National Association of Air Traffic Specialists

Aviation Safety is Our Business

NAATS HEADQUARTERS EMAIL UPDATES #21-30

Index:

Updates 11-20

Update 21

Update 22

Update 23

Update 24

Update 25

Update 26

Update 27

Update 28

Update 29

Update 30

Updates 31-40

No. 21, August 4, 1999

PAY NEGOTIATIONS

The compensation plan bargaining will begin sometime in October. The reason for the delay is the fact that the FAA team can�t identify a one-week period to meet with us until then because of prior commitments. Naturally we�d like to get started earlier but it�s not essential. We have a signed agreement with the FAA that states that any pay adjustment agreed to by the parties will be made effective retroactive to the first pay period beginning on or after October 1, 1999. This is in addition to the government-wide increases. While the negotiations are taking place, current pay procedures will remain in effect, including the government-wide increases and the 5% ATRA.

Obviously the compensation negotiations are the key issue for us. We�re determined to get a fair agreement for our bargaining unit and we�ll use all the resources available to secure it. Your continued support, patience and cooperation are appreciated.

NFP

The Board of Directors has analyzed our situation and decided that a return to the NAATS/FAA Partnership (NFP) is not warranted at this time. At the conclusion of compensation negotiations the matter will be reviewed again. If you have any questions or comments, I encourage you to contact your Regional Director.

FACILITY VISIT

SO Regional Director Craig Campbell and I will be at MIA AFSS on Thursday, August 19 to meet with the membership. One of my regrets is that I haven�t been able to attend these types of meeting during the past few months. In fact, we were in San Diego for two weeks last month negotiating the new contract and we never had the chance to visit the membership or AFSS there. I�m really looking forward to this opportunity. My thanks to FacRep Tom Forte for his invitation.

MWE

We�re continuing to receive disturbing reports about the misapplication of Model Work Environment (MWE). Craig Campbell has been appointed as our representative to a future workgroup that will address MWE; please send your concerns and suggestions on this to him. A reminder, Assistant Administrator for Civil Rights (ACR-1) Fanny Rivera will be speaking on MWE at our national meeting in October. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss this issue with the most knowledgeable person in the FAA.

CONGRESSIONAL

NAATS Congressional Representative Hal Gross is working with NE Regional Director Kurt Comisky to formulate our testimony before the Aviation Subcommittee Hearing on adverse weather. We�ll finalize and submit this testimony to the House on Monday and post it on our web page.

Wally Pike

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No. 22, August 24, 1999

We now have an agreement with the FAA that will allow us to discuss the 120 tentatively agreed upon articles with you at our October national meeting in Las Vegas. Next week I will forward the TAUs to the Regional Coordinators for distribution at your facilities. Please review them and compile a list of your questions or comments for discussion on October 7. In response to several suggestions received at our meeting last year, we will publish the national meeting agenda in the next edition of NAATS News.

We do not have a firm agreement on exactly when we will begin compensation negotiations in October but my best guess is that it will be the week of October 25. This will allow us to hear and incorporate your comments and suggestions when we discuss this at the national meeting.

On Monday, August 23 I met with Ron Morgan, AAT-1, to discuss the familiarization training program and questions concerning its application. We are close to an agreement on 76 questions and answers relating to the program as well as a joint cover letter. We hope to have this distributed to the facilities in the next week or so. I know it has been confusing; your patience is appreciated.

I met with an important congressional staffer named Wally Burnett this week. Burnett will negotiate the senate side of the pay and staffing issues during the senate/house conference on aviation in September. Obviously he�s a key player for us. The topic was OASIS funding; the senate has a mark of $10M for the program while the house is at $42.1M. I think the meeting went well. I told him that I was sure we would be talking more in the future. I�m convinced that we have to get more political with our issues.

