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Wally Pike, NAATS President Remaining Work Rules Issues June 27th, I met with ADA-1 Monte Belger to ask him to revisit the issue of the pay band transition and cap. He agreed to talk with the responsible FAA managers and get back to me prior to the July 15 deadline, so we'll know the results of that meeting on the pay rules by the week of July 8th. We'll take the necessary actions depending on the answer. The understanding is that the pay rules must be completed by July 15 in order for the FMCS hearing to proceed. We're also approaching select congressional representatives with these issues. I'll advise you as soon as I know anything further. A76 Feasibility Study Before the July 4th holiday, I met with ABA-1 Chris Bertram, ABU-100 Ron Page, ABA-2 John Hennigan and ALR -1 Ray Thoman regarding A76. They reiterated that we're in the feasibility part of the process and that no other decision has been made. They assured me that they would keep the Administrator's pledge to work with us through all of the process and they offered to allow a NAATS participant for the feasibility work group that's meeting with the contractor Grant Thornton. FAA management also offered to have a Grant Thornton brief the BOD at our meeting later this month. I agreed and we're scheduling them for what promises to be an extremely busy and important meeting. Congressional Meetings Since mid-June, I've kept busy with meetings. In addition to our issues and to the Administration's Executive Order deleting "inherently governmental" from the previous administration's EO, there are three items of particular interest on the Hill. We're working on a press release. H.R.4760 is a bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that service performed by an air traffic controller who is transferred or promoted to a supervisory or staff position continue to be treated as controller service for retirement purposes. Since Jim Oberstar (D-MN) is one of the sponsors on this and is the ranking member on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, it has a chance of passing. S.871 is a bill to amend
chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for the computation of
annuities for air traffic controllers in a similar manner as the computation
of annuities for law enforcement officers and firefighters. NATCA initiated
the legislation and we're included and are supporting it. The latest major
action on this bill was on 6/21/2001 when it was referred to Senate
subcommittee. Latest Status: Committee on Governmental Affairs referred to
Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation and Federal Services. I met again with Rep. Don
Young (R-AK), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee in mid-June. He continues to express his support for the FMCS
hearing on July 30 to resolve the pay dispute. I'm also continuing to work with Senators Oberstar and Hollings' (D-SC) staff on A76 and contracting out. I've provided them with copies of our correspondence with the FAA and they advise me that contracting out "won't happen on their watch". I've also been informed that there may be legislation from Sen. Hollings to define ATC as "inherently governmental" but they haven't finalized a game plan yet. We agreed to continue to work together on this. One thing I've been asked to provide congress is anecdotal evidence of our contributions to aviation safety and the loss represented if we were contracted out. Please send any such examples to me as soon as possible. Bills to Regulate Official Time There are two bills on the subject of official time. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) has introduced one (S2383) last April to limit official time to 25% of the employee's workweek. Dan Miller (R-FL) has introduced HR4904 to track union time. We'll keep an eye on both. Meetings With FAA Union Heads I met with PASS President Mike Fanfalone and we agreed to jointly address our outsourcing issues with congress. We also agreed to work on a joint press release; I've asked PRT Chair John Dibble to contact his PASS counterpart to begin this process. I've talked with Carl Goldman of AFSCME and they are interested in jointly addressing mutual issues of concern. I'll talk with NATCA President John Carr Monday regarding the same. In late June, I also participated in an OPM briefing on Monday for the union presidents to explain the new Department of Homeland Security. Alcohol Testing Grievance Sustained Last year a grievance was sustained regarding misinterpretation of DOT Order 3910.1C, Drug and Alcohol-Free Departmental Workplace. Specifically the Agency applied on-duty alcohol test results to an employee who was off-duty. Bottom line is they erroneously put an employee on a last chance agreement that later had to be rescinded. We have been in contact with Labor Relations to attempt to find bargaining unit members who are similarly affected. If you feel this applies to you please contact your Regional Director with the specifics of your case. GL Visits To Be Rescheduled Because it's been so busy, I had to postpone the GL region facility visits. My apologies but I am firmly committed to making these trips as soon as possible. Adventures in E-Mail The problem with my email address seems to be resolved. Apparently the website links were the culprits and I've had all of them removed. Please note - the only way to reach me on email is to use the [email protected] address, no other links will work. WSI - Competing for Flight Service? WSI Press Release - June 5 -- PRNewswire WSI Sets New Standard for High Quality Pre-Flight Weather Briefings Pilotbrief Vector 3.0 offers new features to improve pre-flight weather briefing services for professional pilots and aviators. BILLERICA, MA- WSI Corporation, the leader in aviation weather solutions, today announced the release of Pilotbrief Vector 3.0, the latest in a series of upgrades to its award-winning aviation weather briefing system. WSI's Pilotbrief is consistently voted the # 1 aviation weather service by pilots, with thousands of systems in use by aviation professionals in corporate flight departments, FBOs, the major and regional airlines, and FAA Flight Service Stations. Pilotbrief Vector 3.0 features a redesigned