Dave Vitko
One of our specialists has been at the Altoona Flight
Service Station for 38 years. Sam Dougherty started at the old Flight Service Station 38
years ago. If anyone has an equal or better tenure at a particular facility please e-mail
me at [email protected]. (Just for fun)
We had another retirement recently. Jamie Gregg decided to
call it quits, after 28 years of service. Good luck to him.
The Altoona Airport received a federal grant to put new
fencing around the entire circumference of the airport, but it seems that they did not get
sufficient funds to complete the job. One hundred and eighty feet on the east side of the
airport will not have the fencing. The purpose of this project was to keep animals out,
especially deer. I guess if we put up no trespassing signs the deer won't enter. Another
fact to consider is if an animal gets inside of the fence how will it get out? Also, the
fence now blocks our view of the airport when taking weather observations.
The Eastern Region Note Team member for OASIS, Tal Haley,
will be attending several meetings over the next six months for the operation and
evaluation "in daily use" of the system by September 11, 2000. He will be in
Atlantic City the first week of May, Seattle the last week of May, again, Atlantic City in
mid July and in Seattle again at the end of August.
John Weigle, who was medically disqualified several months
ago, finally got a job at the Flight Service Data Processing System
(FSDPS) in Leesburg, VA. The Altoona AFSS held a going away
celebration in his honor. Good luck to him. ----- As of this writing a committee is
working on the possibility of erecting an Electronic Set Message Modification Screen (in
plain English, a display screen for operations with the capability of displaying various
information). I would like to request any input from facilities already using this system.
[email protected]
The private management for the Altoona
Airport is being bought out by another company.
Update: The inter-facility line has been installed at most
facilities but will not be operational for Altoona until AF can find space for the
equipment to be installed at Elkins AFSS.
From The Facrep (Beth Gerrits)
I recently attended the annual Professional Women's
Controller (PWC) Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. NAATS was well represented by Donna
Holmes in a Labor Management Relations panel discussion.
I also attended a briefing on the use of Alternate Dispute
Resolution (ADR) that was very informative. (Similar to arbitration and negotiation.)
The group also received a presentation from professional
speaker, Ron Kuhlman, of Ada, OH, on "Curing The Attitude Virus". It was a good
model for defining and applying the model work environment (MWE). He also shared some
quotes that included the following; The Watch "Watch your thoughts, they become
words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits;
watch your habits, they determine your character; watch your character, it determines your
destiny..... And your legacy" (author unknown)
FACETIOUSLY YOURS
by Dave Vitko & Bill Beegle
- THE FAA, WE HOLD SO DEAR, WOULD NEVER SIGN A PACT,
- TO DEFINE THE WAY, THAT WE OR THEY, SHOULD KNOW JUST HOW TO ACT.
- "WE'RE NOT THE BOSS, WE'RE HERE FOR YOU,WE'RE IN A HELPFUL MODE,
- WE'LL MAKE A CHANGE FOR CHANGE'S SAKE, AND THEN ACCEPT OFF-LOAD."
-
- SAFETY'S OUT..METAR'S IN, AND PILOTS JUST DON'T COUNT,
- BUT WHAT LOOKS GOOD ON PAPAER SEEMS TO BE WHAT'S PARAMOUNT.
- YOUR STYLE, YOUR SKILL, YOUR KNOWLEDGE, DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU'RE WISER,
- SUCKING UP IS WHAT IT TAKES TO PLEASE A SUPERVISOR.
-
- N-F-P HAS GONE AWAY IN ABSOLUTE FRUSTRATION,
- "SO WE WILL HAVE A TELCON- THAT'LL EASE THE SITUATION.
- A MODEL WORK ENVIRONMENT WILL PLEASE THE EMPLOYEE,
- IF HIS INCOMPETENCE IS BOUNDLESS, WE WILL MAKE HIM C-I-C."
-
- D-U-A-T YOU CAN, D-U-A-T YOU WILL, A CONSTANT WAR YOU SEE,
- I REALLY THINK THESE PEOPLE ARE PLANNING TO GET RID OF ME.
- WE'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN MANY TIMES...WHAT IF THEY HAD SUCCEEDED,
- DON'T THEY KNOW THAT WITHOUT US, THEY ARE NO LONGER NEEDED.
