A76 UPDATE

Kate Breen, A76 Representative -- [email protected]

Hi All. I don�t have a lot of new information for you, but what I can do is brief you on the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) symposium that was held in Washington, DC yesterday. This symposium was held mainly as an "industry day" to let the vendors that are interested in bidding on our jobs get a briefing of where the FAA is and to also check each other out in case they want to team with one another.

The morning started with the usual welcome from the chairman of ATCA and went into a briefing by Joann Kansier letting everyone know what a wonderful thing this A-76 process is and how it's going to improve Flight Service. With also the usual assurances that she wants a "level playing field" for all concerned. The one good thing that she did yesterday morning was tell Jack Kalavritinos (Associate Administrator for Competitive Sourcing, OMB) that she expect three deviations from the A-76 circular.

1. FAA will be asking for the 6-month extension to extend the process to 18 months, mind you she didn't say when they would do that or if it would be approved. The request to extend the additional 6 months has to be done before the official announcement in September, at least right now that's what they�re looking at for a date. I still want to know what happened to the assurances given to us by Angela Styles that we would not be under any time frame constraints because of the size and complexity of our competition.

2. The Agency is precluded from using the FARs that the A-76 circular refers to so she is going to ask the Agency be able to use their Acquisition Management System (AMS) instead. The problem here is they will be mixing and matching information, hopefully we�ll know how by the public announcement.

3. The competition will be run as a "best value" acquisition, she then recanted and said the Agency would probably be asking for "best value."

Please understand that nothing is cast in stone yet so expect changes, I�ll do my best to keep on top of things and forward out the information I can to you all. Remember I�ve signed a non-disclosure form, so I can�t reveal anything that is considered procurement sensitive.

One interesting statistic that came out of Ron Page�s brief is that in the year 2001 41,725 jobs in the agency were inherently governmental 7,340 were commercial. In 2002 18,213 jobs were inherently governmental and 31,102 were commercial, bit of a swing don�t you think! Well here�s the catch of the 31,102 commercial 25,008 were listed under reason code A (including approximately 20,000 air traffic controllers (Ron's words not mine!)) and 4126 reason code B. I�d like to know who the other 1,126 FAA employees categorized the same as us to go through this wonderful process!

In Joann Kansier�s brief she mentioned they were using the FAA cost accounting system to find out how much it costs to run Flight Service each year, she keeps saying over $500 million. Well the cost to run the Flight Service Stations in FY2001 was just under $290 million dollars, if you add in all of the AF costs, regional/headquarters costs, investment, and other categories you get over $500 million. Is the A-76 being run on any of the other categories, NO, so why are we taking them into consideration. Granted you will still have overhead costs, but they shouldn't be counted as the operational costs of flight service. With or without A-76 there are still going to be those costs so why do we count them in the overall scheme other than to inflate the supposed savings.

The "draft" schedule in Jim Little�s presentation has the source selection decision made in 1st quarter of FY05, that means Oct-Dec, 2004. There really isn�t a whole lot more on the process right now that I could give you definite on, everything is still very tentative. Hopefully, after the responses are in from the request for information the agency will have more guidance given to them by the vendors on how to do this!

James Sizemore briefed on the status of the PWS, which is mainly that the group had finished the functional scoping workshops, and was in Washington this week working on the PWS. Hopefully the PWS team will get something out to you all on how that went after the week is over.

Wally had asked if I would sit on the panel for him and I was happy too, I�ve attached my opening remarks, which I have to thank Wally and Bill Dolan for their help in editing! Take a look at my remarks; the agency did tape it so it may be coming to a facility in your area soon! Let�s just hope they get it out quicker than the binders or Briefer, or you may not get it until 1st quarter of FY05!!!! Please don�t let this get you down, the language is looking good, the faster the FAA tries to push this the more of an embarrassment it will be when it goes "belly up" and our team of attorneys are catching every miss-step as a last resort. On a final note for this week, I�m taking some time off to hopefully adjust my attitude a bit and try to unwind. Nothing special, going home to take Mom to the doctors, tend to some landscaping and maybe even do some painting, not very exciting but good for the mental health! I�ll be back July 7th to attend a meeting at MITRE (FAA contractor) that meeting will be with user groups to release a survey for pilots to fill out. It should be released on or around July 8th and you�ll be able to get it and fill it out off of the AOPA web site! That�s it for now, everyone have a fun and safe holiday.

ATCA [Air Traffic Control Association] Symposium June 25, 2003

Good Morning, I�ve been involved in this A-76 process on Flight Service since August 2003, part time until October and then full time here in the DC area as the NAATS National Representative to this process.

I�d be happy to entertain any questions.
 

   OASIS Update

Jeff Barnes, OASIS National Representative, [email protected]

06/28/03 -- This is going to be a quickie. I�ve been sick for about 5 10 days now. Missed most of last week (a week away from Headquarters is almost as good as a vacation even though I spent it trying to cough a lung up). I wanted to bring everyone up to date on our operational facilities, so here they are: Seattle, WA (SEA); Anderson, SC (AND); St. Louis, MO (STL); Riverside, CA (RAL); Dayton, OH (DAY); and Altoona, PA (AOO). Albuquerque, NM (ABQ) is scheduled to start operations on 07/01.

BACK HOME

I was at BNA [Nashville AFSS] a couple weeks ago to assist teaching the first week of training there so Arnie Holmes could attend a national training meeting in OKC [Oklahoma City]. I found the students to be extraordinarily bright and perceptive, but that might just be home team bias speaking. *HeHe*

At the same time testing by the Human Factors Team was going on at the Tech Center on the first half of the software upgrade that will be completed and installed with the CXO [Conroe AFSS] installation in December. Since I haven�t received any panicked phone calls I assume that nothing major was found that we didn�t already know about. The sickbed thing has kept me from confirming this though.

SATELLITE PROBLEMS AT ABQ

A problem was discovered with the satellite signal reception at ABQ that caused the delay in going operational there. It was decided that the fix to make the receiver more flexible is appropriate for everywhere, so it will be applied to all the OASIS systems.

MORE "THANK YOU'S"

Every time I get a message that another facility has gone operational on OASIS I feel a bit of relief and a whole lot of happiness. I�ve thanked a lot of the people involved ad nauseum in the past so I won�t go through that litany again here. However, I would like to add new thanks to those people who have joined the National Training Cadre for the hard work they do going into facilities and getting the local training cadre trained and supported through their first month of training. And of course big thanks go to the local cadres who have to teach the courses without being system experts themselves. I�m sure at times it can feel like the blind leading the blind. I ask that you have some patience with your local cadre. If they can�t answer your question, they can and will get in touch with someone who can. Further, the national training team is continuing to look at training to make it better, just as we are always looking at how to make OASIS itself better. So my apologies to those of you that have had to use the many ....ummm.... less than helpful End of Lesson Test questions. The academy, the cadre instructors, and the national training team are working them and other issues on.
 

   AFGE FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST OMB�S A-76

www.fpmi.com/FedNews, July 7, 2003

The American Federation of Government Employees recently asked the court to rule that the Office of Management and Budget's newly revised Circular A-76 violates the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act.

The union�s complaint states that Angela Styles, Administrator of OMB�s procurement policy, wants to "dramatically increase the number of jobs and/or functions that these agencies will find to be not inherently governmental...In so acting, Defendant Styles has exceeded the bounds of OMB�s statutorily defined powers and her acts constitute an abuse of discretion, are arbitrary, capricious, and are not in accordance with law..."

According to AFGE, the new A-76 Circular violates the FAIR Act by substantially narrowing the definition of inherently governmental functions; adopting a new, heightened standard for agencies to apply when evaluating whether certain financial payment related functions are inherently governmental; and imposing new limits on the challenge process which illegally restrict union challenge rights.

"This revised Circular exposes many AFGE�s members to the new risk that their job functions will be reclassified as �commercial� and, therefore, subject to conversion, while at the same time depriving them of their full statutory challenge rights," said AFGE National President Bobby L. Harnage.

Harnage said thousands of federal employees working for the Social Security Administration and Veterans Benefits Administration could be removed from the agencies� inherently governmental lists under the Circular�s illegal definitions.

   PWS COMES TO FT. WORTH

This briefing was written by Angie Danner from FTW AFSS, she put it together on her own and I think she did an outstanding job. There were just a few things I added or edited just for clarification, it is good to sometimes get a fresh perspective on an issue. I'm sure you are all sick and tired of my updates and writing style!!! Thanks Angie for not only the update but for also participating in the workshop, Southwest Region has a fine group of people working in our option. Also, thanks go to Southwest Regional Director Mark Jaffe for his willingness to take over the PWS lead and his charming Texas hospitality.

-- Kate Breen

Brief from A-76 PWS Meeting Ft. Worth AFSS

Angie Danner, FTW AFSS

June 5, 2003

FAA Representatives:
James Sizemore, ACA and Ug Garcia, ASW

Union Representatives:
David Hoover, ASO RegDir; Mark Jaffe, ASW RegDir and Kate Breen, NAATS Hq.

Grant-Thornton Representatives:

Eric Heffernan, Marlon Henry and Joshua Krieger

Other Participants:

This meeting was part of the Functional Scoping Portion of the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The intent of the meeting was to ensure that the PWS work group is completely informed as to all the functions and services provided by AFSSs/IAFSSs. The PWS work group was primarily concerned with unique functions/services that may be accomplished at any one AFSS/IAFSS. However, the entire dictionary (I�ll elaborate further later on this) was covered. A couple examples of unique functions/services include FTW AFSSs use of ITWS, SJT as a hub facility for a Non-Federal Contract Tower, DRI, CXO and SJT provide trans-border information to pilots.

