. If you are interested in this detail please let me know.

If you are interested in the above detail but you have scheduled leave you worry may interfere, the next Article 5 detail will begin Monday, December 9 with the end date TBD. There is a chance that our 2 academy grads in this class get placed in other areas to help alleviate our traffic jam of trainees but they will be replaced be 2 more academy grads shortly after.

While I discuss training, I will begin a VERY early solicitation for Recurrent training Cadres. Recurrent training round 14 is scheduled December 1-14. The Cadre class will be the week of October 28. It’s a 2 day class and attendance during both days is mandatory. There will be 2 classes offered over 4 days. If you are interested in being a Cadre, please let me know.

I want to thank everyone for feedback on the schedules I have had in the area. I have made some minor adjustments and printed out new schedules for everyone to look at. I will be submitting schedules this week to management and at that time the schedules on the floor will be removed until we approach the time we get ready to bid.

Onto airspace discussions. I’ve been working with S46 on some minor changes to the LOA to accommodate the addition of PAE commercial traffic. There will be some adjustments for aircraft handoffs and PAE departure routing into sector 2. The routing issue is just to adjust the current operations to make them compliant with the LOA as some aircraft are having issues with the current routing in the LOA. These changes will be minor and briefed in the near future.

I have also received an airspace change proposal on the sector 1/32 boundary. I am going to place a depection of a proposed change to the airspace in the area on the wall near the headset boxes along with some feedback forms. Please take some time to give feedback on the the proposal if you like it, don’t like it, or kind of like it but have an alternate idea.

On a final note, I have hunted everyone down to verify addresses for the upcoming election. The address on the sheet was the address in the NATCA database. If you wrote down a new address, you will need to log into the Natca site to update your address. Please make sure your address is up to date for any future NATCA mailings.

Brooke

440.227.5591

brooked85@hotmail.com

June 8, 2019 Update

Staffing

We are in full swing with summer traffic.  As a result, starting Monday, June 10, there will be two 1530 shifts each week night through pay period 16.

Please keep an eye out on your fellow controllers as we are working more traffic with poor staffing.  Everyday we have people call in sick, management has tried to call in OT however only 1 or 2 people are eligible and most of you are feeling burnt out from 6 day work weeks.

Training

It has been brought to my attention that our trainees are not getting consistent training.  Half of our trainees fail to get 10 hours of training a week.  This has been brought to managements attention.  OT has been authorized whenever we fall below guides.  Management may also ‘manage’ the area to ensure our trainees are getting a minimum of 2 hours of training a day.  If your break gets cut short it is most likely so we can get our trainees certified before they are eligible to retire.

Airspace

This past week many of you have reached out to me about sector 2 during Sierra routes.  I have talked to TMU about possible alternate routing and was told it would be difficult to have the B area (which is where the crossovers would happen) buy off additional workload.  The first step to help us mitigate this issue is to lower the threshold for the sector going red.  I am also reaching out to S46 and SEA to see if they would be able to help us with some in trail spacing on departures.  This will take a little time to set up a procedure for reducing the workload on sector 2 but in the mean time, please create a falcon reply and email it to me and Kevin Nolan (kevin.nolan@faa.gov) or give me a date and approximate time in which you had a very busy session that was complicated by Sierra routes.

Brooke

440.227.5591

brooked85@hotmail.com

May 18, 2019 Update

Summer traffic is building and so is my workload going into the summer and negotiating next years schedule. Damien and I will be meeting with Todd and Kevin to discuss our guides going into next year. If you have any input on things you would like to see please send me an email. As those who work around me have seen, I keep a spreadsheet of every time someone works over 3 hours. It has exposed a need to change our hourly guides at a minimum. I’m also going to work hard to bring up our Saturday night guides in the winter-that will include the rest of this year.

SCHEDULE

A few items for the schedule. 1st is round 6 bid leave that may be converted into credit. If you have leave that was bid in round 6 that can be converted to credit hours, the notes in web scheduler (under your leave) will read BID ROUND 6 LEAVE. If you don’t remember what leave you bid in round 6, navigate to the bid info page of our local website and round 6 picks are noted in red.