On August 19 SO Regional Director Craig Campbell and I attended a NAATS union meeting in Miami. There were approximately 50 members there from six stations and the meeting provided excellent dialogue on several issues. The next day I toured MIA AIFSS and saw firsthand their workload. I want to thank MIA FacRep Tom Forte for all his work in making arrangements, thanks to those who took the time and effort to attend and to Steve and Denise Jones for hosting the union meeting. I don�t get many opportunities to attend these meetings and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Wally Pike

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We have an agreement with the FAA to apply the January pay comparability increase to members of our bargaining unit. Negotiations on the new compensation plan will begin the week of October 25.

Our staffing numbers as of 8/31/99: 2,183 FPLs and 68 developmentals for a total of 2,251. Total number in the other than controller workforce (OTCWF) 3,021. One of the issues we�re going to address in compensation negotiations is a staffing figure for FSS controllers that does not include staff and administrative employees. It will strictly reflect the number of employees actually providing the service (briefing pilots). Once that number is established the FAA will have to maintain it by hiring when attrition warrants.

We are continuing to address the matter of union representation at EEO complaints. We�re in a variety of forums with this: we have contract proposals, an agenda item for the National Partnership Council meeting in November as well as negotiations on the new mediation order. Since we don�t have agreement with the FAA yet we can�t allow the new mediation process to apply to our bargaining unit members. Once we reach agreement the mediation order will be applicable to members in our unit.

I�ve just been notified that Deputy Associate Administrator for Air Traffic Services Steve Brown will be at our national meeting to speak about his vision of the future of Flight Service and to take your questions. Steve has been with the FAA for about a year and comes from AOPA so he�s very knowledgeable about general aviation issues. As he�s told me he feels he grew up using Flight Service so we�re very happy he can make our meeting.

The FacRep official time entitlements for the Las Vegas meeting are confirmed. If you have any questions or problems in getting your official time please contact your regional officers.

October will be an extremely busy month for us. Our national meeting is the first week, and then we will attend the NBAA convention in Atlanta. The AOPA convention is the third week and our pay negotiations are the fourth. Of course we have our usual Capitol Hill meetings to make and the administrative meetings with the FAA. We�ll keep you advised.

Linda Whitaker from the EA Region (MIV AFSS) has been representing us on the ATS Facility Accessibility Workgroup. We�ve been informed that Linda has been selected to receive the 1999 Airway Facilities National Honorary Award for Excellence. She has also been nominated in the Against All Odds/Non-Technical; Model Work Environment/Non-Supervisory Team Achievement/Technical and 20/20 Foresight category for the 1999 Airway Facilities National Honorary Awards for Excellence Program. Good work, Linda.

Wally Pike

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As we get closer to the start of compensation negotiations it�s important that everyone understand the bargaining process. In pay negotiations in the private sector the union always has the right to withhold services (strike) if agreement isn�t reached with management. Obviously we�re precluded by law from striking so that isn�t an option.

  In some public sector pay negotiations (postal employees) an impasse over pay would be heard by an arbitrator who would impose a binding settlement. Unfortunately that isn�t the case for us either. When Congress restored our bargaining rights after personnel reform three years ago they put in place a procedure that doesn�t resemble any semblance of an even playing field.

  Basically it amounts to this; if an impasse occurs we would first use the services of a mediator from the FMCS. This mediator would attempt to structure an agreement between NAATS and FAA management but they would have no authority to impose a settlement. If the impasse is still in place after the use of the mediator then the procedure calls for the FAA Administrator to send the FAA�s position along with the union�s objections to Congress. If Congress doesn�t act within 60 days then the FAA�s position is adopted.

  The procedure does not identify who in Congress would receive the dispute. No one that we�ve talked to in Congress feels that they could or would act within 60 days of the receipt of the FAA�s notice of impasse. Simply stated, the procedure is slanted in management�s favor regarding any personnel reform negotiation impasses. This procedure doesn�t just apply to NAATS; it�s the same for all the FAA unions.

  We�re working with the other unions to correct this imbalance. Although we feel we�ll eventually succeed, no one knows the timetable for success.

