Update for the week ending 9-23-2006

Hello Local BUR

Things have been very busy since the last update.  We all geared up for the imposed work rules to start on 9/3/2006 and then, low and behold, we unfortunately had an OE on 9/2.  This was a serious deal and underscores how serious our job is.

As some of you may know, I filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against local management on 9/6/2006 for their unilateral termination of several local orders and all past practices without negotiation.

I filed a Union-level grievance on 9/21 for the removal of the radio from the cab.  While this may not seem like a big deal on the surface, I take my stewardship of our dues dollars quite serious and the Local is out most of the $142 for Sirius without even mentioning the $200 for the radio itself.  The agency really messed up on this one and we have a lot of history on our side in this matter.

I prepared 14 Employee grievances so that they may be filed today, 9/22.  13 of them deal with CIC pay and 1 deals with not being allowed to leave the facility.

I filed a Union grievance for failure to present a proposed schedule to the Local Union prior to publication.

I negotiated the following via e-mail:

“-----Original message-----
From: Diane.Mangels@faa.gov
Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:29:05 -0400
To: "Kevin Sherwood" ksherwood@natca.net
Subject: Stuff





Kevin - here's what we gotta be thinking about really soon and make some
decisions together on:

1.  Are we gonna bid RDO's and vacation AL using the same process as
before....??  I'm thinking we should, but Jan 1 - Dec 31...calendar
year....

2.  Establish time parameter for the next person on the bidding list to
make selection for RDO's and choose their vacation AL....what was before
stated:
               for RDO/AL bid 1 calendar day per CPC -  fine with me, what
are your thoughts?

3.  Wanna do OT the same way?  so far, a pinky's upstairs that it's now
automated, with no change.....your thoughts?  Yes/No list - I'll need a
current list from you.

Thanks,...DD

DD - Sorry this got lost in the shuffle.

1.  Yes
2.  Same as before.
3.  Yes - the same way.  It's OK with me if you solicit the Yes/No list.


JK”

So now the ball is in management’s court for leave and schedule . . . speaking of which, I have been offered the following:

“Hi Kevin,

Attached is the matrix for the new RDOs.  It's not pretty, but I did what I could to try to cover the days.  The numbers at the bottom indicate the total number of people available on each day, and remember I need 11 people to cover a normal day with 5 in the am, 5 in the pm, and a mid.  So... weekends will be 4 in the am, 4 in the pm, a 10 shift and a mid when MO and I are not here.  Also, there will be no vacation annual slot available on the weekends, and 1 slot per day on weekdays.  On the weekdays that MO and I are not here, the day will be staffed as the weekends are above.  I know this is tough, but there is no other way to do it.  There will be additional leave available when MO and I are here, but it will have to be requested after Jan.1 with SF-71s and spot requests.

With that said, we can start the bidding process at any time.  Tuesday/Wednesday and Thursday/Friday will have only one CPC on them, so they will have all of the MIDs.  If they are gone, then it will be a back to back MID situation for those around them.  I will remain on Friday/Saturday RDOs, and MO will be on Thursday/Friday RDOs (you'll see the pinky when you get here for MO's RDO change).

Let us know when you want to start the bidding process and get the word out to everyone.  I'll talk to you later if you have any questions.

Thanks,

WP”

Yes, WP, it is tough.  No annual slots on weekends . . .  I haven’t seen this in MY career!  I will be filing more grievances, I suppose.  We didn’t start this process, the agency did.

I have been instructed and empowered to continue to file on any and all violations of our legitimate Contract.  This doesn’t mean that I don’t like DD anymore but it’s something that I have to do to protect your rights.

The agency was ruled against by the FLRA in the Multi-unit case filed last year.  The agency implemented their own work rules on them last year just like they recently did to us.  This may well prove to be good news.  Speaking of good news, I hope you are finding the NWP-Members e-mails to be of use to you.

During the last pay period, I used 1 hour and 25 minutes of duty time to meet with management.

During the last pay period, I used 4 hours and 39 minutes of duty time to prepare for meetings with management and perform other representational duties.

During the last pay period, I also used 3 hours of duty time in response to the Operational Error on 9/2/2006.

During this pay period, I have used 2 hours and 33 minutes of duty time to prepare for meetings with management and perform other representational duties as well as 2 hours and 12 minutes to prepare grievances.

TJ attended Local Officer Training at the NATCA Academy in Washington, DC this past week.  He came back full of good information for our local, Thank you, TJ, for supporting our Local.  I might add that TJ had to use 16 hours of Annual for this purpose.  I have another grievance to file.

I met with Michael Tou (pronounced like tow), Policy Deputy from Congressman Brad Sherman’s office at Van Nuys ATCT on Thursday morning.  This meeting was arranged by Chris Burri, VNY Fac Rep.  I pushed our major issue to his ear: staffing.  It was a productive meeting and I have invited him to BUR on either 10/3 or 10/4, his choice.  I’ll let you know when.

I asked for, and we received clarification on what CICs can and cannot approve regarding earning/burning credit and burning AL.  This will continue to be a learning process and the agency will probably continue to play with their food right up to the point that they have to return to status quo ante and life will return to normal for us - I have a dream . . .

Take care, be safe and thanks for giving me the opportunity to represent you.

JK