interface. Streamlined menus let pilots easily find the weather information and data services needed prior to flight. A new point-to-point automated route briefing lets pilots specify a departure and destination airport and receive a customized, detailed weather briefing for their route. In addition, live radar overlays on both single NEXRAD site selection maps and SIGMET graphics and worldwide METAR and TAF data have been added. "The best aviation weather service for professional pilots just got even better, providing our customers with the most complete and reliable weather information available," said Arlo Gambell, Director of Aviation Marketing. "The new release demonstrates WSI's continued commitment to thoroughly understanding our customers needs and delivering the best product possible, based upon their requirements." Pilotbrief offers a wide range of information including high-resolution radar, satellite imagery, and specialized WSI Aviation graphics all updated as frequently as every 5 minutes. In April 2002, WSI announced plans to deliver weather information direct to the cockpit, where pilots need it most. The new in-flight service, available in the fall of 2002, will use satellite technology to continuously broadcast weather information to any aircraft equipped with WSI's antenna and receiver. Availability & Pricing The Pilotbrief
Vector 3.0 upgrade is available immediately and will be provided free of
charge to all current Pilotbrief customers. The enhancements are
automatically delivered and instantly installed via WSI's satellite delivery
system, thereby eliminating any complex software or system changes by
customers. Pricing starts at $149 per month and includes a satellite dish,
display monitor and all hardware needed for a "turnkey" installation.
Pilotbrief Vector can be purchased directly from WSI by calling 1-800-USA-
2FLY. WSI is the world's leading provider of mission critical commercial weather advisory information solutions to professionals in aviation, media and energy markets. WSI Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications. For additional details, contact Arlo Gambell at 978-262-0624, [email protected]. Bush Action Called a Clerical Correction Kurt Comisky, New England Regional Director By now you must has heard or read the news that the Bush
Administration, through Executive Order has modified a Clinton
Administration Executive Order concerning the proposed ATO/PBO for the FAA. I am sure there is more there is more going on (like some contractor getting a hold of the several billion dollar NATCA payroll), however this in itself is a clerical correction. The term "inherently governmental" function has a specific meaning in the executive branch. This term provides a significant distinction in governmental functions in the OMB A-76 circular. It is my thought that in some discussions between the FAA and OMB the Clinton Executive Order was brought up in the context complying with the FAIR Act. By OMB directive/policy, in terms of the A-76 study, it is the Agency Head that determines if a function is "inherently governmental," subject to OMB review. The error was that in the Clinton Executive Order, the president made the determination, not the agency head. With that said, it does appear that there is thoughts on an A-76 study for NATCA and OMB is cleaning up the paper trail to withstand an appeal. (The agency head decision of whether a function is inherently governmental is appealable through a internal process to the FAA, not in the civil court, so basically what the administrator determines will survive unless there is significant new information presented at the appeal process or significant political pressure.) Two observations:
As a final closing thought, I think it may be in our best interest to have Jane make the decision whether Flight Service is "inherently governmental." If by some fluke, she does determine we are, the appeal process will take place quickly, not giving our opponents a fighting chance to make a successful appeal. (The appeal process is rather short.) Jeff Barnes, National OASIS Representative ISD Time Approaches We are getting close to an In Service Decision (ISD) on OASIS. The briefing package was written and presented to the heads of the lines of business on June 13th. On June 21st, I attended a briefing in Steve Brown's (ATS-1) office. The purpose was to brief him on where OASIS is and what is ahead for it so that he could make a decision regarding the In Service Decision (ISD) for OASIS at Seattle and Anderson. An ISD was required for the program to continue forward, and the ISD requested here was to keep the program going until the 25th site, at which time, all the problems in OASIS have to be fixed and a final ISD will be made. The briefing was presented by the program office and the requirements team lead. They discussed each of the problems identified by the Independent Test And Evaluation (IOT&E) that was recently completed at AND AFSS and supplied action plans to resolve each of those problems. None of the problems identified in the IOT&E report were rated as high priority. There were some medium and the rest were low. Also, PASS had some issues which had been identified in the IOT&E, with one addition. Again the program presented an action plan to address their additional issue and PASS accepted the plans to resolve all their issues. When asked for NAATS position, I said that we were pleased with where the OASIS is and where it's going. We are on track with the OASIS MOU we signed that allowed for the phased ISD and the program and Harris are working hard to make as many improvements and fix as many problems as they can for each software drop. Based on our position, the PASS position, and the information presented in the briefing Steve Brown decided to approve the ISD. This means that the OASIS program has been approved to go forward to site 25 where we go through the ISD that will take us to all our AFSSs and FSSs. Everyone in NAATS who has been involved in OASIS has done an outstanding job to get us to this point, and I am sure will continue to do an outstanding job to see us to a full deployment of the system. Aside from the pay issues, if ever there was a reason to be in NAATS it would be to contribute to saving a system like