Our lobbyist and I continued our meetings with congressional representatives this week. We're making progress as we generate more support for our issue but there's still a lot of work to do. The meetings in Alaska have been postponed because neither Senator Stevens nor Chairman Young will be there until the August recess. We'll continue to work with them and their staffs in D.C. in the interim. We mailed our informational package to every member of Congress last week and that has helped to increase their awareness. I'll keep you informed of our progress; thanks again for all the work you've done in contacting your representatives.
I've asked the FAA to allow our bargaining unit to participate in the leave transfer program prior to the completion of term negotiations. We expect an agreement shortly.
I also met with ACR-1 Fanny Rivera regarding Model Work Environment. There's a program that's planned in the GL Region and it impacts our bargaining unit so, of course, we want to negotiate. I'm working with GL Regional Director Jack O'Connell and ACR to determine what level is appropriate for the bargaining.
I met with FacRep Billy Corbo and the members at BTV AFSS Tuesday afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to discuss issues and take input. Unfortunately NE Regional Director Kurt Comisky was unable to join us due to a personal matter. My thanks to Kurt and Billy for inviting me to BTV.
The FAA had decided to build a $100M facility called: Air Traffic Services Mission Needs Analysis Revalidation Special Project: New York ATS Mission Needs Statement 336. This building, commonly called the "Crystal Palace" will house the NY Center and Approach Control. Exact location hasn't been determined yet but there is at least a possibility that this facility will not be located on airport grounds. NAATS EA Regional Coordinator Pat Less has informed me that our membership at ISP AFSS would like to have the option of collocating with the other air traffic controllers in the new facility. Considering the fact that the FAA has done everything they can to discourage walk-in traffic at our facilities it would seem that our facility membership should at least have the option of taking advantage of a state-of-the-art facility. I've asked Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan to explore the possibility of accommodating our ISP membership and to also remove the standard building requirement that prohibits windows in our operations rooms.
Wally Pike
The following is from NAATS National OASIS Representative Jeff Barnes.
There has been little activity of significance taking place in the OASIS program since the OASIS Human Factors Team meeting I reported on last week. In addition to the installation waterfall the Team wrote problem statements to capture almost all the remaining problems and passed them off to Harris. We also worked on Harris Task Descriptions to make sure the fixes they planned would be appropriate solutions for us.
Last weekend the ARS organization (Our Tech Rep, ARS Liaison, ARW Liaison, and I all work within this organization) completed its move from DOT headquarters to new offices off of Macpherson Square near the White House. Most peoples' attention this week has been devoted to getting their offices set up in the new space. I took the week off to rest and avoid the beehive. I will have a new office phone number and I will publish my contact information with the new number in my next update in two weeks.
We met with our lobbyist again today and reviewed our status. We are on schedule and they advise there is no cause for concern. They put our odds of ultimate success the same as before. We ask that you continue to contact your congressional representatives and press our cause as we continue to meet with them here.
I've had a number of meetings over the past few months with ACR-1 Fanny Rivera regarding Model Work Environment. MWE is not disciplinary in nature and no mention of conduct and discipline is appropriate for any MWE plan at any level. NAATS SO Regional Director Craig Campbell is our national MWE representative; please contact him or me with any questions or concerns.
Effective July 1 our bargaining unit is eligible for the sick leave transfer program. Please notify us of any problems.
AT-1 Bill Peacock and I worked on some of the details of our video this week. July 9 is the scheduled production date and we should have it out to the field shortly thereafter.
No doubt you have seen the broadcast message from Administrator Jane Garvey regarding the rollout of the new Agency Performance Management System. The new PMS is not effective for our bargaining unit negotiations are completed with NAATS. Please direct any concerns or questions to NAATS Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan.
