PATCO News & Updates

The Associated Press reported in the New York Times (3/22/2010) that the Senate voted to approve a bill that would speed the modernization of the nation’s antiquated air traffic control system by replacing radar with GPS technology. The $34.5 billion bill, which passed 93-0, requires key elements of the FAA’s NextGen program be in place as soon as 2014. The new system is expected to ease airport congestion and delays by allowing planes to take more direct routes and fly closer to each other. The bill also contains several safety measures developed in response to the 2009 crash of a regional airliner near Buffalo, which took 50 lives. Differences between the Senate legislation and a House-approved bill must be worked out.

For years, studies and reports have come out supporting the use of Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) and the need to implement them nationwide in the future. ASOS has been hotly debated over the years because it replaces human weather observers with automated systems at many airports across the United States.

Despite many studies that conclude there is little difference between observations made by human and those made by sensors, and regardless that the FAA has certified ASOS as a “sufficiently reliable, accurate weather system” (according to a U.S. DOT memorandum to the FAA dated 7-26-01), PATCO/AFSCME continues to dispute the implied lack of value in human observations.

At present, automated airport weather stations are still unable to report a variety of meteorological conditions, including:

Shallow or patchy fog Tornadoes
Volcanic eruptions Depth of new snowfall
Falling ash Total snow depth
In-cloud and cloud-to-cloud lightning Cloud type
Clouds that are not directly above the station Blowing dust
Clouds that are more than 12,000 feet above ground level Smoke
Multiple forms of precipitation falling at the same time

Precipitation that’s not in the form of rain or snow, such as hail, ice pellets and snow grains

Since many of these can pose dangers to aircraft, and to those in the aircraft, PATCO/ASFCME continues with the stance that nothing can exactly match human observations and it will continue fighting to keep our “human” weather observers in their seats!

Check Out Our

RESOURCE CENTER

In order to streamline certain sections of our web site and to avoid redundancy, we have reorganized some of the information that used to be on some of your web pages.

Please note that access to stuff like legislative information (ie., Acts, Statutes, Laws, etc.) information about the 2010 health care law, and other valuable resources can now be found by clicking on our new “Resource Center.”

So, if you want to know more about, say, the FMLA, or Whistleblower Protection, or what health care law provisions are currently in effect, or what corporate spin and governmental propaganda to watch out for, check it out.

This is the time of year when negotiations with several contractors is really cranking up. PATCO/AFSCME has already had several sessions with Midwest ATC on the tower side, CSR with new NAVY Weather Sites coming on board and Data Monitor Systems with Grissom AFB Ops. PATCO/AFSCME has also had preliminary talks with Condor Reliability. Other contractors will be contacted this month. All of our bargaining units have been very good getting me their requested issues and they will all be put on the table. You can trust that I will be watching the DOL Wage Determination closely over the next several months and as usual, you can expect an increase in Health and Welfare around the middle of June.

As a side note, in the past year or so, most of the contractors have been greatly concerned about the implementation of "Obamacare" and were making some comments about having to take the H & W cash payout to provide mandatory health care. Well, our position was that it's not going to happen and if they wanted to do that, they could just raise the wages to cover it. Now it appears that mandatory coverage is suffering a slow death and is no longer a concern. We don’t wish to argue the pros and cons of the health care proposal, we just want to insure that the membership doesn’t suffer any financial hardship. Hang in there!!! Its going to get better!!!

PATCO/AFSCME welcomes

Navy Weather Forecasters & Observers
employed by CSR, Inc..

Whiting, FL
Whidby, WA
Meridian, MS
Kingsville/Corpus Christi, TX
Pensacola, FL
Key West, FL
Mayport, FL
&

Fallon, NV

They now join Navy Jacksonville and Navy Lemoore in the PATCO/AFSCME ranks and soon will be covered under a great master CBA through which they all receive great benefits and raises.

PATCO/AFSCME’s National Coordinator Jerry Tuso is to be commended for all his hard work in this current run of successful campaigns!

And the guys at Navy Jacksonville say to the others, “Don’t wait any longer! Contact PATCO/ASFCME now and get the representation and benefits you deserve.”

The end of August saw some important changes to existing labor laws. The NLRB’s new “posting rule” is one, as discussed above. But perhaps more significantly, the NLRB issued a decision that paves the way for the generation of bargaining units by overruling a decision they had made ten years ago in Park Manor Care Center, 305 NLRB No. 872 (1991). Before, the types of permissible bargaining units in acute healthcare facilities were limited to eight appropriate units and smaller units, such as a unit of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) only, were deemed inappropriate. Furthermore, the NLRB had in the past determined that the same standard also applied to non-acute healthcare facilities.

But now that standard has been overturned in Specialty Healthcare, 357 NLRB No. 83 (2011). Now, under the new standard, so long as a union’s petitioned-for unit consists of a clearly identifiable group of employees, the Board will presume the unit is appropriate. If an employer argues that the unit should include additional employees, the employer must demonstrate that employees in a larger unit share an “overwhelming” community of interest with those in the petitioned-for unit. Applying this standard, the Board found that in this current case that the union’s petitioned-for unit consisting solely of CNAs was an appropriate unit.

Although the case that led the Board to this decision involved a nursing home, it is NOT limited to the healthcare industry and it fundamentally changes the standard for determining appropriate bargaining units applicable to ALL employers. So, unions in all industries are encouraged to organize the smallest units of employees possible as this is much easier and once it gains a foothold, it most certainly can have a domino effect.

Employers, meanwhile, will be forced either to accept the appropriateness of a “mini-unit” or take on the difficult and costly task of proving that other employees belong in the unit.

NATCA Lawsuit Dismissed!

After seventeen long years of litigation, the lawsuit that NATCA had filed against the FAA for the privatization of 115 low-level activity air traffic control towers back in 1993 has been dismissed.

NATCA originally filed suit in 1994 but after years of back and forth between district and appellate courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed just this past August that NATCA lacks standing to maintain its suit. It further affirmed that the FAA does have authority to contract for air traffic control services at relatively low activity towers.

The dismissal of this lawsuit is good news for contract tower controllers and protects their jobs in the private sector. Here at PATCO/AFSCME we protect the rights and jobs of our members. So join us today to make sure you stay safe in your jobs for years to come.

THIS JUST IN: Use it or lose it!! The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has just approved the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R.3094) which would, among other things, undo this new criteria in determining appropriate bargaining units. House majority leader, Eric Cantor is determined to bring the bill to the floor this winter. So, it would behoove organizers to start organizing these smaller units in case they lose the ability to yet again.