OASIS, which was doomed to be Model One all over again until we were brought in to reform it into a program that would be responsive to the controller's needs - not Headquarters' or Harris' needs - making the program understand, that's a good thing. Console Dis-Information Continues Having said the nice stuff, it's time to get mean. The one issue in OASIS that keeps rearing its ugly head and creating problems that just aren't going away is the consoles. There are actually two requirements for equipment placement in the OASIS consoles. Number one is that all the equipment in the standard preflight console has to go to the left of the monitors. This is a no-brainer since there is no console to the right of the monitor bay. I was reminded of a second requirement, and that is that if you have the Litton ICSS the frequency selector panel has to go to the right side of the standard inflight console due to the depth of the unit. It physically cannot fit in the standard inflight console to the left of the monitors. Beyond this, there are no equipment placement requirements mandated in the OASIS consoles. Further, by the OASIS console MOU equipment placement (among other things) is to be negotiated at the local level. However, I have continued to hear that as little as three weeks ago ANI was still dictating equipment placement. This should not be happening anymore! It makes me furious to continue to hear about it long after I have gotten multiple promises from the program that it would stop. I have given the program notice that if this doesn't stop and if they don't develop a plan to retrofit those facilities who were mislead into undesirable equipment placement, NAATS will take this issue higher in the Agency to ask for resolution and what rolls downhill onto the program from that is unlikely to smell or feel good. Denro ICSS When the frequency selectors for the Denro ICSS are placed on the right side of the console there is a selector switch that blocks view of the indicator light, making it difficult to impossible to see which frequency a pilot is calling in on. For those facilities that had the panels to the right side in the Model One consoles the OASIS consoles seemed to be an improvement because the placement angled the panel 23 degrees toward the controller. It was indeed an improvement for these facilities, but because of the misrepresentations by ANI, they didn't realize that those frequency selectors could have been installed on the left which would remove the obscurement problem entirely. This did not become apparent until they did the Riverside AFSS (a Denro site) installation and told them that the frequencies would have to be on the right, creating a problem that had never existed, because at RAL AFSS the frequencies had been on the left in the Model One consoles. I am adamant that a retrofit be offered to all Denro sites that have been installed to this point to give them a chance to move their frequency selectors to the other side of the console, if they choose to. The program has acknowledged that this has potential safety implications, so I feel that on this at least they will commit to doing the retrofits. Remote Workstations I may have miscommunicated my intention somewhat when I talked about remote workstation use at events in your flight plan area. The point was to give the Program Office needed data to estimate what remote workstation usage there will be each year. At this time, there is no need to make or get a commitment to actually work these events. That will depend on staffing and other factors that you have to work at the local or regional level. The purpose here is to get an idea of the number of remote workstations that will be needed each year. So, again, there is no need to get commitments from management to set up temporary FSSs at these events right now. Just think of events it would be good to try a temporary FSS at. Also, just because you're number 50-something on the waterfall, don't think you shouldn't also be thinking about this. These estimates will be carried forward through the life-cycle of OASIS, so getting the information from everyone is important. These figures are estimates, so they will be subject to adjustment as reality necessitates down the road. Software Upgrade for STL I was at Harris on June 11th to get a look at the first half of the software upgrade under development for the St. Louis installation. There is enough new software involved in this installation that it was decided to test it in two chunks. The major testing will be taking place at the Tech Center with OASIS Human Factors Team participation in July. We will be testing the whole package this fall. Service A Data Restoration Planning is underway to install the OAWS (Not sure of this acronym... Even I draw a blank occasionally.) at SEA and AND early in August. This will be the server that backs up all our weather data for 13 hours so that we can restore Service A data after an OASIS failure at any site. The early installation is a good thing because it will allow us more test time prior to the requirement for the equipment to go operational when STL does. Preliminary results have been promising with full database restorations taking about 12 minutes with faster times thought possible. Consoles Do Not Affect ISD If you're wondering why I didn't bring up the consoles at the ISD briefing, it's because the console program is a separate program from the OASIS, even though they're funded from the same money. The ISD was to determine the suitability of going forward with OASIS and had nothing to do with the consoles, making it an inappropriate forum to address the console problems. If need be, we can schedule a meeting with Steve Brown to seek some resolution to the console issue, and I'm sure Wally will support that if we are forced to go there. Wanted: Applicants for NAATS Treasurer Wally Pike, NAATS President The NAATS Finance Committee was at NAATS HQ last week. I want to thank John Wesselhoft (PIE), Bob Roose (PIE) and Mark Bunker (GRB) for all their work. John is completing his fifth year as our Treasurer and he's worked very hard on our behalf. Again, our thanks for his and the team's efforts. Please note: This is a solicitation for those members
interested in serving at NAATS Treasurer.