Thank you to everyone, again, going through these next couple weeks. The 2 shortest staffed areas in the building have been most impacted by the back to back mandatory training requirements we are required to do each year. This week we have annual area refresher training. We get a week break before we send new OJTIs and CICs to their respective classes and then we have mandatory OJTI and CIC refresher classes. We will then be back to normal ops until the end of summer. OT assignments will not drop back to winter levels but most likely will not be as high as they have been recently.

Last item is the building of next years schedule. It is very important for me to get feedback from you as I will not be bidding a line next year. I will take schedule submissions for next year. We have a few factors that may impact next years schedule. I believe we will start the year with 33 CPCs but we will lose Dave in the middle of summer as he enjoys retirement. With that I’m planning a schedule with 32 CPCs and doubling up whatever line Dave bids. Some other factors that play into this is the possible lose of Derek as the facrep if he wins the next election. We also have a few CPCs looking at career progression that may impact our numbers. If you would like to build a schedule consider that we may need options for 31, 32, or 33 CPCs. Next years summer guides will most likely remain the same as this year. Build a schedule to summer guides. If you would like a copy of the excel spreadsheet I use to build the schedule, I’m willing to send it out with some basic instructions on how to use it.

TRAINING

Thank you to everyone who volunteered for this summer’s article 5 detail. Bid leave played into our selection but there will be plenty of opportunities in the near future. There will be at least 1 more opportunity this fall and possibly a second by the end of the year.

Over the past couple weeks, there have been many inconsistencies in training hours. The r-sides have been used in staffing and some d-sides have received as little as 4 hours of training for the entire week. After talking with management, the expectation going forward is a minimum of 10 hours a week for trainees. To help mitigate this, I’m asking everyone to go to a trainees sup (not the sup who’s shift the request is on) when considering a trainee to work in staffing for your leave. The trainee’s sup is going to have the best idea on how many hours a week they are training and if they can be spared a day to cover leave.

LSC REQUEST

The LSC is requesting any questions or feedback you my have for TMU. Please keep the feedback civil. If you believe something can be done better please provide the feedback. Please keep questions regarding TMU operations strictly to the operations. Examples can be why does the C area have a meter time for an aircraft that departed GEG but the A area doesn’t have a time until they are 10 miles over the C area border? Please direct questions/feedback to my email or to the LSC suggestion box at the watch desk. Ideally I would like everything sent to me via email so the LSC can identify area specific questions that may be reoccurring.

NATCA SWAG

We have new lanyards for all members. You can stop by the union office to receive one or wait for your refresher day. Area refresher starts Monday and I will see everyone. If you haven’t received a lanyard prior to your refresher day I will have 1 for you.

Local Meeting

Our next local meeting is June 13, 2:30pm at the Rainbow Cafe. We have some local constitution amendments to vote on so please join us if you are available. We will also be discussing MOUs for next year.

Brooke Dawson

brooked85@Hotmail.com

440.227.5591

April 19, 2019 Update

CWG (Collaborative WorkGroup) Volunteer needed

I’m seeking a volunteer to participate in a CWG. This CWG is to streamline the process of airspace activation throughout all 4 areas. If you are interested in being apart of this CWG please let me know. This may require you to shift adjust for meetings that suit the majority of participants.

Article 5 Solicitation

I’m still accepting volunteers for the Training Department Article 5 detail. This solicitation will close on April 30th. The article 5 is for stage 3 training July 16-August 23. Please let me or Barry know if you are interested.

NATCA Local Elections

It may seem early to discuss this years elections but I will be stepping down as Area Rep in October. I will be returning to Ohio at the end of October as the time has come for me to be there for my family. This is bittersweet for me as I have learned so much in my time here at ZSE and made great friends. So I would like to start mentoring anyone who is interested in becoming our next area rep. Elections will take place at the end of September which will give me about 3 weeks to fully hand over the reigns. Let me know if you have any interest in the position and I can begin to show you the ropes.

Brooke

440.227.5591

brooked85@hotmail.com

April 7, 2019 Update

It’s been relatively quite in the area the past few weeks.

SHUTDOWN PAY

Pay issues should be resolved from the shutdown at this point. If you are missing any pay and can pinpoint what you believe to be missing, Lori Olsen can most likely help you. If you are missing any deductions please call the number on the bottom of your LES.