  Please understand this does not mean we don�t have some cards to play in the compensation negotiations; we have resources and we won�t hesitate to use them to obtain a fair agreement. One avenue is political. In that regard Congressional Representative Hal Gross and I have been to three fundraisers this week alone, lining up support in case it is needed.  

We are insisting on fairness by FAA management and a demonstration of how they value us as employees. We have no plans to alter our direction but it is important that all members understand the rules of the game we�re in.

  In closing, FAA management has repeatedly stated that they don�t feel they�ll have to send negotiation impasses to Congress.  

                        Wally Pike

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Compensation negotiations will begin next Monday. I’ll keep you informed of our progress.

The national meeting in Las Vegas last week seems to have been a success. We are slowly receiving the membership vouchers with their comments and we’ll be using revising future meetings accordingly.

One of my regrets was that we didn’t have enough time to adequately discuss the 120 TAUs. In order to avoid unnecessary duplication AK Regional Coordinator Tracey Tideswell has volunteered to collect all questions and we’ll promptly put the answers in the NAATS News and on the web page. You can contact Tracey at (907) 283-8126. Her mailing address is P.O. Box 1769, Kenai, AK 99611; email [email protected].

I would have liked an opportunity to discuss any concerns on the TAUs face-to-face. One question I’ve heard involves the use of the words "will" and "shall". For our purposes these words are interchangeable; both imply that the instant action is mandatory. The different definitions used in air traffic control phraseology do not apply to the labor relations definitions.

One issue we discussed at the BOD meeting is the various seniority petitions being circulated. The feeling is that it is premature to act on these until a majority of the membership has made its wishes known. If a majority of the membership requests a national determination on seniority we will be happy to accommodate.

I am again requesting volunteers for either short or long term details as national union representatives on work groups or committees. These meetings are usually held in the Washington, D.C. area. If you are interested in this type of work please forward your name and area of interest to me when you can.

Wally Pike

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COMPENSATION NEGOTIATIONS

We met with the management team this past week on both the few remaining work rule articles and, of course, compensation. We reached agreement on two of the work rule articles, Performance and Reinventing Government. These are available from your FacRep. 

We also made our proposal for the new multi-tiered compensation plan for our bargaining unit as developed by the pay/compensation sub work group. The management team will make their counter proposal when we next meet the week of January 10. Both teams agreed that, although there may be boundaries that neither team will cross, nothing is off the table for discussion.  

While it would have been nice to reach immediate agreement on all issues, no one could have reasonably expected that on either team. We made progress and we feel cautiously optimistic about the future negotiations.

OASIS

As you may know the latest FAA budget contains only $10 million for OASIS. This is $17.3 million dollars short of the amount necessary to field the system with the human factors issues addressed. This was an item I discussed this with AOPA President Phil Boyer at their convention in Atlantic City.  On Thursday morning I met with Administrator Garvey and we discussed possible reprogramming the necessary funding. It was agreed that I will work with APU-1 Brian Riley to try to find the funds

FAMILIARIZATION TRAINING

Yesterday I met with AT-1 Ron Morgan regarding the questions and answers to the new FAM training program. We reached agreement and these should be distributed to the field shortly.

 I�ll keep you advised of developments as they occur. - Wally Pike

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As I mentioned in my last update, I�m cautiously optimistic about our compensation negotiations. The management team states that they want a quick, non-adversarial agreement. The important thing to remember is that while we�re in negotiations all pay status will stay the same for our bargaining unit, including the 5% ATRA. We also have an agreement to make the new pay plan retroactive to October of 1999.

At the National Partnership Council meeting last week we decided that the Council should work Model Work Environment. We chartered a sub group and our representative is Southern Regional Director Craig Campbell. If you have any thoughts or comments about MWE please contact Craig.

During the month of October I was at NAATS Headquarters just two days. November doesn�t look much better. To the extent feasible please contact your regional representatives with questions or comments; otherwise I�ll get back to you when I can.