The PWS Teams have previously visited New England Region, Bangor, Maine; the Southern Region, Miami, Florida; Central Region, St. Louis, Missouri; and Western Pacific Region, Hawthorne, California. A second PWS Team visited the Great Lakes Region, Lansing Michigan 6-3 through 6-5. Future visits include the Northwest Region,  Seattle,  Washington 6-10 through 6-12 and the Eastern Region,  Leesburg,  Virginia 6-10 through 6-12.

The PWS Team provided the group with a copy of an "AFSS Activity Dictionary". (This is the term that is being used for the spreadsheet). The dictionary listed each product/service (not necessarily positions); key activities provided by each product/service, activity definitions etc. This is a very large document and your A-76 representative should have a copy if you�d like to view it. A complete updated copy of this dictionary will not be available until late June.

The PWS Team led the group through the dictionary line-by-line gathering input from each facility. In addition to journeymen input, additional input was solicited from the FSDPS, Administrative Personnel, Quality Assurance and Training (Support Specialist).

We then went through an equipment list, matching this to the products/services provided.

With the products/services listed, we then determined what external factors increased the workload of each. A handful of external factors were listed and a "given" for each product/service, i.e. weather, national security, holidays, pilot experience, special events, etc.

Next, we examined each product/service and determined a quantitative measure for each. Such as the product/service of Search and Rescue could the include number of airports called, QALQs, INREQs and ALNOTs issued.

Utilizing the products/services, we listed potential sources, frequency, how tracked. (There was a little more involved with this exercise but my notes here are incomplete. That�s an excuse for I can�t read my writing).

Let me outline the actual A-76 process in terms we can all understand. We all may understand some or all of the process, but I�ll go into some detail. The following is by no means a complete step-by-step explanation of the process but I�m sure the information will be helpful to many people. James Sizemore and Eric Heffernan assisted me in the accuracy of the following information. Thank you, gentlemen.

The PWS Team is currently in the Functional Scoping Process. This involves visiting the facilities to determine what we actually do.

This functional scooping information will be submitted to AAT-1, who will determine the scope of services to be competed for and those services that will be considered a "continued government activity."

The next step is data collection. The PWS team will solicit specifics for contract from AFSSs. Previous information obtained was primarily concerned with what we actually do. This process involves quantity and quality of our current workload.

Three PWS drafts will be released. The 1st one is for internal team review. The 2nd draft will be another internal review. The 3rd draft is included in the final acquisition of services and released to the public for bid.
In the meantime (already in progress), a separate MEO FAA core team (Donna Holmes, Dave Hoover for NAATS and Bob McMullin, Lauren Grace for the agency) will formulate a proposed offer (MEO) to be submitted along with the vendors� proposals.

The proposals, including the MEO proposal, will be evaluated and contract awarded by AAR-2, Source Selection. One note on this subject: Apparently in the past the vendors competed against each other. The "selected" vendor from this group would then compete against the MEO proposal. This is no longer true. The MEO proposal competes along with all the vendor proposals.

NOTES:
At various times throughout the process, the FAA Management Representatives and NAATS Union Representatives will be omitted from the process. This is to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

The contract will not necessarily be awarded to the lowest bidder. Cost Technical Trade Off -- cost is only one element in the evaluation process.

Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) will be made available to vendors but their use is not mandatory.

There are other AFSS A-76 processes currently being conducted with reference to equipment, maintenance, as is cost, etc.

The proposals submitted will be reviewed by a team of former Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), acquisition experts and qualified individuals. The point is, individuals who have considerable knowledge of FSS operations and functions will conduct this review.

Proposals will be evaluated, prior to the awarding of the contract as to the validity of their approaches.
Any employee compensation package, buy-out, transfers etc. will not even be addressed as the process unfolds.

Let me address the "flow of information" from the union. The actual A-76 process is public information. However, once the MEO group meets, these proceedings are not public information. These individuals have signed non-disclosure statements. You can ask a millions times, What�s the structure of the MEOs proposal? How many journeymen are they asking for? What locations are they considering? What pay are they proposing? There are a million questions we all want to know. But this information cannot legally be released until all proposals have been submitted. I don�t like it, you don�t like it, makes us wonder what�s going on that�s got to be kept a secret. Sorry folks, that�s the nature of the beast.

   LIAISON UPDATES

ARS Report

Steve Pollok, ATP Liaison -- [email protected]

NOTAM Short Term Solution (NSTS) -- The Tech Center conducted Operational Capability Testing (OCT), and regression testing, on the NSTS software version 2.0 this past week (6/24-6/25). Jim Perkins attended the testing along with some of the other players on the project. Everything went well and there were no major showstoppers. Hopefully, this will mean that we can go ahead with Proof Of Concept (POC) testing, at both Macon and Cedar City, by the end of July or first part of August. All parties have signed the MOU for the NSTS testing.

Integrated Information Display System (IIDS) -- A user group spent the week of June 2 -- June 5 reviewing the prototype that Jim Perkins and I developed in May. The team consisted of 4 NAATS members and a supervisor. These individuals came from both MIFC and Oasis facilities. They did an outstanding job during the week and made many helpful suggestions and changes. I would like to thank Andrea Chay (SEA), Jim Davis (CXO), Pedro Munoz-Morillo (GNV), Dan Petlowany (RIV), and supervisor Rick Nevez (STL) for the work they did. All of them made valuable inputs to the development of the system.

Currently the project is awaiting an IIDS Prototype Update Meeting to be held on July 14. Personnel from the Tech Center Human Factors Lab, along with Jim and I, will be presenting the IIDS prototype to members of management from ARU, ARQ, ATP, etc.

OASIS/DUATS Integration -- The project is on hold while we wait for the Harris Corporation to develop, and present, a revised cost projection based on a phased approach to the development of the system.

Tape Retention -- The request by the NTSB, to retain tapes for 90 days, is currently under review by the FAA.

National Airspace System -- Interference Detection, Locating, and Mitigation (NAS-IDLM) -- Cost analysis is complete and preparation is under way for the alternate analysis and then the investment analysis.

ARU Report

Art Finnegan, ARU Liaison -- [email protected]

Graphical Area Forecast (GFA)

An effort to change the Area Forecast (FA) from the textual product to a graphical one raises issues that need to be resolved in a manner that is acceptable to many users including pilots, dispatchers, and pilot weather briefers. The following items are some examples of those issues. If anyone desires to share their thoughts or suggestions regarding a Graphical Area Forecast you may direct them to:

[email protected].

Should all weather information that currently meets AIRMET criteria be outlined on a GFA except for Mountains Obscured? Mountain Obscuration would then be indicated by a symbol placed in the general vicinity of that area of concern.

How many GFA areas will be depicted, 6 FA boundaries as currently exist or change to one GFA for each of the 21 ARTCC boundaries?

Note: Other products such as SIGMETs would then be issued on the same basis.

The corresponding text to a GFA (known by the ICAO term, GAMET) is computer generated. How will any difference between a graphical (GFA) and textual (GAMET) representation of a single FA be resolved?

Should the AIRMET be eliminated and information that now meets AIRMET criteria be incorporated in the GAMET? If so, how would hazardous conditions be easily recognized after being incorporated with other information in the forecast(s)?

GFA generating capabilities presently only allow for "snapshots" of an FA. That means a GFA would depict forecast conditions at specific intervals e.g. 00Z, 03Z, 06Z, 09Z etc. Should a user (pilot, dispatcher, weather briefer) be responsible for interpolating the forecast conditions between those times?

Weather and Radar Processor (WARP)

The Harris Corporation announced that they could include 16 colors rather than the 8 colors originally planned in an upgrade for WARP at no additional cost to the Agency.

WARP will need increased capacity and memory due to the number of upgrades it is experiencing along with the requirement to store data for 15 days.

The Unisys Corporation provided the WARP team with a demonstration of some improvements that are planned for WARP. They include enhancing current overlays, new overlays, new National and Regional mosaics, and the additions of lightning strike data and other graphical products. Janice Collier, Command Center WARP Representative attended the demonstration in Pennsylvania for NAATS.

Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS)

Wind shear and microburst reading variations of up to 15 knots have been reported at more that one ITWS site. The operational support division (AOS-250) originally conducted tests of the system and reported it "performed as designed". Reports from the field continued to note discrepancies. More recently AOS-250 confirmed the TWDR at STL was over alerting causing different indications from ITWS and TWDR. The Raytheon Corp. is now working on TDWR attenuation issues that hopefully will provide a fix to all ITWS sites.

The ITWS team is "looking for ways" to include the convective weather forecast product (CWFP) in the ITWS. That means more money is needed to accomplish that.

The ITWS at Potomac TRACON is scheduled for commissioning on July 21st.

Stand Alone Weather System (SAWS)

The SAWS budget recommendation for FY04 includes an $800,000. decrease in funding. The cut would curtail a wind gust study designed to determine an algorithm acceptable to both the FAA and the NWS that would calculate wind gusts for use in air traffic operations. The weather service favors the formula used in weather observations while air traffic users prefer gusts to be calculated over a shorter, more recent time period.

A SAWS budget reduction would also further limit the number of SAWS installations to be completed next year.

A SAWS display evaluation at GNV AFSS is still pending approval of a questionnaire to be used in that effort.

The SAWS team has a new manager, Tom Webster. Webster was a Government contractor who recently transitioned to the FAA.

Juneau Airport Wind System (JAWS)

JAWS Alerts (reportable values) and the Alert Areas that the wind system will cover are currently being decided. The effort by JAWS team members is a critical step in the process to provide the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) with the direction they need to develop the algorithm required to produce the alerts.