Locailty rate adjustments have been finalized and are published on OPM.gov. We will see our locality pay increase from 25.11% to 26.04%. While we have not officially been notified when we will see our backpay and adjustments from the raise. I’m hearing rumors that we see the raise on Pay Period 8 LES.

SCHEDULE

Pay Period 11 was published this past week. Area refresher training will take place from May 20-24. Damien and I have have made the decision to not publish Return to Shift requests during this week so we can get everyone to refresher training. If you were shift adjusted, you will have to put in your own Return request. During refresher week we will show over guides on the day shifts but we are actually at guides. The same may be true throughout Pay Period 10 in which we have facility wide IST/Recurrent training.

AIRSPACE/PROCEDURES

We are 1 month into PAE commercial ops. Please keep me informed on any issues you may have with PAE traffic or any ideas that could help you work the extra traffic more efficiently. S46 will want to discuss LOA changes regarding PAE in the near future and I would appreciate any and all input.

SOLICITATION FOR ARTICLE 5 to the TRAINING DEPARTMENT

We are in need of an Article 5 to the training department for stage 3 labs this summer. Dates are tentatively set for July 15-August 23. Please let me or Barry know if you are interested in this detail.

Brooke

440.227.5591

brooked85@hotmail.com

February 23, 2019 Update

Training

IST/Recurrent Training has been moved from March into the end of April.  Cadres are needed.  If you are interested in being a Cadre, cadre class dates are 4/23-24 or 4/25-26 (you will be scheduled in the class that best fits your schedule).  Actual IST dates begin the next week 4/28-5/11. Please let any E-board member or a FLM know that you are interested in being a CADRE asap.

Airspace and Procedures

Our 60 day test with NUW over the use of Molson S above FL280 expired on January 4th-during the shutdown.  I am in discussions about extending the test period as we were not able to formally wrap up the test results or gather data.  We would also like more data due to an increase in traffic.  Please continue to print strips or document callsigns of aircraft that have to be moved around the airspace when it’s scheduled above FL280.  Please include a date on the strip.

Data is also being collected on the GLASR arrival in regard to the 2 transitions coming from the C area. If you receive 2 aircraft on the transition at the same time that are going to be close at GLASR, please print strips and forward them to the supervisor.  This includes aircraft landing all airports on the GLASR arrival. We will collect data through early April.

LES/PAY

Now that we have made it to the pay period in which we should have received most back pay, you should have a good idea if you have been properly compensated.  Every BUE is allowed up to 30 minutes to review their LES/pay calculator with their union rep.  This can be any rep on the E-board.  The calculator is very confusing at first but makes sense after a little bit of use.  

If you would like to review your pay with a union rep please have the follow ready to go:

-PP27 LES (only needed if you want to calculate leave)

-PP1-4 LESs 

-All of you shifts start and end times plus any leave used (a CEDAR report can be obtained with a simple breakdown.  This will also show if you were incorrectly compensated in PP4 due to the early submission of timecards)

-Total CIC and OJTI times for each pay period.  Please have them tallied prior to sitting down for a review.  CIC times can easily be obtained in CRUART by getting a position report for your operating initials and the date range of each pay period.  You will get SA1 and SA2 totals to add up. OJTI time is a bit trickier to obtain. You can also use CRUART to look at the OJTI reports but it shows every training session of the day for the entire center.  Select dates you know you trained to make it easier to get a total for training time.

With the above information, the NATCA pay calculator will make you a LES for each pay period.  We can then cross compare it with the actual LES that was issued and determine if you received all differentials and as well as the proper deductions.  Be mindful that any savings allotment that would go into a secondary bank account will be part of your net pay for PP1-2.

In the event that your pay is still very inaccurate, you will have to be patient a little while longer. We have been advised that is may take until PP6 to get caught up.  Please be sure to continue reading emails from NATCA national as it will have the most up to date guidance on issues with pay.  Updated versions of the NATCA pay calculator are available on NATCA.org.

Brooke

Brooked85@hotmail.com

440.227.5591

January 25, 2019 Update

It’s been just over a month since my last update. In fact it was delivered on the 1st day of the shutdown. Yet here we are 35 days later still shutdown.