Wally Pike
The following is from Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan concerning the Presidential FDC NOTAMS:
The intent of section 6 is that a paper posting be done at each position so noting falls through the cracks. If reps want to bargain additional places to put the information as you have described that has to be in addition to the paper posting. The only problem I see is if the controller starts to rely only on the electronic data and it ends up being incomplete or incorrect he/she may swing from the nearest tree if there is a TFR violation. This provision (section 6) is intended to insure that all data is physically available. How it is utilized is the judgment of each individual. It's their job on the line, not mine. The Agency has agreed not to delegate this duty. Any more questions, let me know. -- Bill
The following is from NAATS ATX Liaison Kate Breen:
To: Facility Representatives
From: NAATS ATX Liaison Kate Breen
Date: June 28, 2001
Subject: RetirementsI need your help in educating Management that there is going to be an even greater problem with staffing due to retirements in the very near future. Management is telling Wally that we will end the year with 20 more people than we have this year I think they are either that misinformed or they are lying! I don't think they have figured in the Supervisor/Manager retirements either, which would probably take even more people from our bargaining unit.
Here is where you come in, can you please ask the bargaining unit members almost ready to retire when they are planning to do it. I don't need anything really specific, but as close to reality as possible. This includes controllers in AFSS/FSS/FSDPS. I know there are some people waiting to see what happens with the contract, but there are also those people who are going no matter what.
Facility _______________
1. How many controllers in your facility are expected to retire by January 1, 2002? ______________
2. How many controllers in your facility are expected to retire between January 1, 2002 and June 30, 2002? __________
3. How many controllers in your facility are expected to retire between July 1, 2002 and January 1, 2003? __________
4. How many controllers can retire and are awaiting the outcome of the contract? ____________
If you could get this done by July 31st, and faxed back to NAATS Headquarters it would be appreciated. The FAX number at NAATS is 301-933-3902, and my phone number if you have any questions is 202-267-8028.
Thank you -- Kate
Our lobbyist is continuing her talks with Chairman Don Young and we're hopeful of a breakthrough soon. She's also pressing his staffers in Anchorage to schedule our meeting in Alaska. We've also sent a similar invitation to Ted Stevens. You're certainly doing your part in the field and we're very grateful for all of your efforts. I hope to have more details next week. In the meantime we're staying fairly busy talking with the various congressional offices and gathering support for our issues.
NAATS Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan, ATX Liaison Kate Breen and I met with AT-2 Jeff Griffith yesterday. Purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Aeronautical Center training schedule for FY02. The classes scheduled so far can only train 98 students during that time. Attrition estimates vary but we're concerned that we may not be able to maintain the current FSS controller workforce (2,206 bargaining unit employees) without scheduling night classes. This is further exacerbated by the fact that we're already critically staffed at our facilities. Of course our staffing number is part of the pay negotiations but we can't afford to get any further behind the hiring power curve. We'll continue to keep you briefed on these talks and any developments.
AT-1 Bill Peacock and I completed our video Monday. It should be out to the field shortly.
I plan to meet with the members in MIA on July 18. The other invitations I have are DEN, SEA and the Alaska stations. I'll coordinate those meetings with the appropriate Regional Directors as workload allows.
Wally Pike
An OASIS update from NAATS National Representative Jeff Barnes follows:
07/12/01 - Activities in the OASIS program have been a bit slower for the last couple weeks due to vacations (including a short one for me). The Human Factors Team continues to work with Harris via telcon to identify solutions to problems.A training meeting was held recently to discuss how to conduct the training to best effect once OASIS goes into full deployment. There is a significant change in the training philosophy which should benefit us greatly by making training work much more smoothly in the field. There is still a lot of development to be done on this. I will let Bill Dolan and Donna Holmes brief you on this as the details are worked out.
Next week I will be traveling with representatives from headquarters to AND AFSS to brief them on what lies ahead for them. We will also answer any questions that come up there, so I invite you AND specialists to ask any questions you might have about the program and what is in your future. In August we will be getting our first look at the next software upgrade for SEA and we will be testing it at the Tech Center in the latter part of September. I will also be working to ensure we have remote workstations at the National Meeting in Las Vegas in October so that anyone interested can see what OASIS can do right now. Those of you who saw it in St. Louis will be able to see changes made by the new software package which will be running at that time.