Bill Voss, Terminal Business Service (ATB) Manager, visited Juneau last month. Voss has reportedly agreed to fund an LLWAS that is being installed at JNU as part of the JAWS.

The placement of an anemometer east of JNU for the LLWAS, may be problematic because of the location�s wetland designation and requirements for power and fencing at the site.

ATP Report

Jim Perkins, ARS Liaison -- [email protected]

SUA/ISE

While the National deployment of Special Use Airspace/Inflight Service Enhancement (SUA/ISE) doesn�t appear to be going anywhere, progress is being made. ATP-200 advises me that the suggested improvements made by the CHI team have been completed. I am working with them to get the new software tested/demonstrated for NAATS. ATX is working to schedule our Article 9 briefing with Bill Dolan. The program office is in the progress of completing site surveys for the cabling and power supplies and will be following up with site work on the placement of the display hardware shortly. ATP-200 has completed the construction of the first 30 equipment racks, so they can be installed quickly. I am being told that the remainder of the racks will be finished shortly. They are still pushing to complete deployment by the end of September, as required by the MOU

WAAS

The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) program is still slated for commissioning on July 10th. This has become one of the Administrator�s "Pet Projects". It�s amazing how much effort is being put into a program that only 2 or 3 aircraft can utilize at this time. As part of the manual back-up procedures some flight service stations have been sent new FAX machines for the operations floor. I have sent the list to the Regional Directors, we need to make sure this equipment gets where it belongs and not in the front office somewhere. Most of you will probably have taken the CBI training by the time you read this. The CBI gives a fair overview of the WAAS program, but you should be getting a mandatory briefing on the procedures for issuing the NOTAMs. A GENOT has also been issued which clearly shows this will be an "On Request Only" item.

Runway Friction Measuring

ATP-300 has issued a GENOT which hopefully won�t affect us for awhile, but come next winter Runway Friction (Mu) Values will also be an "On Request Only" item.

Tower Light NOTAMs

ATP-300 has been receiving pressure from 1 pilot who has decided his mission in life is to add the Antennae Registration Number (ASR) to all tower light outage NOTAMS. They have decided to comply with his wishes after numerous FOIA requests. This is also to be an "On Request Only" item.

TODS (TFR Overlay Display System)

Well, hopefully by the time you read this the graphical TFR equipment nightmare will finally have come to an end. I want to thank you for your emails keeping me up-to-date on what equipment you received as it came in. I don't think the FAA could have done a better job of messing this up if they would have tried. But despite all the problems we should finally be able to see the TFRs graphically. We are continuing to work towards getting this equipment at all operating positions.

NSTS

The NOTAMs Short Term Solution (NSTS) saga continues. At the convention I announced that the software appeared to be ready to go. Well, I was wrong, after turning the software on at MCN and CDC for training we have encountered several glitches with getting the correct NOTAM data. While we do have a section in the MOU, which gives us immunity when we miss a NOTAM due to system malfunctions, we don�t want to deploy, something we know doesn�t work completely. The software programmers are collecting data and working to lock down the problems.

International Weather Briefing

ATP-300 is continuing to work with the Academy on the development of International Wx Briefing training. We received our Article 9 briefing and are working on the MOU. It looks as though the start up date will slip to sometime in September. As part of the MOU, Bill is pushing for NAATS to participate in a workgroup for this program development. I don�t know how ATX feels about it, but ATP seems to be agreeable to utilizing a workgroup. Hopefully they can begin work soon. If this seems like something you would be interested in I encourage you to let your Regional Director know ASAP.

ATX Report

Beth Gerrits, ATX Liaison -- [email protected]

Familiarization Flight Program

The Familiarization Flight program remains at the TSA with no change in the status of approval.

Memoranda of Understanding

The MOUs for NOTAMs Short Term Solution (NSTS), NOTAMS Multi-domain, and the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) were completed and signed. These will be appearing in a Read and Initial binder near you within the next 30 days.

New Hires

Negotiations for the assignment of newly hired personnel for the AFSS option for Fiscal Year 2004 (FY04) will begin soon. We currently are restricted in the hiring of new personnel by the capacity at the FAA Academy. The Academy is able to train 98 new hires in FY04. FY04 begins OCT 1 and the hiring freeze ends at that time as well. The FAA�s budget woes are far from over and let us hope that another freeze does not occur next year and further reduce our numbers.

Academy Classes

Other classes at the Academy like EFAS should also resume after OCT 1.

The Freeze

There is no word yet on if waivers will still be required for moves, promotions, or travel after OCT 1. Since the procedure is in place it may continue. Once created procedures do not go away very quickly.

That�s all for now. I hope you enjoy your vacation as much as I plan to enjoy mine.

FSOSC Report

Tim DeGrazio, Kevin Carl and Jim Mehan, FSOSC Liaisons

The New Guys

The new guys, Jim Meehan from MIA AIFSS and Kevin Carl from IPT AFSS, have arrived and they are rapidly becoming experts at the TODS program. Kevin was on the original workgroup and Jim is pretty sharp at computers so it has been easy training them. They are also getting a crash course on what it means to be a liaison and the myriad duties that title brings with it. I will still be available to assist them in any way that I can, during duty hours that is. As soon as I get home I plan to have a party where we stand around a bonfire and burn my cell phone!

Training Packets

The training document that Jeppesen provided with the TODS software was incomplete so I created a more comprehensive manual geared toward the FSS Controller. I finished the tutorial manual while in Seattle conducting the ANM PWS workshop. If there are errors in the manuals I attribute it to writing them after the workshop ended each night. If you do find any error or areas that need more discussion please contact the FSOSC.

TFR Overlay Display System (TODS)

The TODS equipment should be up and running in your facility. All AFSSs should have received 2 Dell computers (FSSs should have received 1) with 19" monitors, a color printer, a FliteStar User�s Guide, and a TFR Tutorial Manual from the FSOSC. If your facility did not receive these products please call the FSOSC. These systems are for operations� use and should be placed where they are accessible to the Briefers.

AOPA and Graphical TFRs

Since our Administrator promised that graphical TFR�s would be available to the public by June 15, 2003 the FAA has been scrambling to make it happen. The FAA has provided an area of the FAA website to fulfill this promise. We have provided that department with the TODS software and they are transferring the graphics to a NOTAMS page on the site. The address is: http://www2.faa.gov/specialnotams/Special NotamListing.htm.

And Now A Personal Note

My detail as a NAATS Liaison ends 6/30. I have enjoyed (most of) my time here in DC. I feel that I have materially contributed to the Union and our Option and I want to thank the Board for choosing me to serve. I urge you to talk with other Liaisons and Tech reps if you have any desire to serve in one of these details. Then notify your Regional Director and send a resume to NAATS Headquarters. It may well be the most frustrating, tiring, unappreciated job you will ever love! Thanks for reading along and I�ll see you in the trenches.

ICS Report

Steve Glowacki, NAATS Technical Representative

AFSSVS Replacement

I may have already stated this, but just for clarity sake, the Integrated Communications System (ICS) has replaced the effort for Flight Service previously addressed by the cancelled AFSS Voice Switch (AFSSVS) program.

The ICS effort is working its way toward officially becoming a program. This will occur when the Joint Resource Council (JRC) approves the program�s plan and baseline (currently aiming for sometime in mid-September). There's quite a bit of documentation and "'pre-briefings" that need to be completed to ensure a positive decision.

Recently, the JRC process has been changed on how these types of decisions are made. Likewise, the level of scrutiny has been increased largely due to the current budget situation, among other factors. Now, there is more focus on the factual business-case justifications, and the ampleness to support the NAS Strategic Architecture Plan. If all is well, then approval will be obtained and the effort will officially be designated as a "program."

The good news is there are organizations (ASD, etc.) who�s primary purpose is to assist/ensure that all "boxes are checked" prior to the principles meeting with the JRC. If things go as they should and all preparations are done correctly, the JRC meeting itself should be just a formalized exercise. On the other hand, if preparations aren�t completed well enough, it could quickly turn into an inquisition, leading to denial of program status.

I�ve never been to a JRC meeting, but from what I�m told, it�s a well defined group consisting of half a dozen "dash ones" (ATP-1, ARA-1, etc.) who review and validate all aspects of the proposed plan to acquire the product in question, in this case, a combined voice switch for the Flight Service and Terminal domains. Their signatures bless the program status.

During the next few months, I�ll be working with the various offices to help in producing the necessary documents. Currently, our focus is on completing the Concept of Operations (CONOPS), Final Requirements Document (FRD), and the Specification Document.

For Both Flight Service & Terminal Use

As I mentioned, the ICS will be delivering a voice switch to satisfy both the Flight Service and Terminal domains. This effort will be eased because the original AFSS Voice Switch (AFSSVS) was based on the current terminals� ETVS program. The ICS will be largely a replacement for both Flight Service (ICSS type 2s & 3s) and Terminal (ETVS & RDVS) equipment, with only a small degree of functionality being added.

It�s important to note that a recent review showed only a 2% difference in functionality between the two domains, with Flight Service needing only five areas in additional to those being provided for terminal: Transmit All, Custom Broadcast, Mute All Others, ACD interface, and a larger Touch Entry Display and associated interface.

Most Developmental Efforts Complete

Due to the previous AFSSVS program, largely all of the developmental efforts have already been completed by the FAA. Through the previous contract award process, the industry has already responded by provided all of these functionalities to an acceptable level. Since no developmental efforts should be needed, the costing for Flight Service will be minimal.