Recommends the remaining two committee members for Board approval. If you are interested in serving as NAATS Treasurer, please your name and a short resume to NAATS Headquarters. We also need members interested in serving as Liaisons or on National Work Groups. If you're interested, please send us a brief resume. If we already have your name, an updated resume would be helpful. Stephen A. Glowacki, Voice Switch Technical Representative June 24, 2002 - Last week the FAA decided to award the AFSSVS contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (DENRO Division). This means that the same people who built our current and previous voice switches will be building our next generation. The folks at FAA HQ who made the decision indicated that this was not an easy one. The decision required many areas to be considered and, in my experience, areas that often lead to complicated debates of operational impact versus cost and schedule. It's important to note that the evaluation process, as determined by the FAA, resulted in the technical capabilities of each system becoming less of a discriminator. This caused more focus to be placed on the cost differences between the companies' bids. Regarding the award, we all know DENRO. The good news is that the FAA, and the AND Product Team specifically, have a clear understanding of the DENRO company and their history. Although we may have the natural discussions about the decision, it's comforting to know that the FAA and we share the same concerns and viewpoints and will be going into this new acquisition with our eyes open. With this in mind, I believe it's appropriate that we commit ourselves to work with the FAA and DENRO to ensure that a quality Voice Switch is delivered. In this vain, I've informed the FAA of NAATS' commitment to ensuring that the very best operational voice switch system is delivered. I'd like to congratulate the members of the newly formed AFSS Voice Switch Human Factors Team. They are: Cheryl Potter (FOD), Dan Holodick (BGR), Dave Smith (MLC), Bart Gray (MCN) and Dennis Carmen (AND). I believe they will represent us well and look forward to working with them in the future. By Mike Causey, FEDweek Senior Editor, FEDweek, July 3, 2002 How do you feel about managed health care? You may get a chance to find out sooner than you thought. Health insurance premiums are going up, big time, next year. Private companies have already announced big premium increases, increases in deductibles and higher, as in MUCH higher, premiums for 2003. Feds are next. The official numbers won't be out until late summer or early fall. But many experts who are more often right than wrong say an average 10 percent increase for federal workers, postal employees and retirees and survivors is not out of the question. The fact that living costs are creeping up very slowly (the Consumer Price Index didn't move from May to June) has no relation to the medical inflation rate. Lots of reasons for that. New treatments and new drugs (which cost billions to develop) are raising the cost of health care and maintenance. The population (both the U.S. overall and in the federal workforce) is getting older. And sicker. Diseases associated with longevity (from cancer to Alzheimer's) are on the increase. So are ailments - often associated with being overweight - from heart trouble and cancer to diabetes. This all translates into higher costs. One way to escape higher health premiums (especially in the FEHB) is to switch from a fee-for-service plan to an HMO. Many feds already have done so. HMO premiums are usually lower and they have small co-payments. The downside is that they offer a limited choice of doctors and hospitals (although your favorites may be available), and emphasize managed care. The good news is that the government will continue to pay the lion's share of premiums (an average of 72 percent) for both workers and retirees. The bad news is that even though the percentage split remains the same your cost is going up, and the number of HMOs available to you is expected to drop - as it has for the past three years - in 2003. So, it's a good time to count your blessings. Just don't try to spend them! OPM Presents the Case for Pay Reform Brought to you by FedWeek.com May 1, 2002 The Office of Personnel Management has issued a "white paper" on federal pay that officials hope will start the process toward an overhaul of how salaries are set, a project that they concede will take a long time even in the best of scenarios. The white paper, addressed to the "public service community," does not make recommendations but urges action to reform the pay system. Following is the executive summary of the report. "An ongoing objective of the Office of Personnel Management is to explore ways to make Federal pay more performance-oriented and a better tool for improving the strategic management of human capital. As recent events have shown all too clearly, Government performance is critically important. To meet the challenges of the present - and to anticipate and overcome the challenges of the future - Government must design and use merit-based policies and systems that are more modern, strategic, and results-focused. If the Government is to recruit, manage, and retain the human capital needed to accomplish and sustain this transformation, its white-collar pay system would need to:
"This White Paper examines the extent to which the current Federal white-collar pay system - the General Schedule covering 1.2 million employees - achieves these objectives. OPM believes the system would have to be judged as failing this examination, for several reasons:
"OPM does not fault the framers of the General Schedule for designing pay and job evaluation systems that reflected their world of work. But neither can a compensation system that was designed in the middle of the 20th century be expected to function well in the 21st century where organizations use a broader view of strategic rewards. The result of OPM's examination is clear: seizing systemic, government-wide opportunities for changing the white-collar pay system is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. In its current condition, the system is an impediment to the Government's critical efforts to enhance security and replace technical and scientific expertise in the face of looming retirements. "This White Paper is pre-decisional: although it documents many problems in our current pay and job evaluations systems, it does not describe the solutions to those problems. Its objectives are to help stakeholders learn from the Government's history and experience and to inform the debate over how the Government can preserve core values of public service - such as equity, procedural justice, openness, and accountability - while modernizing its compensation practices. OPM will distribute the paper widely to stimulate dialogue and discussion. The aim is to surface areas of agreement and disagreement and concern and consensus so that the Federal community may be fully informed as we pursue future directions for improving pay as a strategic tool for managing human capital. John Dibble, Webmaster I need some help with some research I am doing for a flyer. I would like to contrast our services with those pilots can get in other countries. If you brief a pilot from another country, please ask them if they would mind contacting me, by email so I can send them a survey to fill out. I would like to get some facts together on how pilots are briefed in other countries and compare it to what we provide. I plan to develop a flyer to hand out to pilots showing how contracting out Flight Service could effect the way they get their pre-flight and in-flight weather. If they are interested in participating, give them my email address - [email protected]. AOPA PRESIDENT SAYS FIX THE NOTAM SYSTEM AOPA Press Release Help pilots avoid TFRs by fixing NOTAM system, AOPA tells FAA July 2 - AOPA President Phil Boyer today appealed directly to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey to give pilots the information they need to avoid temporary flight restriction areas (TFRs). "I'm not defending the pilots who have violated TFRs," said Boyer. "It's our responsibility to get and understand the information. Sanctions against violators are appropriate. "But the communication system is broken. And because of that, the general public thinks GA pilots are a security threat and can't abide by the rules. That's not true. "How can the FAA expect pilots to avoid airspace when they are not given the proper information, maps, and tools to plot a course around the restricted areas?" Boyer said the current system is much like handing a businessperson the keys to a rental car in an unfamiliar city, pointing them in the general direction of travel and wishing them luck in successfully navigating a highway system as complex as the LA freeway, with no map and all the street signs covered up. AOPA has multiple reports of flight service station briefers failing to provide pilots with TFR notices to airmen (NOTAMs). In one case, an FSS briefer failed to tell the pilot about the security TFR around Washington, D.C., and failed to tell the pilot that his destination airport within that TFR was closed! "But we pilots can understand how FAA employees - who should know this information better than anybody else - can make that kind of mistake," said Boyer. "The NOTAM system is archaic and clogged with non-pertinent data. Textual descriptions of airspace boundaries are difficult to interpret." Boyer again asked FAA to give pilots direct Internet access to clear, concise NOTAMs that graphically depict current airspace restrictions. Since November, AOPA has been providing maps of the security TFRs on its Web site, along with "plain language" interpretations of NOTAMs. "However, we strongly believe that the government has a responsibility to provide this information," Boyer said. "Although I'm proud of the work AOPA has done, we are not the official source." Boyer reminded Garvey that the FAA has been working on a graphical NOTAM system since February, but the agency only intends to distribute the information to FSS briefers, not to pilots. Boyer appeals directly to FAA administrator to put TFR maps on the Internet "Jane, the TFR NOTAM situation is critical and general aviation's future access to airspace hangs in the balance," Boyer wrote Administrator Garvey. "Given the recent violations, the proliferation of security TFRs, the military's shoot-down policy, and the current NOTAM system deficiencies, the FAA must work aggressively to get graphical TFRs into the hands of users as soon as possible. "The Internet is the communication tool that should be leveraged to make it happen!" NASA HELPS PRESERVE OUR NATION'S HISTORY National Aeronautics & Space Administration Press Release The United States' most important historical documents may be spared from irreparable deterioration thanks to the work of a team of NASA scientists working at the request of the National Archives and Records Administration. Scientists from NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., have confirmed the atmosphere enclosing the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights is too moist. In a report submitted to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md. - the organization contracted to provide encasements to the National Archives - the team found there is nearly twice as much water vapor in the atmosphere surrounding the documents as there should be. As a result of the research, the National Archives will replace the containers preserving the Charters of Freedom over the next few months. "The amount of water vapor or humidity in the encasements is critical to their long-term preservation," said Dr. Joel Levine, the NASA scientist who managed the project and gave the presentation. "Too much water vapor in a closed system like these encasements has caused their glass to chemically decompose, which could lead to eventual deterioration of the documents." "These documents form the basis of U.S. democracy, and it is important to preserve them," said Levine. "We're happy we were able to apply technology, originally developed by NASA for atmospheric science, remote sensing, laser spectroscopy and wind tunnel measurements, to ensure the future stability of the Charters of Freedom." In the original encasements, deterioration of the glass appeared as small surface cracks, crystals and droplets. This deterioration would eventually cause the glass to become opaque. Some humidity is necessary to keep the sheepskin documents from becoming brittle: the preferred relative humidity