Jeff Barnes
The following is from NAATS ATP Liaison Donna Holmes and Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan:
Bill Dolan and I met with ATP-1 and ATP-300 on several issues.
- TFR NOTAMs- There has been a lot of discussion on local times in the TFR NOTAMs. They will be updating the procedure to include UTC times in addition to local times in the TFR NOTAM.
Several facilities thought the paper posing of TFR NOTAMs was overkill. The TFR MOU will be amended this week to include that the TFR NOTAMs shall be posted in the SIA and parties at the local level will determine if any additional postings are necessary.- NOTAM workgroup and recommendations- ATP is compiling a list of recommendations and possible action items from the last NOTAM meeting that NAATS was not a part of. We have requested a copy of these so NAATS can review and comment on all recommendations. I will send these out to our current NAATS NOTAM workgroup participants for comment. Once we review the list ATP and NAATS will determine the need for workgroup participants on specific issues and action plan items.
- ASOS augmentation- The facilities that are being considered for augmentation are CLE, ICT, BTV and ABQ. BUF is not being considered due to an unsuitable location. A message is going out to the regions that they shall get together with their NAATS regional directors and first determine if the facilities are suitably sited. Then parties at the local level will have to determine availability of staffing, watch schedule impact etc. ATP has said there is no additional staffing to allocate. After ATP receives this info they will determine if it's feasible for those faculties to augment the ASOS.
We have also requested a copy of the current training plan and the time line of how it can be accomplished. If all other issues are resolved we may have to implement a short term contract until we have all training completed to do the wx obs augmentation.
If it is NAATS position not to do the obs augmentation due to staffing we need to consolidate our concerns and advise ATP.
Any questions??? Give me a callDonna
And this from NAATS GA Summit Representative Ward Simpson:The 71110.10 rewrite draft went to all the Regional 530s Thursday. They will forward it to each AFSS Facility for all employees (journeypersons, sups, staff etc.) to review and comment. It should be at your facility sometime next week, probably Friday at the latest. If you have not received a copy please call Ward Simpson, our GA Summit Rep at NAATS Hdqrs., and let him know of any problems you are experiencing. Additionally, please E-mail ([email protected]) or Fax (301-933-3902) Ward with your suggestions, changes, deletions or additions to the 7110.10.
We will be meetings with our lobbyist Monday; I'll have the latest status on our congressional efforts to you next week. We will also be meeting with Chairman Don Young (R-AK), Senators Tom Daschle (D-SD), Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Fritz Hollings (D-SC) next week. I will meet with FAA Administrator Jane Garvey on August 10.
I met with MIA FacRep Tom Forte and his membership this week. I enjoyed the give and take at the meeting. As a result of their suggestions we are posting our AFSS Congressional Information Packet on the NAATS website and our lobbyist will be developing additional talking points for congressional letter writing. My thanks to Tom, SO Regional Director Craig Campbell, SO Regional Coordinator Dave Hoover and especially to Steve and Denise Jones for their invitation and hospitality.
NAATS is considering joining some other FAA Unions (PASS, AFGE, NFFE, LIUNA, PAACE, NAGE and AFSCME) in establishing the Aviation Labor Coalition (ALC). The purpose of the coalition is to address workplace issues and FAA accountability collaboratively. Collectively, this coalition would represent almost 20,000 FAA employees. I'm sending the draft ALC Charter to NAATS Webmaster John Dibble so that he can scan it and put it on our WebPage.
In the news today is a report that the FLRA is ready to issue a complaint against the FAA for failure to sign the FAA/AFSCME agreement. You will recall that the FAA and AFSCME bargained to agreement but then the FAA maintained that OMB refused to honor the deal. The FAA Administrator refused to sign the agreement so AFSCME filed the ULP. The next step is for the matter to go before an administrative law judge, probably in the October/November time frame. The sad part of this story is that the FAA will no doubt appeal any adverse decision and force the issue further into the courts thereby further delaying any conclusion for months.