This is important because, with all of the A-76 attention, many in Headquarters are questioning whether to strategically plan for Flight Service in the coming years. The good news is that ATP has resoundingly stated that Flight Service must be completely included in the voice switch replacement effort. The is some reticence to follow this because of the business case questions.

To answer this, I�ve been pushing the idea for the FAA to be able to take advantage of the next Voice Switch contract, and position itself to deploy a voice switch for Flight Service without delay and without causing duplicate funding.

This approach acts as the perfect compromise for the needs requested by the ATS organization and the business case justifications needed by ARA and other organizations involved in the procurement process.

Cheaper to Get It Now

In essence, it�s cheaper to pay an additional 5% now for the 2% Flight Service functionality, than it would be to pay 100% (a new program) later for the same needs.

So far, all involved have been behind this with only a few exceptions. There are a few individuals questioning the entire ICS effort, insisting that the effort should include Enroute. Apparently, there are some Enroute facilities that need a new voice switch to support sector expansion. (Due to increased traffic, some ARTCCs had a need to add sectors to reduce per-sector traffic levels, complexities, etc.

Delays Could Pose Problems

The problem with delaying the ICS to absorb the Enroute is largely tied to providing voice switch equipment for new Terminal facilities planned in FY 05; facilities that are congressionally mandated and have funding already allocated for construction and other associated efforts. If the ICS effort is stopped, there won�t be any communications available for these buildings. If this happens you can be sure that a few Congressman will expect answers... and maybe a few heads.

Either way, Flight Service is still only 2% of any effort. Either way the business case still holds true.

   REPORT FAULTS FAA OVERSIGHT OF OUTSIDE AIRLINE MAINTENANCE

Orange County Register, July 11, 2003

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration does not adequately oversee the growing number of outside contractors repairing airplanes, the Transportation Department�s inspector general said in a report released Thursday.

At 18 of 21 repair stations checked by government investigators, contract mechanics used incorrect aircraft parts and improperly calibrated tools, and had outdated manuals.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said the agency agrees with the findings. However, she stressed the report does not say passengers are in any danger.

Air Midwest, operating as US Airways Express, used an outside contractor to maintain the commuter plane that crashed on takeoff at North Carolina�s Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in January, killing all 21 aboard.

The ongoing investigation found a mechanic could have improperly set turnbuckles, which control tension on elevator control cables.

The inspector general began looking at maintenance outsourcing a year before the crash, but the Charlotte accident investigation findings intensified calls for increased FAA oversight.

The inspector general noted that major airlines, struggling to survive, are looking to trim costs by outsourcing maintenance.

  FREDERICK, MD FLY-IN

Beth Gerrits, ATX Liaison

Saturday June 7 dawned gray and dismal here in the Washington area as we prepared to depart for the Frederick, MD fly-in. Saturdays in Washington, D.C. are frequently like that this year. John Dibble flew in from DEN AFSS and Liaisons Beth Gerrits and Jim Perkins joined him for the day�s events. Steve Pollok contributed by transporting the materials and setting up the NAATS booth on Friday. The attendance was lower than a sunny day would have provided but there were quite a few hardy pilots from all over the country as well as many more local pilots.

Most of the pilots we talked to were unaware of the A-76 or that it would end in a privatization or contracting out of Flight Service. After some enlightening conversation many pledged support. They took the packet of postcards supplied by NAATS to send to their congresspersons, congressional transportation committee chairmen, Phil Boyer, Secretary Mineta, and President Bush to end the A-76 for AFSS or support legislation to do so. Some took enough for their entire flying club or to pass out at their local FBO. The concerns of the local pilots centered on the ADIZ and FRZ. They wanted to know how to fly in the area without getting into trouble. They also wanted to know how to reduce the delays they experience by conforming to the new rules and how to better access our system. With the security procedures currently in effect in the Washington area and the involvement of AFSSs in those procedures they were amazed that we might be contracted out. They also took postcards to mail.

AOPA President Phil Boyer stopped by the booth very quickly, sort of a touch and go, to pick up a copy of our rebuttal letter to his recent article about the A-76 in AOPA Pilot Magazine.

The newly selected head of Air Traffic AAT-1 Bruce Johnson and AAT-2 Linda Schuessler stopped at the booth for quite a while to chat. Bruce Johnson expressed a very positive attitude about the MEO successfully competing on the bid for our jobs. They had just participated in a seminar in the AOPA headquarters building that included a question and answer session with the pilots. Many of our concerns were expressed in that session as well.

By the end of the day more than 2� inches of rain had fallen on Frederick and we were thankful for our umbrellas and rain ponchos but wished we had also brought our waders as the tent had rivers running through it. We passed out hundreds of packets of information and are thankful to those that ignored the weather and joined us at the not very VFR fly-in.

   MOLD CLOSES ANNISTON AFSS

Mark Gibson, ANB FacRep and David Williams, Asst. FacRep

If I were to go into the history leading up to the present this article would be long and perhaps a bit boring. Suffice it to say after 2 years of air quality tests and discussion; stachybotrys (black mold) was identified within the walls between broadcast and AF�s area. While being removed from the facility walls samplings of the air were taken and sent away for evaluation. It was during this process that seven other types of mold/fungi were found to be 10-14 times higher than what was considered "safe", levels higher than the outside air. It was this that prompted the FAA to close the facility for safety reasons. Those molds/fungi were aureabasidium, chaetomium, rhizopus, cladosporium, penicillium species variety 1, curvularia and epicoccum. The air samplings also revealed bug parts (we won�t dwell on this), pine pollen, yeast, etc. Some are considered common; some cause a number of ailments including pneumonia and pulmonary infections. Some joined together creating acuspores, a combination of two spores.

Before I continue, we would like to take the time to thank ASO and AF for their prompt response to the air quality results. While I am sure there were discussions going on behind the scenes we were not privy to, the end result was a plan to correct the problem keeping the health of all involved in mind. After the first shut down (totaling three days) we were brought back to work when air quality tests returned showing levels at a more reasonable reading. This was accomplished by shutting down the facility HVAC and placing plastic over the vents. Portable air conditioning units were brought in to keep the facility on the cool side. The noise level at In-flight and Flight Data was unbearable at times and the cords across the floor were a safety issue, but we persevered until a plan was realized (there was some prompting required by our FacRep, Regional Director and AF personnel, to include the mention of lawsuits).

It was decided by the powers that be to shut the facility down for one week after the Talladega 500. This turned out to be a wise decision as we were extremely busy that weekend with pilots transitioning Alabama to and from Sun & Fun and the Talladega 500 going on at the same time. Monday morning at 8:45 am ANB AFSS was shut down once again for four days (the original plan was to shut down for 6 days). During this shut down ducts were replaced and HVAC systems were cleaned. Air quality tests were taken after the HVAC system was turned back on to ensure it was safe for facility personnel to return.

Jim Reppin, our FacRep at the time, and Victor Byrd, our ATM, did an outstanding job staying on top of the situation. We would like to thank Dave Hoover, Southern Region Regional Director, for his help in resolving certain issues and for coming to Anniston, holding a meeting at a Union member�s home (Mardi Gras theme night was great, thanks Elaine!). We would also like to thank the pilots of Alabama who suffered through this, many voicing concern over the facility being shut down. Last, but most certainly not least, we would like to thank our fellow specialists at BNA, MKL, GWO and anyone else affected by this shut down. We know it was rough and we appreciate the efforts of all.
 

   UNION SUES TO STOP A-76

By Michael Hardy, www.fcm.com, July 3, 2003

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the implementation of competitive sourcing rules.

The lawsuit, the second that federal unions have filed, also asks a federal court to prevent Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Angela Styles from "attempting to convince/coerce/force executive agencies to use the illegally delimited definition of 'inherently governmental' in preparation of their [Federal Activity Inventory Reform] Act lists."

The AFGE suit, similar to a suit the National Treasury Employees Union filed in mid-June, claims that the new Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 violates the FAIR Act and is therefore illegal.

The two suits share the same set of core claims:

• The revised A-76 defines an inherently governmental job as one in which employees exercise "substantial discretion" in decisions affecting government activities. The FAIR Act requires only "discretion," a less exacting standard.

• The FAIR Act mandates that if the job activity involves "the collection, control or disbursement" of federal funds, it is inherently governmental. The new A-76 adds the further requirement that the job involve making policy or setting procedure for those tasks.

• The FAIR Act allowed interested parties, including employee unions, to challenge the designations of job activities as commercial. The new A-76 allows challenges only when a job function is reclassified from governmental to commercial or vice-versa, or when an agency uses a "reason code" to exempt a commercial job from competition.

The revised A-76, which became final in late May, has caused a stir among federal employees concerned about their jobs. About 850,000 of the government's 1.9 million jobs are considered commercial, and potentially open to outsourcing. Agencies have deemed about 500,000 of those jobs exempt from competition anyway, using exemptions allowed under A-76. "Reason Code A" allows agency officials to declare that an activity that could be performed by private-sector companies is nevertheless inappropriate for outsourcing.

However, the unions fear that the number of jobs at risk will grow under the new A-76 rules. And many federal employees themselves are concerned about their jobs.

Clay Johnson, the newly appointed deputy director of management at OMB, said this week that federal employees who lose competitions often will either be hired by winning contractors or moved to other government jobs. Some employees don�t find such promises, which other officials have also made, reassuring.

"It sounds like a fancy way of saying �If you want your job, give up any benefits you have accumulated over the years and you can keep it,�" said one civilian agency employee who asked not to be identified.

The lawsuits are not the only legal efforts being made to derail A-76. Lawmakers, aided by the National Federation of Federal Employees, have introduced legislation that would withhold funding for new job competitions at the Forest Service and many Interior Department agencies next year.