-
- I FOUGHT THE FIGHT-I'VE DONE ALRIGHT- I'VE MILKED THE HORN-O-PLENTY,
- PAYDAY'S EVERY OTHER TUESDAY, AND NOW I'VE GOT MY TWENTY.
- I'LL BID ADIEU, THE HECK WITH YOU, I'M GONNA HIT THE PIKE,
- SO STUDY YOUR "TEAM CONCEPT" AND THEN GO TAKE A HIKE.
-
- THE DAY WILL COME WHEN I'LL LOOK BACK AND GUESS WHAT I WILL SAY,
- I DON'T DO A DOGGONE THING AND I'M GETTIN' HALF MY PAY.
- OFF IN THE BLUE MY THOUGHTS WILL FLY, AND WHEN I FINALLY LAND,
- IT WASN'T IN MY FLIGHT STRIPS TO KEEP PLAYIN' IN THIS BAND.
More of LESS, EA
RegCo
A Brief History on the Right to Organize for the Federal Employee.
Your right to become a union member as a federal employee has not always been such.
That right was won through the hard efforts of federal employees like you. The earliest
right to organize for federal employees, which I was able to locate in my research, dates
back to a little known law signed in 1912. Named the "Lloyd-LaFollette Act", it
gave the federal employee limited representational rights. The right to join a union was
married to the NO-STRIKE RULE.
Through future exhaustive legislative efforts, of federal employees, President
John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10988 in 1962. This Executive Order directed
Federal Agencies to recognize and bargain with unions for the first time. Later President
Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11491 which was cause for the creation of the Federal
Labor Relations Council, The Federal Service Impasse Panel and Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service.
In 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed into Law Public Law 95-4544 "The
Civil Service Reform Act." Title Seven of the Act provides a set of rules and
regulations for labor management relations in the federal sector set by law.
Recently, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12871 Labor-Management
Partnerships. This order provided urging for management of Federal Agencies to include
Labor in decision making in the area of Management Rights (reference Article 6 of the
NAATS/FAA Agreement). Unfortunately the Order only guided management to do the right
thing. As you can guess, FAA management has chosen not to follow that guidance.
Article 3 of the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists Constitution
dated 1993 is titled OBJECTIVES. I believe that we should all review this article. This is
truly the statement of our union to fulfill the rights that we have gained through our
right to organize. The constitution is available on line at WWW.NAATS.ORG
National & Regional Issues
What is going on Nationally and Regionally?
- The NAATS/EA quarterly was held on April 12, 2000 at NY AIFSS. I have sent a copy
of the meeting synopsis to all FACREPS. Please review it and send me any comments or
questions. If you haven't seen it yet ask your FACREP.
- NAATS National Email updates 36 and 37 have been sent to all FACREPS for
distribution to the membership.
- The third meeting of the Flight Service Renaissance is taking place during the
week of May 1, 2000.
- The Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for May 15, 2000.
- MIV AFSS member Linda Whitaker represented NAATS at the national level on the
Joint Aviation Administration (FAA) Bargaining Unit Members Controller Chair Program. You
can expect hearing more on this important subject from Linda.
- NY AIFSS member Malcolm Mckean will be heading south to MIA AIFSS on a CPP move.
- Does your facility have an active OSHA committee? If no, then talk to your FACREP
and start one ASAP.
- EKN member and NAATS EA LMR Representative Steve Glowacki represented NAATS at
the national level on the ATCS Basic Knowledge Criterion Workgroup.
If you think you can make a difference, please volunteer for NAATS positions,
locally, regionally or nationally.
Now a commentary from yours truly:
I would like to take a little time and print to acknowledge the hard and
sometimes under-appreciated work of our FACREPs and Alternate FACREPs. I speak from loads
of experience when I speak of the pressures that they encounter.
What we, as the membership in general, need to look at is the question of how
can we support our FACREP. Do we go to her or him and ask them if they need any help or
assistance? Do we understand the limitations of what a FACREP can and cannot accomplish in
the highly complex world of labor-management relations?
When we have issues to agreements that they reach, do we understand there are
times when the needs of the many may outweigh the needs of the few? And there may be times
when the needs of a few outweigh the needs of the many. Take a few minutes and think about
that. You can always call me or e-mail me with your thoughts. Till next time.
Live Long and Prosper,
PL
Have you visited the NAATS
EA website?
http://members.tripod.com/NAATSeast/index.htm