We�re continuing to work with the FAA, congress and AOPA on the OASIS budget shortfall. I met with FAA Budget Director (ABU-1) Brian Riley on Wednesday and we discussed possible reprogramming of funds from other programs. It won�t be easy since at least five critical programs have received reduced funding but we did agree to meet again between Thanksgiving and Christmas when we will have a better idea of all the budgetary impacts. Even if funds can be identified we don�t expect them to be available until next spring. This will force some hard decisions about OASIS deployment and the waterfall. Although Congress agrees with us that OASIS is a critical system, they have declined to issue a supplemental appropriation for the program but they have indicated they won�t oppose reprogramming. I�ve discussed this on a number of occasions with AOPA President Phil Boyer and we�re working to devise a coordinated approach, including having an AOPA presence at the next meeting with ABU-1. I also intend to continue to meet with the Administrator to stress our case for priority.

Of course, the continuing area of concern is our staffing. We have a congressional mandate of 3,000 in the other than controller work force (OTCWF) but Air Traffic is concerned about the overall funding for operations. I�ve discussed this with both AT-1 Ron Morgan and ATS-1 Steve Brown but with no resolution. I�ll next meet with the Deputy Administrator Monte Belger to try to resolve any discrepancy on new hires and a hiring pipeline. A hard staffing figure of pilot weather briefers (excluding people on details, staff, management, administrative) is also a compensation negotiations goal.

Several of you have no doubt seen the latest memorandum from the White House on E.O. 12871. We will be discussing the implementation of this memo at the DOT Partnership meeting on November 17.

Wally Pike

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No. 28, November 22, 1999

Last week ATP sponsored the "General Aviation Summit" in Washington, D.C. The meeting began on Monday and ended Friday. The theme for the meeting was the renaissance of Flight Service. Participants were the user groups; AOPA, NBAA, GAMA, SAMA, EAA, the 99�s, our Board of Directors and various levels of FAA management.

The results of this meeting were revolutionary for our option. Among the unanimous recommendations:

• Overhaul the entire NOTAM system,
• Replace DF with Aircraft Situational Displays at all FSSs,
• Allow FSS to provide real time SUA information,
• Spend the briefing time on the most important items, de-emphasize legal requirements that hamper communications,
• Do not permit off-loading to another facility when a pilot calls a specific facility location on the ground or inflight,
• Provide FSS controllers with aircraft "tags", including briefing history,
• Revise present policies to provide FSS controllers with training and certification for forecasts and nowcasts,
• Provide a shared database between all FAA facilities,
• Replace WMSCR lines to improve data communication rates, 
• Provide operational weather graphics that show current and forecast weather hazard areas for instrument conditions, thunderstorms, icing and turbulence. Ensure these are highly accurate, precise and timely,
• Fully fund the FAA aviation weather research program,
• Improve number and quality of PIREPs by educating pilots on the need and best practice methods of reporting.

The combined summit participants briefed these recommendations, as well as several others, to AT-1. It was stressed that these are unanimous recommendations and implementation is expected and will be closely monitored. An Interim Review Group (IRG) will be formed with representatives of management, user groups and NAATS to ensure implementation. In May of 2000 another meeting will be held by the participants to review progress.

Obviously, there�s a lot of work ahead of us to accomplish these goals but this is the first time in my experience that we�ve had industry supporting our efforts. Just as obviously, the FAA will have to change the way they look at our option and the services we can and should provide. So be it. We�re very encouraged by what we accomplished last week and we�re determined to maintain the momentum.

PRT Chairman Larry Burdick is preparing a press release. I will stay in close touch with both industry leaders and FAA management as we proceed and I�ll keep you advised.

Happy Thanksgiving to all,

  Wally Pike

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MEETINGS

The Board of Directors met this week in Washington, D.C. It was decided that we would continue to make the OASIS and staffing issues our highest priority along with compensation negotiations.  We also allocated additional funds for arbitration and there will be an increased emphasis on training. If you want more details on this meeting please contact your Regional Director.