Speaking recently at a conference sponsored by the IBM Endowment for the Business of Government, Styles vowed to fight such tactics. "We�re going to fight every one of them. We�re going to fight them hard because this is a matter of principle," she said.

   CONSOLIDATION

By Greg McGann, RDU AFSS

Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.

-- Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)

Flight Service as it exists today is a perfect example of bureaucratic inertia. We are still trying to apply last century�s solutions and methods to this century�s problems, but we may have a unique opportunity to change that. The rules of the A-76 process allow any bidder to start with a clean sheet of paper when building their proposal. As I heard repeatedly in the PWS workshop, MEO doesn�t mean "cheapest," it means "best value for the money." That sounds good, but only if the people doing the creation and the choosing are able to recognize the best value for the money. For example, if you need a computer system for your small business you can get half a dozen vendors vying for your business, each claiming to have the best value for the money. Actually attaining this requires two things -- the in-depth knowledge of your business to create a system that meets your needs, and the ability to pick that one out of the bunch. Vendor A might have a fast system with tape backup, but you recognize that you can�t afford any downtime and go with Vendor B, who although slightly more expensive is offering a Level 5 RAID. Of course, if you think RAID comes out of a can you�ll probably just pick Vendor C with the lowest price and wonder later why your business failed.

I have no confidence that the MEO will be picked by anyone with the knowledge and judgment to pick the best value for the money, so this is really just a theoretical exercise. However, if the MEO team is really interested in building the best system just try to imagine what we could create if we could start fresh? Let�s start with consolidation. That seems to be the first thing that comes up on either side. I�ve always been against it, not because it won�t work but because the FAA won�t do it right. Look at how badly they screwed up the last consolidation. They talked about stations with 60 or 70 journeymen, sectorization, and state-of-the-art equipment, but look what we got -- half the number of journeymen, huge flight plan areas, and computers that came out of the Ark. Ten years ago North Carolina had five FSSs with a total of 70 or 80 journeymen. The most RDU AFSS has had is around 45 and as low as 30. Ten years ago there were five people sitting at inflight consoles around the clock, but now there is only one. We weren�t "consolidated," we were "downsized," and there is a big difference.

The one thing we can�t lose in further consolidation is staffing. The FAA thinks that 15,000 services per-journeyman, per-year is a good number, and that translates to around 2,500 journeymen. Sure, we have facilities that are doing half that now, but we also have facilities doing twice that. Where they do the job is open to debate, but how many we need to do it shouldn�t be. The goal of consolidation isn�t to reduce the number of journeymen; it�s to reduce the number of managers and facilities. Every facility that is closed eliminates an ATM, an AATM, an AMT, an AO, and maybe a PPS and a QUATS. These are positions we are top-heavy in, and that serve no useful function to our core mission of service to aviation and should be eliminated.

The number of facilities we need depends on how large a facility can be and function efficiently. ARTCCs are in the three to four hundred range, but that is probably over ambitious for Flight Service. For one thing, a building of that size would require an enormous amount of land and unless they locate them in the middle of nowhere it could get rather expensive.

If we plan on about 100 journeymen per facility, that comes to 25 facilities for all 50 states. Add 10 Supervisors, 2 Ops Managers, 3 Support Specialists, 1 AMT and maybe 2 assistants, an AO, an AATM and an ATM, plus an Administrative Assistant and a T&A Clerk, and it comes to about 125 people. That�s a good-sized facility, with a good ratio of staff to operations personnel. As to cost savings, it eliminates 41 FG15 ATM�s, maybe 35 FG14 AATMs, around 20 or so FG14 OM�s, 160-200 FG13 Supervisors, maybe 100 assorted FG12 AMTs, PPSs and Support Specialists, and a like number of lower grade administrative help. That�s 37-40 million dollars per year saved on personnel alone. Even better, these are non-productive personnel (with the exception of the administrative help who usually are the ones who really run the facility.) There would be a further savings on the AF side, but that�s not our business.

So where do we put them? We could further reduce the number to twenty (saving another 4 or 5 million dollar savings) and co-locate them with the ARTCCs, but a facility that size would probably need it�s own lot, so we wouldn�t be moving into the existing Centers. Being physically close would help with shared lines and equipment but not necessary. I would submit that the physical location isn�t as critical as the Flight Plan Area.
The Flight Plan Area and the concept of sectorization are what will make the new facility work. We lost a vast amount of intimate knowledge when we consolidated into our present facilities. For example, I spent 12 years in western North Carolina, and I know my former flight plan area. I know where every airport is, and I don�t mean that it�s so many miles southwest of this fix, I mean I can get into my car and drive there without a map. I know runway lengths, FBO phone numbers, local conditions affecting the airports, and a wealth of other knowledge that I don�t possess about the eastern part of the state. Many journeyman carry binders with them filled with information they can access readily during briefings because the area is too large for that kind of knowledge. Our current flight plan area contains 275 public use airports and 115 private airports. That�s too much information for anyone to be completely familiar with. Center sectors don�t cover even a tenth of that airspace and center controllers don�t need anywhere near the depth of knowledge that we do. There are many factors that could affect FSS sector size, but as a rough guess I�d say 100-125 airports per sector are plenty.

How do we distribute the sectors and workload? We can probably use the existing ARTCC boundaries. Most Centers� are roughly equal in staffing and workload (at least they used to be) and it would make for an even distribution for us as well. There would be more RBFSSs (Really Big Flight Service Stations) in the east, and fewer in the west where things are more spread out. It shouldn�t be too hard for pilots to figure out which RBFSS to call, any more so than it is now to determine which Center.

Construction costs will have to be factored in, of course, but any attempt to use existing facilities is ridiculous if we are talking about any meaningful consolidation. The existing buildings are simply not large enough. This is a cost that should be the same for either the MEO or a contractor. The equipment costs should be comparable as well, so we should be on a more level playing field with these costs. Personnel are still the biggest cost of Flight Service and this plan saves enough money to give us all a raise as well as modernizing and redistributing our services in a more efficient manner.

With the proposed elimination of so many management positions the FAA would never conceive of or endorse this plan on their own, but if the MEO team has enough pull to get it written I think the FAA would abandon those managers in a heartbeat. This would leave us a lean, mean, briefing machine ready to serve the flying public.

So what services will we provide and how will we provide them? I�ll have to think about that.

   AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS RATIFY NEW CONTRACT WITH NAV CANADA BY 9-1 MARGIN

Cnews.canoe.ca, July 4, 2003

OTTAWA (CP) -- Canada�s 2,300 air traffic controllers have voted 92 per cent in favour of a new collective agreement with Nav Canada.

The agreement, which expires March 31, 2005, calls for cumulative wage increases of 11.2 per cent, pension improvements, a ban on contracting-out, a reclassification program, and minor improvements to work schedules, the Canadian Auto Workers union said in a news release Friday.

The union said the positive ratification vote doesn�t mean controllers are happy about the deal, which was tentatively reached June 10 after the union threatened to strike.

Despite some modest gains and a refusal to "give back" previously bargained benefits, the settlement falls short in some key areas, said union spokesman Rob Thurgur.

"We are still left with irregular and fatiguing shifts which remain our priority, and we won�t wait for the next round of bargaining -- we need solutions now. We owe it to our members, their families, and the traveling public.

"It is sad that nothing of any substance was settled in the first 30 months at the table, while Nav Canada tried, but failed, to impose binding arbitration in place of free collective bargaining. It is positively infuriating that it took a strike threat, combined with pressure from high-ranking people in government, to get Nav Canada to grudgingly accept a government-appointed mediator�s report."

 TIME TO SAY THANK YOU

Elinormarie L. Morrissy, Editor -- [email protected]

Last month, our bargaining unit got some of the best news it�s had in the last couple years. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) rose with an amendment to S. 824, the Senate version of FAA Reauthorization aimed to stop outsourcing efforts for all FAA air traffic operations and maintenance support. This amendment specifically included "flight service station personnel," which would effectively end the A-76 study of our jobs. This act probably will not win him many friends in either the DOT Secretary�s or FAA Administrator�s office. But, being convinced that neither privatization nor outsourcing of air traffic services and the support structures of our national airspace system were in the best interests of this nation, Senator Lautenberg did it anyway -- because it was the right thing to do.

Wally already delivered NAATS� official thanks to the Senator�s office, as the pictures on the front page bear witness. But I think it�s also important that we all -- every bargaining unit member, dues payer or not -- take a moment to express their thanks personally to Senator Lautenberg for his effort on our behalf. Do it by letter, post card, e-mail or phone call, it�s up to you. If you haven�t done it already, do it now. Because we couldn�t have done it without him.

That�s not the only thank you we owe. A bi-partisan group of Fifty-four Senators voted to make Amendment 893 (a.k.a. the Lautenberg Amendment) part of S. 824. They also deserve our heartiest thanks. These Senators are:

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Bob Graham (D-FL), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), Evan Bayh (D-IN), John Breaux (D-LA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mark Dayton (D-MN), Christopher Bond (R-MO), Jim Talent (D-MO), Max Baucus (D-MT), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Harry Reid (D-NV), Hilary Clinton (D-NY), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Mike DeWine (R-OH), George Voinovich (R-OH), Ron Wyden (R-OR), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ernest Hollings (D-SC), Tom Daschle (D-SD), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), Robert Byrd (D-WV), and John Rockefeller (D-WV).