Wally Pike
Two key meetings are being held at the end of this month and the middle of August between NAATS, our lobbyist and targeted members of Congress. The goal is to secure the "champion" for our cause and to identify the vehicle to achieve our goal.
Our lobbyist is also preparing talking points for your letters to, and meetings with, your congressional representatives. Our lobbyist requests that you provide NAATS Headquarters with a copy of any correspondence or discussions you have with Congress. The August recess provides a great opportunity to contact your representatives while they're back in their districts. If possible, having them tour your facility so that they can see first hand who we are and what we do is especially valuable.
As many of you know, the FAA has been responding to congressional letters by stating that the Parties are still in negotiations and that they are confidant that a settlement is at hand. This is misleading to say the least. We have not met with either the management negotiating team or the mediator from the FMCS since April 17. No further meetings are scheduled. I've contacted the mediator and informed him that we consider the matter to be at impasse. Our lobbyist is relaying this information to congress. In any of your communications with your congressional representatives please correct the record.
Wally Pike
Following received from NAATS National OASIS Representative Jeff Barnes:
07/25/01 - Last week various people involved in the OASIS program at headquarters took a short trip to AND AFSS to introduce themselves and to give the facility an idea what is in store for them as the keysite. I was one of those people. Everyone from headquarters was very impressed with the reception they got there, and with the enthusiasm that AND is bringing to the table (I can't think of too many facilities where the ATM is willing to tell a program from headquarters that either the facility management OR facility NAATS representative to OASIS are fully empowered to make decisions for the facility regarding OASIS without consultation with the ATM. I can't emphasize the OR bit enough. The AND NAATS Rep for OASIS is Tom Brister and when necessary he can make decisions for the facility on OASIS that are binding for both NAATS and management).
Anyone who had any doubts about how right the Human Factors Team was in selecting AND as the Keysite had to come away from that meeting completely comfortable with the selection. The facility is going all out to make sure that the controllers are ready for OASIS when it arrives. A key issue they are addressing is familiarity with the Windows operating system. The controllers there have been offered commercial Windows training at no expense to them and the Manager and FacRep have committed to doing everything they can to ease the transition from Model One to OASIS. As part of this effort AND is already publishing a facility OASIS newsletter to make sure their controllers are completely in the loop on what is happening there. I hope that Tom Brister will be able to write for the NAATS newsletter on ANDs experiences with OASIS as Alice Haines has on the SEA experiences.
One of the briefings was from Lisa Bee, who is the manager of the OASIS Independent Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) Team. She described the process that IOT&E follows. I am not going to describe that process here. Dave Hoover is the NAATS Rep to the OASIS IOT&E Team (several other members of the Team are also from the bargaining unit). I expect he will write a more thorough description of the Team responsibilities, but the short version is that they come in once the system has gone fully operational in AND (They did an Early Operational Assessment at SEA after they went operational on the prototype) and evaluate not so much how well the system does its job, but how well the system lets the controllers do theirs. This Team is fully independent and reports directly to ATS-1, so they don't answer to any mid-level management. They deal directly with the top. The IOT&E Team are another oversight that was never there for us in the past (In addition to the oversight part of my job and the Human Factors Team). A lot of eyes are watching this VERY carefully.
If there is one thing that will make your switch to OASIS easier when it comes to your facility it is comfort working with windows. A basic knowledge of how the system works and comfort with manipulating windows is the single biggest factor in a smooth transition. Going from our current system which is based on a command line to a windows Graphical User Interface demands a big change in how you manage your position. The OASIS system is going to be all about position management like never before. Your success and enjoyment working with OASIS is going to depend heavily on good position management techniques. We are very fortunate that SEA has had the system as long as it has. They have developed techniques that make OASIS begin to live up to its potential. They will pass their experience on to the rest of us as I'm sure AND will also in their turn.