Yesterday OPM finally released their interpretation of the law sign by Trump regarding backpay and leave. At our facility level, we will maintain the current status quo. Request your leave as usual (annual, sick, etc). It will be approved or denied per the CBA. Time and Attendance will convert everything to furlough. If you would like to be charged for your leave, you will need to speak with a FLM. All leave that has been used since the shutdown began will be coded as furlough. You will be backpaid for furlough. Be aware that if you take 80 hours of furlough (I believe within a pay period), you will not earn leave. If you have any questions please see a member of your E-Board.

NATCA is still leafleting at Sea-Tac Airport. If you would like to donate some of your time to public education, see a member of the E-Board. We have access to a schedule, shared by local facilities, to list volunteers.

After yesterday’s votes in the Senate, 6 of the 19 senators NATCA targeted, voted to end the shutdown. Thank you to everyone partaking in the social media campaigns as well as making calls and sending emails. The message is getting louder that this must end. Please continue to keep the pressure on DC to end the shutdown.

Lastly, if anyone needs help, please reach out to your E-Board. We are aware of the sensitive nature of a request for help. There will be no judgements. We will do anything and everything in our power to get you the needed help to last through this shutdown. We are a union family and family takes care of each other.

Brooke

440.227.5591

brooked85@Hotmail.com

Government Shutdown Update December 22

Government Shutdown

As the government shuts down, Air Traffic Control in unaffected until Monday, December 24, 12:00am. Anyone in a leave status on Monday (and until the shutdown ends) will be noted as furloughed. NATCA believes that this shutdown may differ from those in the past in which furloughed employees were given excused absence. There is no guarantee of back pay if you are furloughed. Please take leave at your own risk of potentially not being paid. This shutdown will likely extend through the New Year as members of the House and Congress spend the holidays with family.

This brings me to the next issue of of pay. If you are need of financial assistance through the shutdown, SkyOne Federal Credit Union can help. Each area has copies of a flyer on how to receive assistance. This flyer is also posted on the NATCA bulletin boards outside the control room as well as in the classrooms in the training department. If you are unable to find the flyers and need the information please see any member of the Eboard for assistance. We will gladly help.

Our next paycheck will likely be delayed due to the shutdown. It is imperative that you review your Leave and Earning Statement to check for accuracy. Timecards were due prior to the end of the pay period in order to stay ahead of the Christmas holiday and to fix any issues that may arise due to having a 27th Pay Period. Your next paycheck will be paid to you based on what you were scheduled to work after timecards were submitted. You may have discrepancies in differentials (night, Sunday, OJTI, CIC), leave used, credit earned, and overtime worked. These should be remedied in Pay Period 1 but it will be up to every individual to check your LES for accuracy.

A few reminders going into the new year:

We no longer need to wait until 28 days prior to the 1st day of the pay period to make any requests in Web scheduler. If the schedule is published, you can make requests. The schedule will be published, by management, at random to make sure everyone has a fair opportunity to make their requests.

Requests to use credit can not be made unless the credit has already been earned. If you are unsure you have enough credit to cover a request, or intend to make a leave request and earn the credit prior to taking the leave, put in a request for annual. Non-prime time leave requests made outside of the bid, in round 6 as accumulated, or spot leave requests made after the schedule is published can all be converted to credit. Accrued bid leave can not be converted into credit.

Airspace

I want to remind everyone we are still in a test period with NUW regarding the use of Molson South above FL280. Please continue to place strips in my headset box on any issues you may have with the airspace in use above FL280. We will most likely be entering into a longer test period to take us through the summer months when traffic is heavier. The airspace office anticipates NUW becoming lax in giving the airspace back as time goes on. We want to stay on top of this issue to better utilize our airspace or work towards alternate procedures.

NATCA Academy

https://www.natca.org/index.php/resources-member-side/natca-academy

If you would like to become more involved with NATCA, consider a NATCA academy class. Knowledge is power and we would like to have an educated workforce. If you would like to attend a class please sign up through the NATCA portal or see a member of the Eboard to help you register. Class space is limited and can not be guaranteed. Register early and make sure you have the time off in order to have a better chance of placement in the class.