This expression of gratitude goes beyond simple courtesy. This battle may have yielded us a victory, but the war isn�t over yet. The House and Senate reauthorization bills are currently going through conference committee review for eventual crafting into a Joint FAA Reauthorization bill which will eventually be signed by the President. We need the continued goodwill and support not only of the Senate but the House as well for "...the maintenance of certifiable systems and other functions related to certification of national airspace systems and services operated by the Federal Aviation Administration on the date of enactment of this Act or flight service station personnel." to be included in the final bill.

Each of us can aid on our collective cause in several ways. First, as I said above, thank those who�ve already helped us and courteously ask for their continued support. Second, support your NAATS representatives -- Wally, Kate Breen, Bill Dolan, the Directors and Coordinators, your FacReps and local members who have spent their time and effort building positive relationships with the Representatives and Senators. This support can be in the form of signing up for NAATS membership (if you haven�t already), or by signing up for or increasing your NAATS PAC contributions to help sustain our political efforts. Third, give your RegDir a call to say thanks or simply give your FacRep a pat on the back with a hearty, "Well done." Finally, ask what else you can do to help.

We�re all in this together to the very end. It�s like Benjamin Franklin said, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

   CSRS WORKERS: BEWARE OF �WINDFALL TRAP�

By Reg Jones, FedWeek.com, June 25, 2003

Heads up! A piece of civil service law commonly known as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), reduces the Social Security benefit payable to nearly all CSRS employees. That�s because they will be receiving an annuity from a retirement system where they didn't pay Social Security taxes.

As a result, they�ll face a modified formula used to compute their Social Security benefit. The way the law works, only those with 30 or more years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security will receive a full benefit. Every other eligible CSRS employee will receive a lesser amount, usually much less.

To see how the provision might affect you, let�s look at the formula used to compute the benefits of employees who aren�t affected by it. For example, if you are a CSRS Offset or FERS employee who turned 62 in 2003, the formula would look like this:

• Your first $606 of average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) would be multiplied by 90 percent;

• Everything from $606 to $3,653 of the AIME would be multiplied by 32 percent;

• AIME above $3,653 would be multiplied by15 percent.

The total of these three multiplications would be your monthly pension from Social Security.

However, if you are a CSRS employee, the WEP will reduce that 90 percent factor by 5 percent for each year of "substantial earnings" fewer than 30. Fortunately, the reduction bottoms out at 40 percent for those who have 20 or fewer years of substantial earnings, otherwise CSRS employees with limited Social Security coverage could kiss their Social Security benefits goodbye.

To meet the substantial earnings criterion, you must have earned much more per year than the amount needed to earn Social Security credits. For example, in 2003 you�d only have to earn $3,560 to get a full year�s credit (four quarters) from Social Security. However, to receive credit for substantial earnings, you�d have to make $16,125!

While there have been unsuccessful moves in Congress to completely eliminate the WEP. Killing it is highly unlikely. But, there's a chance that it may be modified, to reduce the adverse impact. Two bills introduced in the current session of Congress - S.1011 and H.R.2011 - would eliminate the WEP for those with a combined income of $2000 or less and use a sliding scale to reduce the impact on others whose income is greater than that.

Keep a good thought.

  TSP WEB GLITCHES HINDER LAUNCH OF NEW RECORD KEEPING SYSTEM

By Tanya N. Ballard, GovExec.com, June 18, 2003

A problem with the Thrift Savings Plan�s Web site is preventing participants in the 401k-style retirement plan from accessing the new automated record-keeping system that was launched on Monday, TSP board officials confirmed Wednesday.

"The record-keeping system is functioning, but the Web site is having issues," TSP spokesman Tom Trabucco said Wednesday. "When some people go in and make inquiries, it�s resulting in a loop within the computer system, and when you do that it slows everything down because you can�t go forward."

Trabucco said computer technicians were monitoring the system and manually terminating those "loops," as well as looking for the bug that causes the problem.

"We haven�t found the bug yet, but we do have a quick fix that we hope to get in this afternoon that will allow quick access for those who just want to go in and check their account balance," Trabucco explained. "But we are very cognizant of the issues that people are having getting through on the Web and we are working diligently on it and we apologize for the inconvenience."

In the interim, TSP participants are able to access the new record-keeping system and make changes to their accounts by telephone at 504-255-8777.

The new system opened for business on Monday, after several years of delays. Using the automated system, federal employees can access up-to-date balance information and swap money from one fund to another. The new system also allows TSP account holders to more easily withdraw money, apply for loans and make changes to their contact information.

Three million participants have about $112 billion invested in the TSP�s five funds and the new system processed nearly $25 million worth of interfund transfer requests Tuesday night, according to Trabucco. Another $1.2 billion of interfund transfers was processed Monday night.

"Obviously, with a new system we have to be aware there are going to be hiccups," TSP Board Chairman Andrew Saul said during the board�s monthly meeting on Monday. "This is not the cure for cancer . . . there�s no perfect system."

The General Accounting Office has recommended that the board be held more accountable to Congress because of problems with the original contractor hired to install the new computer system. The TSP Board and American Management Systems have been locked in a series of legal battles since the board fired the Fairfax, Va.-based contractor in July 2001.

  FEDERAL EMPLOYEE NEWS

Brought to you by FedWeek.com

Key Geographic Measures Changed

The Office of Management and Budget has expanded and revised its listing of the metropolitan statistical boundary lines used for numerous government purposes including the general schedule locality pay system. The changes, reflecting data from the 2000 census, include the addition of 49 new metropolitan zones, bringing the total number to 370. The GS pay system consists of 31 metropolitan areas plus a catchall "rest of the U.S." locality for areas not within one of those zones. While the GS locality system�s boundaries generally track the statistical areas as determined by OMB, there are some exceptions, largely involving federal facilities or counties with large numbers of federal workers lying just outside an OMB-determined statistical area.

Changes Not Automatic, But May Come

However, the changes to the standard metropolitan zones will not automatically mean changes in the GS locality system, under a Federal Register notice published April 22. Changes in the locality pay boundaries are made on recommendation of the President's Pay Agent -- the heads of OMB, the Labor Department and the Office of Personnel Management -- typically following recommendations of a separate advisory group, the Federal Salary Council, which is made up of agency, union and outside compensation experts. Employees working close to several of the 31 specific metropolitan zones used for GS locality pay purposes have asked in recent years to be attached to those areas, but no new localities have been added since 1998. However, OMB�s redrawing of the boundary lines could give new impetus -- and justification -- for those efforts. The Federal Register notice indicated that the Pay Agent and the Salary Council would "review new metropolitan area definitions and new commuting patterns and other data from the 2000 census." The new boundary lines might eventually also affect wage grade employees, who work under a separate locality system with more than 130 localities.

Locality Pay Does Make a Difference

Although the GS locality pay program has never been funded to the extent originally envisioned -- under the enacting law, the indicated pay gaps with the private sector should have been virtually closed by now -- locality pay does make some difference. Pay in the highest-paid locality, the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose locality, exceeds the rate of similarly graded jobs in the "rest of the U.S." locality about 10 percent. Locality pay is paid based on where employees work, not where they live. Locality pay is considered basic pay for retirement, federal life insurance, Thrift Savings Plan contributions and certain other purposes.

Special Considerations for "Catch-Up" Investors

Individuals eligible to make "catch-up" contributions under a new TSP feature beginning next month for those age 50 and older this year must already be investing at either the maximum TSP contribution percentage or an amount which will result in his or her reaching the dollar limit by the end of the year. Thus, those persons have only until the end of the open season to adjust their regular contributions to the maximum, if they aren�t already investing the maximum. Also, some highly paid FERS investors have been investing at a dollar amount that would bring them up to the dollar cap before the end of the calendar year, on the mistaken belief that they could continue investing beyond that and designate the money as catch-up contributing (catch-up contributions can be made only by filing a separate form, the TSP-1-C, and results in a separate deduction from salary). Those investors will want to make sure they adjust their contributions so that they don�t hit the dollar limit until the end of the calendar year. Otherwise, their contributions will shut off once they hit the cap and so will the matching government contributions.

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both."

- James Madison (Fourth President of the United States)

Regional Supplements

ALASKA REGION

CENTRAL REGION

Michael Terry, Director and Jerry Van Vacter, Coordinator

Fort Dodge Save

The Fort Dodge MAYDAY from April has been getting wide dissemination across the country. We want to thank all the individuals involved for the outstanding job they did. We also want to thank Paula for her recognition of the importance of this situation in our current environment. This is just one example of the VITAL services you all provide everyday. If any of you see any other examples in your facility let your FacRep or your regional Representatives know.

Facility Visits

Wally, Jerry and I will be visiting Fort Dodge on July 8th, Wichita July 9th and Columbus July 10th. The plan is to visit the facility in the afternoon and have a BBQ at someone�s house that evening. We hope that you will take this opportunity to come and visit with Wally.

Board Meeting in Minneapolis

The Board of Directors will be meeting in Minneapolis on July 15-17. We would like to offer an invitation to anyone that would like to attend all or part of it. Call one of us to get directions if you are interested. This would be an excellent opportunity to see how the Board of Directors does the business of the union.

Regional Quarterly

The next Quarterly is scheduled for August 27-28 in Kansas City. If you have any issues that need to be raised in any of these venues let your FacRep, Jerry or me know.

Jaeger Becomes CISD Rep

Roger Jaeger, from Columbia has volunteered to be the Central Region Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Representative. We still need someone to volunteer to be the Regional Drug Representative. If you are interested, let Jerry or me know.

EASTERN REGION

Ron Consalvo, Acting Director and Deb Shea, Acting Coordinator

MEO Team

Donna has been reassigned to the MEO team full time in Sterling, VA. To do this, she had to temporarily give up the Director position. I know the region will miss her experience and hard work. I also know that the MEO team is lucky to have someone of her caliber working with them. We as a union are fortunate to have people like Donna and Dave Hoover who are willing to take on whatever task is necessary.