is less than 40 percent. In the early 1950s, the documents, collectively known as the Charters of Freedom, were sealed in specially prepared containers. The cases were filled with humidified helium to protect the documents. Many document-preservation experts suspected the helium had leaked and allowed air to enter the encasements, but the NASA team proved the cases remained sealed in the original atmosphere. "We were also surprised to discover the amount of carbon dioxide in the encasements was nearly ten times higher than levels found in Earth's atmosphere," said Levine. NASA's research group consisted of three independent teams: two teams used non-invasive measurement techniques to study the atmosphere through the glass encasement. The third team used NASA instruments to determine the chemical composition of extracted samples from each case. The teams, unaware of the others' findings and applying different methods, produced very consistent results. NASA examines different aspects of atmosphere as part of the study of Earth System Science, an examination of the Earth in an effort to better understand and protect it, while bettering life on the planet. FAA AND OSHA SIGN WHISTLEBLOWER AGREEMENT FAA Press Release The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on March 22 that establishes procedures to protect aviation employees who provide information in accordance with the Aviation Whistleblower Protection Program. Established by the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act of 2000, the Whistleblower Protection Program protects air carrier employees, contractors, and subcontractors from being fired or discriminated against for providing information about safety violations to his or her employer or to the federal government. Discrimination includes compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. Sharing joint responsibility for enforcement of the program, the FAA investigates alleged safety violations while OSHA investigates employee complaints of alleged discrimination by air carriers. The FAA may suspend or revoke and air carrier and/or airman certificate or impose civil penalties for safety violations. The MOU sets forth the following framework:
Last year the FAA distributed posters and brochures to air carriers, unions, and employees to introduce them to the program. Information is also available on the FAA's Whistleblower Protection Program web site at www.faa.gov/avr/afs/osha/osha.htm. Contact: Alison Duquette, 202-267-3462 Brought to you by FedWeek.com
Language to set a January 2003 federal pay raise of 4.1 percent in law has been put in a key appropriations bill for the upcoming fiscal year. The language was added as a subcommittee amendment to the House version of the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill, the funding measure covering federal employment programs in general. While in some past years the raise figure was not made explicit but rather was assumed in the funding levels of the appropriations bills, supporters of the 4.1 percent increase for federal workers wanted to get a firm commitment in writing early in the process. The House previously voted as part of a budget resolution to maintain parity between federal employees-who would stand to get 2.6 percent raises on average under the White House's budget proposal-and uniformed military personnel, who are in line for 4.1 percent. However, budget resolution language is not binding and the Senate has yet to vote on a counterpart budget resolution. The House panel's vote is far from the last word on the subject, however. Reservist TSP Policy Options Outlined A recent report on military compensation issues raised several options for changing the special Thrift Savings Plan benefit that began earlier this year for the roughly 130,000 federal and postal employees who also are members of military Guard and Reserve units. Those individuals may have both a uniformed service TSP account and a civil service TSP account, investing in the former from their active military pay. The eligibility of Guard and Reserve members to create TSP accounts has been somewhat controversial, due to projections that such accounts would hold relatively little money-in most cases, only funds associated with monthly weekend duty and the two weeks-a-year active commitment-and incur high administrative costs. According to the new report, called the Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, the TSP governing board has estimated that with the caps on investments of active duty pay (currently 7 percent, the same as for CSRS-covered federal workers) Reservists would on average invest only about $200 a year. Wider Investment Choices Raised The QRMC report suggests that Reservist more likely would invest about $500 a year on average, since bonuses can be invested in military TSP accounts, unlike in federal employee TSP accounts. But even that figure is still "relatively small" the report says, raising these options for allowing greater investments by Reservists: allow them to invest up to 100 percent of their military basic pay; require a minimum balance or minimum contribution to Reserve accounts; or allow Reservists to contribute from their military compensation to their civil service TSP accounts rather than maintain a separate military TSP account. The report, issued by the Pentagon-although some of the content was prepared by contractors-provides a basis for congressional debate over the structure of military pay in the years ahead. Agencies Told to Account for Official Time The Office of Personnel Management has told federal agencies to account for "official time," the on-the-clock time agency employees who serve as union officials spend on union duties and not on their official duties. OPM director Kay Coles James said she expects agencies and unions "to work cooperatively on sensible, responsible arrangements for authorizing and using official time," and that imposing reporting requirements, "sends a strong signal that labor and management understand their joint obligation to use public funds wisely." Legislation recently was introduced in Congress to compel an accounting of official time-the most recent estimates date to 1998-and to limit use of such time to 25 percent of an employee's working hours. While the James memo does not set a limit-policies