Brooke

brooked85@hotmail.com

440-227-5591

November 30 Bidding Complete

We are officially done bidding. Web Scheduler will open at 12:00 AM Monday December 3. Any requests time stamped prior to 12:00 AM December 3 will be deleted without notification. Leave requests for the next pay period (Jan 6-19) need to be in prior to Wednesday morning in order to be processed prior to the schedule being published.

If you are interested in attending any NATCA training class, please talk to myself or any member of the E-board and use the link below to register.

https://www.natca.org/index.php/insider-articles/2152-2018-natca-academy-schedule

November 24 Update

Bidding

Our delay with round 6 bidding was caused by a difference with management on the word ‘slot’. The union had calculated slots as days earned by BUEs in 8 hour increments. Management determined that slots were the total hours left not bid divided by 8. After nearly a week of back and forth discussions between the e-board and management we have decided to move forward with 28 remain slots. I am just waiting for management to give us the go ahead to move forward since we are all in agreement now.

If you did not bid all accrued days of leave in rounds 1-5, you will be asked if are taking round 6 leave from your accrued or accumulated balance. If you take your round 6 leave from your accumulated balance it can be converted into credit if you choose. Accrued leave can NOT be converted into credit. If you do not know how much accumulated leave you have it can be checked in CEDAR or a sup can look it up for you. Remember that you can not have more leave requested than you have accrued and accumulated.

Once we are done bidding the remaining 28 slots, a date and time will be determined to open up web scheduler for Non-prime time leave requests. (Non-prime time leave requests are requests for leave prior to the schedule being published. Spot leave requests are requests for leave after the schedule is published). Web Scheduler can not be opened for non-prime time leave requests until we have concluded round 6 bidding. We are currently published through Pay Period 2 of 2019. The 2019 leave year begins with Pay Period 3 on January 6. We will be trying to hurry the bid along in order to open up web scheduler prior to pay period 3 being published.

Pay Period 2 WMT issues

The issues we had in web scheduler for pay period 2 have been resolved. All shift change and leave requests can be entered into web scheduler and will not need to be tracked on paper.

Solicitation of Interest

2 cadres are needed to teach refresher training 2019. Refresher training will take place in late May. Meetings will be scheduled several weeks prior to ensure time to prepare the material. Please let me know if you are interested.

IST Training (round 14?) will take place March 3-16. If you are interested in being a Cadre please let me know. There is a mandatory class all cadres must take before teaching the IST class. The dates have yet to be released for the instructor class but usually take place 1-3 months ahead of the IST training. Please let me know if you are interested and I will get back to you with exact dates when they become available.

Brooke

brooked85@hotmail.com

440-227-5591

November 17, 2018 Update

Dreamlines have been negotiated. You will have sheet with what was approved stapled to your original request in your mailbox. Management pushed back a bit on what we were able to approve due to the overwhelming number of requests.

Pay period 2 has been published in Web Scheduler and came with some issues due to the migration to My Access. Shift changes requests can not be entered however leave requests can be. We will be printing a request sheet for each day of the pay period that will be kept at the sup desk. Please place leave requests in Web Scheduler. Place all requests on the printed sheets. We will use the printed sheets to track the order of the requests and process them accordingly.

We are still waiting on management to meet and review the books prior to round 6 bidding. We have 32 days that can be bid. If you did not bid all of your accrued leave, your can bid the remainder of your accrued leave OR accumulated leave you are carrying over into 2019. If you can take either accrued or accumulated, you will need to state which type of leave you will bid. Leave bid as accumulated leave can be converted to credit. Accrued can not be converted to credit. Please be mindful that you can not bid more leave than you will accrue and carry over. If you have bid all accrued leave and will not carry over any accumulated leave, you have no leave to bid in round 6. If you carry over 20 days, you can bid all 20 days provided there are still that many spots left to bid. Once the 32 days are bid we will be done bidding. An email will go out with a date and time when web scheduler will open for leave requests for the 2019 leave year.

Brooke

brooked85@hotmail.com

440-227-5591

October 28th Round 2 Bidding Update

With our new MOU comes some growing pains. Alex and Don Hill will meet to discuss the issues every area is facing with the reduction. The MOU states we must reduce to the exact number of slots we get to bid. The A area was listed as having 696 leave slots available for the year but our number is actually 712. The second issue is that by reducing to the exact number of leave slots, we will not have enough opportunity for everyone to bid a full week in round 2 and there may not be enough opportunities in rounds 3-6 if available leave slots only fall on your RDOs.