Change

In Donna�s absence, I will be taking over as acting regional director. I have appointed Deb Shea as acting regional coordinator. I am looking forward to working with Deb and am grateful for her acceptance of the position. The region has some unresolved issues on the table. Deb and I will be working hard to get them resolved. One of those issues is the VRA grievance that is slated for arbitration. This issue may be resolved real soon. I have received a proposed settlement from the region, which is very favorable to the 4 affected employees. When I have the signed agreement in hand, I will share it with all of the other directors in case they have similar people in their region.

LMR Quarterly

We met in late May at DCA AFSS for our often rescheduled LMR quarterly. The meeting was a successful one for the region. We settled 9 of 10 grievances from Elkins (EKN) favorably to our bargaining. One was withdrawn because we received the same remedy in another grievance. John McCartney AEA-540 and Donna met with the manager and FacRep at EKN to try to mediate their dispute. Both John Gilmore and Bob Francis agreed to try to work together in a more positive relationship. We will be closely monitoring the EKN situation to see if positive results can be achieved.

Facility Visits

Wally came to visit Millville (MIV) on June 18. He gave a rundown of where we have been on pay, contract and A-76. He also discussed some future plans and laid out the whole congressional effort. The members at MIV want to than Wally not only for his visit but also for all his efforts on these issues. The talk on the operations floor has been nothing but positive since his visit. I realize there is much work to be done to stop A-76 and get pay and contract resolved, however, it is refreshing to see the change in morale that has occurred since his visit. Wally will be visiting ISP AFSS on August 7th. I am looking forward to joining him as I return to my first duty station. If any other FacRep would like to schedule as visit, please contact me and I will try to work it out the scheduling.

GREAT LAKES REGION

NEW ENGLAND REGION

Kurt Comisky, Director and Tom Halligan, Coordinator

The two recent arbitrations here in New England have been decided.

Initial Pay Setting

The first arbitration concerned an employee�s initial pay setting upon re-entry into the FAA and the Flight Service Option and the application of the concept of "highest previous rate". His employment prior to the FAA was at the DOD at GS-10, step 10, and several years earlier, he was an FAA employee at GS-12, step 5. The individual made several lists, GS-9, GS-11, and GS-12. The individual was offered, and accepted, the position at GS-9 step 10. Subsequently, the agency applied the concept of "highest previous rate" to the step as the individual progressed through each grade.

In contrast, two individuals that came into the Fight Service Option from another Option. As a result of the settlement of two grievances, the agency paid these two individuals the "highest previous rate" to both grade and step. The Region drew the distinction between these two sets of circumstances was that one was an intra-agency transfer and second, that the new employee accepted the offer at GS-9, step 10. Of course, management relied on "management�s right" to set each individual�s grade and step.

Through the grievance procedure, the agency claimed the grievance was untimely. The grievance was filed about one year after the employee was hired. We argued that the Union filed the grievance promptly upon discovery of the issue. It is important to note, the grievance was filed by the Union, not the employee. The question for the arbitrator, in dappling the terms of the contract, when was the Union put on notice. The arbitrator found the grievance to be timely, thus she could consider the merits of the grievance.

The Final Decision

In the final decision, the arbitrator concluded; "In summary, the Grievant was selected off the GS-9 certificate. He accepted the position at the GS-9, step 10 level. His salary was set at the highest step to comply with the highest previous pay provision. The Agency did not violate the contract when it set the ATC [individual]�s pay at the GS-9, step 10 level. The grievance is denied."

I am in disagreement the basis of the Agency�s position in the regard. The concept of "highest previous rate" is a management tool that can and should be utilized for the benefit of the organization. On balance, applying the concept of "highest previous rate" to both grade and step to all employees entering the Flight Service Option will have a positive impact on both current and future employees. Conversely, not to uniformly apply the concept will result in disparate pay among similarly situated individuals, which will have pronounced adverse impact to the organization as a whole. As a side note, nowhere in our contract is the Agency required to apply pay rules "uniformly", I believe this to be an oversight, this is the basis of this issue and I suspect many more will follow. Undaunted, another similarly situated individual has stepped forward and a grievance was filed.

Night Time Differential

The second arbitration that was decided was the "night time differential" grievance. If you recall, this grievance pertained to the implementation of PRIB 007, where the agency implemented a change to USC 5/CFR 550.121, the payment of "night time differential" to those hours in other than duty status. The Agency implemented this change without completing negotiations as required by the contract. Again, the Agency raised the issue of timeliness. The grievance was filed about six years after the change was put into effect. We argued the Union was not put on notice of the change, nor was the change apparent to the membership as to raise the issue. Basically, the Agency had two arguments to the timeliness, first the Union was on notice of the change, the Agency maintains the Union participated, that is the Union was consulted, prior to making the change and the Union should have known the change would be forthcoming. Second, the Agency argued that the grievance was filed about six years after the change and raised the doctrine of latches. Basically, this doctrine implies that we "slept on our rights" or that the Agency would be prejudiced in defending their position and we should not be permitted to raise the claim. The arbitrator never addressed the merits of the grievance; the arbitrator ruled that grievance to be untimely. In applying the terms of the contract, the arbitrator found that because of our participation in the development of the PRIB and the discussions with the Agency concerning this PRIB, we were put on notice and should have known. However, the Union�s approach to this PRIB a few years ago should be placed into context with the Union�s comprehensive approach to Personnel Reform. Some elements of Personnel Reform are beneficial to bargaining unit.

Expanding "the Box"

Some folks still fondly recall Mike Doring�s LMR training about "protecting the box." That is that the Union should use the contract and the applicable laws to protect our position and our rights. To a certain extent I disagree, I do see the need to maintain and protect what we currently enjoy, however we should not be satisfied or content with what we have, the status quo. I believe we should be taking reasonable opportunities to expand and enhance the rights and benefits of our bargaining unit. Our "box" should be ever expanding. As a policy or guiding principle we should be moving forward, not clung to the past, not so deeply entrenched in our current position, we should be expanding our reach into new and uncharted waters.

Pending Grievances

We have two additional grievances pending arbitration, one concerns the uniform application of code 44 [lunch pay] and the other concerns a facility agreement that is contrary to the contact and a Regional MOU. Additionally, I plan to pursue the issue of applying the "highest previous rate" to both grade and step in external hires. All of these are contingent upon a favorable determination by the Arbitration committee.

Any questions or comments please write or call me at (860) 302 8401. Kurt

NORTHWEST MOUNTAIN REGION

CASPER AFSS LOCAL NEWS

Patrick J. O�Connor, CPR FacRep

As the FacRep and on behalf of the NAATS members of CPR AFSS, I would like to express our appreciation and thanks to Wally Pike and company for their undaunted resolve and many hours of difficult work.

Also, I would like to thank our Regional Director, Darrell Mounts, for his many hours of work and personal sacrifices.

Keep up the good work!

Patrick J. O�Connor

DENVER AFSS LOCAL NEWS

John Dibble, FacRep

Greetings from the Mile High City!

100 degrees in the backyard, today! You want me to WHAT??? There are certain times of the year when people are MEANT to vegetate!

Not too much new going on in Denver these days. Traffic rose sharply the second week of June and has stayed up there -- 800-1000 services per day more than at the start of the month. About 200-300 per day, lower than last year, but then we have less people. You can feel the tension as people reach their limits.

NAATS WebPage:

Nothing new on the WebPage�s "member�s only section." To those of you who have sent in names of members who would like access, I apologize. Nothing has been settled, so I am not changing anything. Maybe this fall, when traffic dies down, I will be able to get it up and running. I will not put any more announcements in here about it, because it�s quicker to put in in my notes on the WebPage itself.

Lobby Efforts:

Congratulations to all of those who have been working hard to explain how critical our role is to our elected representatives. By the time this comes out, the bill may be in conference and the battle behind the scenes will be engaged. Check the list and see if your representative is on the conference committee and make sure they understand why selling Flight Service to the lowest bidder will hurt aviation in the U.S. as it has everywhere else.

The Emperor has no Clothes:

It never ceases to amaze me how the FAA totally mistreats it�s most valuable resource -- it�s employees. If we treated our customers the way the FAA has treated this bargaining unit, management would be screaming about our work ethic.

It is not the facility level management that is the primary cause, in fact, to his credit; our manager has been going above and beyond in his efforts to get more people in here. There are just no more bodies to get. The fault lies with those who would like nothing better than to see us sold to the lowest bidder -- after all, the less of us there are, the easier it�ll be to find jobs for us.

If the Hill would take a look at how much money has been wasted through someone�s misguided attempt to save a buck, they would certainly find some savings in bloated salaries! Instead, the Hill will block the sale and those who made the attempt will pat themselves on the back for giving it their best shot. In reality, they should be held accountable for putting a large segment of the U.S. economy at risk.

In spite of what has come out of the PWS workgroups about the complexity and the wide diversity of our customer base, no one in upper management is stepping in to say, "This study is a total waste of taxpayer�s money." That is the problem with building an organization where the top levels are shielded from the workers. Those in the middle levels of the organization are to busy aspiring for higher levels of "glory" to dare speak out against decisions made in the hallowed chambers of the upper floors.

Hey, FAA... Here�s your sign!

A message For Each of Us:

Holding it in to long is bad for your health -- speak out against the foolishness.

Aviation Safety is Our Business & Our Business is NOT For Sale
 

SOUTHERN REGION

Tom Forte, Acting Director and Richard Anderson, Acting Coordinator

Business as Usual

Effective June 22, Regional Director Dave Hoover took a temporary leave of absence to join the MEO Team. I was appointed Acting Director and PIE FacRep Richard Anderson was appointed acting Coordinator.