Please note that the date for the national membership meeting in CY2000 was set. It will be on November 15-16 with an additional Facrep training class on November 14. The location is Orlando, Florida.

I have meetings scheduled this month with Steve Brown, acting ATS-1, to discuss how the FAA will fund the additional 90 FSS controllers incorporated into the congressional language. One concern is the training ability at the Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. It appears that the FAA has allowed the instructor staff to attrite to the point where they can't train all the students without conducting night classes. There's an additional $600,000 cost that must be reconciled.

I have a meeting with Administrator Garvey to continue our discussion on the possible re-programming of funds to OASIS. At this time we have $11.5M assigned to OASIS and our original request was $27.3M. I'm also continuing to work with the FAA Budget Director Brian Riley on the same subject. AOPA has been very helpful in this matter. Our national OASIS Representative Jeff Barnes will have a more detailed report on this in the next NAATS News.

Additionally, I'm now involved in the Safer Skies work group initiative of the Administrator. Previously, NAATS ARS Liaison Dan Petlowany was our sole representative to this group but after the General Aviation Summit a few weeks ago it was recommended that I should join Dan to help further general aviation goals. The next meeting is next week. Another meeting of the General Aviation Summit Pilot Weather Briefing sub group is tentatively scheduled for the first week of January, with the full group meeting in February.

Pay negotiations resume the week of January 10. We expect the Agency's initial pay proposal at this meeting.

We are continuing to attend the necessary congressional fundraisers to press our issues politically. A supplemental authorization for the FAA in the operations area is possible.

DETAILS/WORK GROUPS

A reminder -- if you are interested in serving as a NAATS representative on either a detail to FAA HQ or on a work group please send us your name. It would be helpful if you would indicate your area of interest (labor relations, automation, operations, etc) and whether you want consideration for a one-year detail or to a work group. We anticipate selecting representatives to a number of these in the near future.

  Wally Pike

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Pay Negotiations

We met with the management team the week of January 10. There was considerable discussion about the Parties' positions and the justifications for it. Basically you can sum it up by saying they want us in the core plan with any pay increases identified by corresponding offsets. Our proposal is that reclassification is more consistent with the Agency goal that employees should be paid for the actual work they perform with commensurate salary increases. We will next meet the week of March 13; the NAATS team remains firm in our conviction that we will get a fair agreement for your consideration and ratification.

Note - by now you no doubt have heard that PASS reached agreement with FAA management on their AF pay impasse. I haven't had the opportunity to talk with PASS President Mike Fanfalone but I have heard some of the details of their agreement. Following is what I understand their agreement to be subject to membership ratification: 

• The agreement is consistent with the FAA core plan,
• 5% ATRA is rolled into base pay @ 4.1%,
• The PASS/AF OSI is guaranteed as a minimum equal to the general increase for all Federal employees or the FAA OSI whichever is greater,
• 5.5% increase in pay over 5 years, which breaks down as follows:

1. Year 1 = 0
2. Year 2 = .5%
3. Year 3 = .5%
4. Year 4 = 1.5%
5. Year 5 = 3%
• Non-technical (admin) will receive a $500 payment but not the 5.5% increase.

  OASIS

As has been the case lately, it's a mixed bag on the OASIS front.

The FAA successfully appealed the $10M budget for FY01. The new figure is $23M but there is still concern about the implementation schedule. OASIS Representative Jeff Barnes and I met with ARA-1 Steve Zaidman and several of the program people just after Christmas and we discussed how best to proceed with the program. It is essential that the Human Factors Team be free to concentrate on determining what the final OASIS product will look like and that they not be concerned about political considerations. While the HF Team will determine the final product that is deployed, there will probably be some difficult political decisions that have to be made. The responsibility for those decisions belongs to me, not the Human Factors Team.

Wally Pike

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Walter W. Pike, President

This page was last updated on 27 November, 2000