I do not anticipate proceeding with the bid until late this week or even next week. We will bid trainees at the start of CPC Round 2 bidding.

Dreamlines will be reviewed next week. Expect to hear back on those lines being approved or denied within the first week or two of November.

Brooke

brooked85@hotmail.com

440.227.5591

October 18 Round 2 Bidding Update

Round 1 is complete. Next step is a slight change to past years bidding. There will be a pause for an undetermined amount of time before round 2 begins. Jason Poole and I will collaborate to reduce the amount of leave spots left. We started round 1 bidding with 1100 opportunities. We bid 320 of those in round 1. Management is only required to leave 376 opportunities for the remainder of the bidding.

As of right now I do not have a start date for round 2. I have informed Jason that we are done with round 1 and the soonest we may be able to have a meeting is Friday. We will black out the bid books as well as the online sheets before beginning round 2.

Dream sheets are due by Friday, October 26 at 1300. I will be attending CFS between October 22-25. Dream sheets will not be accepted after that time as it is a 2 day extension over the BWS MOU timeframe.

Trainee lines will be built during the same meeting to reduce leave opportunities. Trainees will begin bidding schedules and leave when the CPCs begin bidding round 2 leave.

Brooke

Bidding Update October 13, 2018

Bidding begins Sunday Morning!

The bid designees are myself, Derek Adams, Tony, and Damien.

The bid documents can be found on the local website http://www.natca-zse.com

We will be documenting bid leave online with operating initials. The crew lines and leave calendar are password protected. The password is 2152.

NATCA and management have been presenting a joint briefing on the MOUs this past week. If you have not been able to attend please read the MOUs and ask a bid designee any questions you may have before bidding. The MOUs are available on the ZSE NATCA website. There are changes to the bid procedures. The biggest change may be in the opportunities you have to bid in each round. If you do not bid all of your opportunities as they are presented, you will not be able to bid those opportunities until round 6. Those lower in seniority are at a disadvantage in round 6 as a senior controller may be able to bid the opportunities you passed in previous rounds. If everyone bids every opportunity in rounds 1-5 there will be no round 6. Management will collaborate with the union after rounds 1 and 5 to reduce or reallocate the leave slots for remaining rounds. A area has 696 total leave opportunities to be bid. Once we have bid that amount we will be done. Our area is at a disadvantage for summer leave after round 1. I will try to keep as many opportunities for subsequent rounds as possible but it would be to your best advantage to take your summer leave in round 1.

You do not have to bid on your RDOs but we will contact you in order to keep the bid moving. If you are on leave you may be skipped. We will make a reasonable effort to contact you. If you have scheduled leave, please leave a written proxy with a Bid Designee. In the event you have not left enough choices, via proxy, we will move on. If you are skipped, a message will be left and you may contact a Bid Designee to bid after the current bidder is done with their bid.

Dream Line requests must be submitted within one week of completion of the 1st round of bidding. Our area moves fast and we will likely finish round 1 within 2-3 days. If round 1 is completed on or before October 19, you will have until October 26 at 1330 to submit your request. I hope to be able to review all requests and have approval with 2 weeks. You will be notified or you approval or denial of a dream line once we review them.

2 envelopes will hang on the wall in the area next to the headset boxes. One will contain blank Dream Line request forms. The other will be for submitting Dream Line request forms. Once the Dream Line forms are collected, I will place shift swap forms in the area on the isle side of the sup desk. These may be submitted at anytime through out the year to myself or Damien.

If you wish to have a permanent shift swap with another controller for the year, we will take those requests anytime after dream lines have been processed. There will be a form for our records of the shift swap. If a line is vacated throughout the year by 1 of the individuals involved in the swap, the swap will no longer be honored and the other individual will go back to their bid line. If one individual is on leave, the other will go back to their bid line during that leave.

Trainee lines will be collaborated after we are finished with round 1 of CPC bidding. A Bid Designee will walk our first time bidders through the process.

If you have any questions please contact myself, a Bid Designee or even an E-Board member.

Brooke

440.227.5591

Brooked85@Hotmail.com