typically are set in contract negotiations-it orders the accounting to be done by October 31. Dual Compensation Repeal Finalized Rules published in the June 14 Federal Register finalize the repeal of certain provisions of the Dual Compensation Act, the law that had imposed reductions in military retired or retainer pay previously required for those employed by the federal government. Those provisions were ended as part of the fiscal 2000 Defense Department authorization bill. However, the rules note that the repeal did not change other parts of the Dual Compensation Act that in general require a "fresh start" for military retirees who take federal civilian employment. The rules clarify certain provisions regarding counting of military service for federal employment annual leave, retirement crediting and veterans preference. TSP Open Season Dates to Change The ongoing Thrift Savings Plan open season, which started May 15 and ends July 31, will be the last under the cycle the TSP has used since its inception more than a decade ago. Instead of the next open season occurring November 15 and running through next January 31, the fall open seasons beginning with the upcoming one will run October 15-December 31. The spring open seasons will start April 15 and end June 30. During open season employees may change the levels of their investments and those not participating in the program may join it. Rise in Investment Limits Moving Up The change in the TSP open season schedule means that the next one percentage point increase in the allowable percentage of investments will occur a month earlier. Effective with the first pay period beginning on or after December 1, investors in the FERS retirement system will be able to invest 13 percent of biweekly salary while those in the CSRS system will be able to invest 8 percent. Those changes can be requested at the start of an open season but there is a lag time between the request and the effective dates; had the fall open season date not been advanced to October 15, the effective date would have been the first pay period beginning on or after January 1. The TSP percentage of salary investment limits are being phased out under a law passed in 2000. Regardless of the percentage limits, investors are capped by a tax code dollar limit ($11,000 this year, $12,000 in 2003) that as a practical matter may set a lower limit, depending on salary. ALASKA REGION CENTRAL REGION EASTERN REGION GREAT LAKES REGION NEW ENGLAND REGION NORTHWEST MOUNTAIN REGION SOUTHERN REGION SOUTHWEST REGION Mark Jaffe, Director and Dana Colquitt, Coordinator Pay Issues Winding Down It looks like our pay issues are winding down to a conclusion. Wally and our team met with Richard Barnes and the FAA team in mid-May at the preliminary hearing to set ground rules for the pay arbitration/mediation. The schedule calls for final offers to be submitted to Mr. Barnes by July 23rd. The arbitration is set for July 30th and July 31st (if needed). Each side has 30 days after the arbitration to submit a written brief. Mr. Barnes will rule on the outcome 1 week after the written briefs are submitted. If we stay on schedule, we should have a decision by Sept. 6th. Management threw one curve at the preliminary meeting. They demanded a baseball type arbitration or they would withdraw from the process. Are they trying to wiggle out of the arbitration? Are they testing the resolve of NAATS members? Who knows what they are thinking. Whatever it is, it will not slow us down. NAATS members have been demanding pay comparability for the 4 years that this process has dragged on. I don't look for us to back down at this stage of the game. Transferring Calls Regionally, one problem that seems to come up lately is call forwarding to other facilities. Some managers and supervisors panic when they get a few calls holding and they feel the need to transfer traffic to other facilities. This will be an ongoing issue because we are all becoming short staffed. Transferring calls does not solve our staffing problems. It only covers up the real problem and makes it harder to make the people in D.C. listen when we ask for more people. We are continually working to increase staffing on a regional and national level. Thanks to the hard work of Lynda Hobbs, ASW-540, Lee Johnson, AO at SJT, and others, in and out of NAATS, we are probably the most successful region when it comes to filling academy slots and hiring new people. More TFR Problems Another on-going problem is with the TFR's. Evaluations Branch has been on our butts, hot and heavy, lately about TFRs. I have talked to the region several times. Everybody wants to patch up our system to make it easier to access these NOTAMs and nothing seems to work. Until the FAA commits to spending the money to re-vamp the whole NOTAM System, we are going to continue to fight this problem. Keep doing the best you can and if you get in a jam over a TFR, call me. One word of advice, use the 866 numbers for briefings outside of your flight plan area. Most of the problems that we are having are FPLs trying to brief a pilot on a flight that originates a 1000 miles from home. Individual Recognition
San Angelo If anyone outside the Southwest region is interested in coming to SJT. Please let me know. San Angelo is the garden spot of west Texas and a wonderful place to raise kids or retire. They are also critically short staffed. Call me if you are interested. 