Dave, Richard and I have one thing in common. None of us asked for a change of jobs or titles midway through our current terms. Yet, all of us realize that it�s in the best interest of the union to pickup the "baton" and keep moving forward when the situation necessitates it. Dave will be an active member of the MEO Team on behalf of NAATS and will participate in putting together a quality product for our bargaining unit. Richard, as acting Coordinator will forward information to our members via their FacReps and perform other duties as needed. And I, as acting Director will carry out the day-to-day duties of the Director working with Richard, our FacReps and the Regional Office until Dave returns.

Be assured that NAATS in the Southern Region will continue operating as we have for the past 21 months. Between our FacReps and Members we have a great team. We�ll take care of our region together and carry on with business as usual. In life, things change. The challenge is to accept the change. We accept the challenge and shall act accordingly!
 

SOUTHWEST REGION

Mark Jaffe, Director

YOU Made the Difference

Congratulations NAATS members. You have pulled off the biggest upset since the turtle beat the hare. The congressional vote, the week of June 9th, was a major step in defeating A-76. This is the biggest Congressional victory in the history of our union and it was a group effort, all the way. Wally headed our diligent lobby effort but everyone who called or wrote to their political representatives should give themselves a pat on the back. You are what made the difference. Special thanks to all the people at MLC AFSS who inundated Senator Inhofe�s office to the point that his staff quit answering the phone and just turned on the answering machine. Also to Jeff Greer, DRI AFSS, and all the members there who attended the meeting with Breaux�s staffer. Jeff wouldn�t give up and finally arranged the meeting and continues to work Senator Breaux�s office on the A-76 issue.

The reauthorization may be in conference by the time this is published. This is the last hurdle that we have to clear to kill this contracting out effort by the FAA. Whatever language comes out of the conference will go to the President for his signature.

Pay Negotiations to Restart

Wally will meet with the FAA the last week of June to reestablish pay negotiations. We have dropped the ULPs on the contract, for now, so we are waiting on the conclusion of the pay issue before we can get the FAA to approve the new contract. I will not be surprised if this all comes to a conclusion by the first of the fiscal year.

Fred Manthey Retires

In regional news, Fred Manthey, DRI AFSS, has retired. Fred joined the union before I was born so I don�t know exactly how long he was a NAATS member, but it was a long time. Fred served at just about every position available, for the union, and always did an outstanding job. I frequently called Fred for advice and guidance and, if I didn�t interrupt his naptime, always received great advice. Seriously, Fred was a tireless worker and the most dedicated union member that I have ever had the pleasure to work with. His departure leaves a void that will not easily be filled. I will miss him greatly as a good friend, advisor, and union member and wish him a happy retirement.

PWS Effort

I have been busy with A-76 as a member of the NAATS PWS Core Team. This requires extensive travel and keeps me jumping. If you call and I don�t get back to you pretty quick, call back and try again. Sometimes my messages don�t catch up with me when I�m on the road.

A special thanks goes to Oscar Hinojosa, Regional A-76 rep, and the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from each facility for their great job at the regional PWS meeting. The Facility Reps, Tye Bjorkman (ABQ), Brian Gleich (CXO), Rhonda Young (DRI), Angie Danner (FTW), Wyatt Boyette (JBR), Danny Ferraro (MLC), Oscar (SJT), and Stan Fulgham (FTW FSDPS), all contributed greatly to our PWS effort. All came to the table prepared and focused and the result was the most productive meeting of the eight regional visits by the PWS teams. Thanks for all your hard work and for the other people at their facilities who helped them prepare for the meeting. I know there was a lot of preparation involved, before the meeting.

Very Few Grievances

We are getting very few grievances, in the region, lately. I look at that as an indication that our FacReps are doing an outstanding job. They almost always work out problems at the facility level where they can best be solved.

Movement at the RO

There has been some movement at the Regional Office and JoEllen Casilio will be moving from ASW-501 the manager�s job at DFW. JoEllen and I have developed an excellent working relationship and I will miss her at the regional office. Her replacement will be Patricia Adams and I look forward to working with Pat. I feel that the changeover will be transparent to the members in the field and that we will continue to have a productive working relationship with the Regional Office.

As always, call if you have questions.

WESTERN-PACIFIC REGION

Mike Stafford, Director and Mike Puffer, Coordinator

How I Learned to Live with A-76

The past six months or so have been very enlightening for those of us in the Flight Service option. The other day I was re-reading the bouquet of praise that Mr. Peacock sent us around the holidays. Oh, how he loves us. I understand that now that he is retired, he is now going to work for one of the bidders on our MEO. This must be because he loves us so much he just can�t let us go.

What�s happening lately seems to be the general trend of those in power in the FAA toward those of us in Flight Service; sing our praises in public, while working like little beavers behind our backs to undermine all of our efforts to keep our jobs. I liken it to your parents putting you up for adoption -- and not even telling you about it.

As a Regional Director, I have been a little closer in touch with what has been happening politically than most in the field, and I am constantly amazed by the doggedness of those in the FAA hierarchy trying to contract us out. I have heard some amazing stories about this Administration�s efforts (through the FAA) to cajole, threaten and otherwise twist the arms of our elected representatives, trying to insure that we do not become "inherently governmental" -- and keep our jobs.

Over the next month, we will see how our efforts pay off. I believe that we will prevail, and I am certainly not normally an optimist. Time will tell. If we are successful politically (and there is no veto), I think we should start to help our President, the OMB, and the FAA by looking at other cost cutting measures. The first thing we should look at is our Regional structure -- why do we need 9 Regions? Of course we all know we don�t. I submit that we could certainly run the FAA from Washington entirely, with no Regional offices. After all, aren�t we "One FAA"? Imagine the projected cost savings on that A-76 study! We owe it to our Government to help. After all, haven�t they all tried to help us in our time of need?

SAN DIEGO AFSS NEWS

Mike Puffer, FacRep

Condolences

I wish I could say that all news over the last couple months have been positive, but if I did that would be a lie. Our condolences go out to Carmen, Tom, and Barbara, as they deal with their losses.

Retirements

Congratulations to Sharon Fainia, on her long-awaited medical retirement. We are going to miss you. Along with Sharon we will be losing Dick Edmonds to retirement on 30 Jun. Followed by the transfer of Scott Power to Chicago center on July 12. Ben Martinez will be retiring on 31 July.

2004 Schedule Negotiations

Management and the Union will begin negotiating the next years schedule before to long and hopefully management will realize that with the decrease in numbers something will have to give so we can get leave.
Use of CICs in Lieu of Promotions

The other big area of concern is CIC being used instead of promotions. We have had 2 supervisors since last fall. The Region refuses to promote the supervisor management selected when we lost one supervisor, and another was detailed to the OM position. Something has to be done to relieve the burden. It is not fair to the BUE, that due to Sick/Annual Leave and training no supervisors are on the floor, and it makes controllers available to brief even scarcer (although things seem to run smoother when no management is present). With staffing continuing to dwindle, it does not look good for the foreseeable future.

HAWTHORNE AFSS NEWS

Scott Morrissy, FacRep

On the Training Front

Jabali Person (DM) and Laz Arteaga (LA) continue slog away at Preflight training. Most of our controllers and supes have completed the CBI training for WASS and we should be starting up TODS training shortly.
Tweaking the New Workstations

Due to inadequate work space at the new Supervisor, Flight Data and Coordinator positions some jury-rigging was. The facility purchased some inexpensive computer work tables to provide desk space for the supervisor, the fax machine, the copier and the DSP-100 printer. This still hasn�t fixed all the supervisors� problems. The new sup�s workstation hasn�t got a pencil drawer and it has no file drawers for storage for forms and records. I don�t know, maybe that�s what made the supervisor�s "castle" workstation so much more expensive. Considering the cost of all the extra pieces needed to make the "expanded" workstations fit the job, maybe we should have just bought the proper equipment in the first place.

RAL TAKES CHILI HONORS

By Eli Morrissy, HHR Pictures by Larry Ciarlo, RAL

The 2003 Southern California AFSS Chili Cook Off was held on July 3rd. Riverside AFSS graciously hosted the event. RAL ATM Mike Millen, RAL OM Chuck Burge, SAN ATM Rose Sardisco, HHR ATM Mike Lammes and HHR OM Bob Dean were all on hand in support of their facilities� participants.

Riverside Personnel provided four of the even chilies submitted for judging. San Diego�s entry came from FacRep Mike Puffer. Hawthorne entries were FacRep Scott Morrissy�s red chili that won Best No Beans winner and QAS Dave Chauseee�s habanero spiced Best Overall winner from our facility chili cook off.

When the tasting was over, two RAL controllers, Mari Edmiston and Bob Jones, had won both First and Second Place, while Mike Puffer took Third Place honors home to SAN.

Congratulations to the winners. Mari�s name will go on the rotating Chili Cook Off plaque which will stay at RAL until next year�s chili winner is crowned.

2003 So Cal AFSS Chili Cook Off Winners

1st Place
Mari Edmiston, RAL AFSS

2nd Place
Bob Jones, RAL AFSS

3rd Place
Mike Puffer, SAN AFSS
 

NAATS News Editorial Policy

Nothing that is inflammatory or scurrilous, libelous, attacks members by name or which contains words or phrases that are in poor taste and likely to be unnecessarily offensive, should be printed in the NAATS News or Regional Supplements. Individual(s) views expressed in the newsletter do not necessarily reflect the position of the Union.