2003 National Meeting in San Antonio Don't forget the NAATS annual membership meeting will be held in our region next year. It will be held at the historic St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio. Dates are April 21-25 with the general membership meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, April 23-24. This is during Fiesta in San Antonio so you don't want to miss this one. I would like NAATS- Southwest Region to host the best convention ever. Put in for leave now and beat the rush. If you would like to make hotel reservations, call: 1-866-850-3069. If you have any questions about anything that pertains to the convention, call me. WESTERN-PACIFIC REGION Mike Stafford, Director and Bob Stanco, Coordinator "We Are Not NATCA" I have heard this trite phrase many times over the years, as I am sure all of you have. Every time NATCA is successful in making gains in pay or on other issues, the pat answer as to why we don't have these successes is "We are not NATCA." While it's certainly true that we do not have the resources, numbers or money that their Union does; but that should not prevent us from being in the fight for some of the same gains they have made. There are two recent examples of this that really bother me: the NATCA PCS MOU, and the NATCA CIP MOU. These are both MOU's that put enormous amounts of money in the NATCA Controller's pocket, and I applaud NATCA at their successes with these MOU's. With the issues of expiring building leases looming, as well as the possibility of losing a significant portion of our bargaining unit to retirements, now is the time we need to start looking at our own MOU for PCS moves, as well as CIP for our bargaining unit. We live in the same high cost areas that NATCA Controllers do, and we deserve an agreement that compensates us for this as well. I have put both of these issues on the agenda for the next BOD meeting in July, and I will make a motion concerning the action we need to take to initiate bargaining on these items. We may not be successful in our negotiations, we may get a much smaller piece of the pie, but we certainly will get nothing by sitting on our hands on these issues. Concerning the pay negotiations: As a member of the team, I am very confident that we are extremely well prepared and will present a very convincing case. As long as the pay rules negotiations portion of the contract gets settled in time, we will present our case on July 31st. The current timetable (including rebuttals), will give us a decision on September 6th. I am personally looking forward to a 13.2% raise (plus ATRA) on that date. Time will tell, but we are all confident of a positive outcome. Wally has (and will continue) to keep you all informed of the progress of the Contract as well as the Pay Negotiations. Keep the faith. Solicitation of Volunteers Once again, I am soliciting volunteers for people to take a detail in FAA Headquarters for NAATS. These may be short term (1-3 months) or in the case of Liaison jobs, they would be at least a year. I have a very short list right now, so if you have volunteered in the past, rest assured you are still on it. You will be required to submit something in the way of a brief "resume," and to state what kind of detail you want, short or long term, etc. All else being equal, first priority will be given to those who have not had a detail, and those who are at a facility that doesn't have huge staffing problems. It's very difficult for me to justify to the Region pulling someone out for a detail when I am on the phone with them weekly begging for bodies. I will not pick someone unless that facility's FacRep supports it. SAN DIEGO AFSS NEWS Mike Puffer, FacRep The first half of the year has been rousing at SAN AFSS. In January Bob Thompson, our ATM Retired. We miss you Bob. Then on June 6, Howard Irwin, acting ATM and OM, retired, Good luck to both in their retirements. At the time of print the Union has been successful in getting a verbal interpretation that eliminates 2 Operational Errors. We are also filing a grievance on transferring ACD calls to avoid payment of OT. The facility continues to be short staffed as we have lost 1 specialist to a possible medical retirement. Management refuses to use overtime, and many days are worked below agreed upon minimum staffing. There is hope on the Horizon, our first academy graduate is due to us in July and we have 3 more going through the academy this year. We also are working a couple of IPP s so hopefully by the end of the year we will be at near normal numbers.( Provided we don't lose 3 people to retirement after the contract is ratified.) But if I trust Bill Peacock said the meeting there is no chance of that happening. If any one wants to IPP San Diego Let me know and I will assist you anyway possible. It never gets below 50 or above about 85 degrees. We have 3 community colleges ($11 per unit) and 3 major universities (SDSU, USD, and UCSD). If anyone has any other questions about the San Diego area email me at [email protected]. HAWTHORNE AFSS NEWS Eli Morrissy, HHR AFSS Congratulations Bobbi Scoville has been selected for the supervisor's slot at Riverside AFSS. She'll be heading east in November. Adios Bob Baron Come July 23rd, Hawthorne will be losing a bona fide legend. Bob "BB" Baron can not only claim a long career with the FAA in both the Center and Flight Service options, but has also spent over 20 years as an Indy Car official working the Indianapolis 500. That distinction made him a member of the Old Timers Club at the Indianapolis Raceway - a privilege given only to winners of the 500 or officials with 20 years or more. Bob has been regaling everyone tales of the customization of the brand speed boat, "Snoopy," waiting for him on the lake by the condominium he and his brother recently purchased. He says he's looking forward to spending time with his family, especially teaching his granddaughter to water ski. We're going to miss hearing Mr. Meek and Mild sing "Back Home Again in Indiana," but we wish him the best. Progress Currently, the Lone Developmental, a.k.a. Kevin Bender, is now slogging Preflight training. All those who have worked with his training are pleased with his workmanlike attitude and steady progress. Incoming David Graham's pick up date is July 28th, though no one has said when he'll actually arrive at the facility. His arrival on a hardship transfer from DCA will be welcome. Thanks go to all those, including FacRep Scott Morrissy and ATM Mike Lammes, who worked hard to make it all possible. Special kudos go to Donna Holmes (AEA RegDir) and Ron Consalvo (AEA RegCo) for smoothing the path out east. Mr. Morales and Ms. Davila are also hard at work at the Academy. Their eventual arrivals will also be most appreciated. New Armrests on the Way Sometimes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, even in these budget-starved times. Complaints about seriously worn out armrests on our chairs have borne fruit. Funding has been approved for replacements for all the chairs with worn or damaged armrests. It's nice to see that some pots still have money in them, even if the ones for things like operations, overtime and day-to-day equipment (pens, paper, etc) are empty. |