A Call for Questions!

GulfCharlie

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Bryan Zilonis is coming to my facility next week to talk to people, what questions (there is no limit) would you the forum members like me to ask him? Naturally I will take all questions and post all responses without fear of censorship or easy questions. Facility specific questions though he might not have the answer to but I can ask him to continue to flesh out his ideas for improving the NCEPT process. Anyway lads, post them here :)
 
Is he for or against the possibility of negotiating a facility level cap for the NCEPT? I’d suggest a four level cap which would help the mid level facilities by forcing the lower level facility transfers to them prior to skipping the queue and going straight to the busier facilities without the progression in agency experience. (Example: the busiest facilities should consist of the most qualified/best controllers and be able to provide the absolute best of what this agency has to offer the flying public. Why is it that the NCEPT currently allows a person to transfer based on them being available versus being qualified? A person can transfer from CSG, a level four tower, (doing roughly 60 ops for the facility a day), bypass the person from DVT, a level eight tower, (doing roughly 1,050 ops for the facility a day), and go straight to ATL or ORD, level twelve facilities (doing roughly 2,500 ops for the facility a day)?
 
2) Is he for or against the possibility of limiting the amount of ERRs for a person to say three or five localized geographical areas? (Example: I want to transfer to South Florida so one of my areas is “South Florida” consisting of EYW, MIA, TMB, RSW, FXE, FLL, PBI, and ZMA)
 
3) Is he for or against having a penalty in place for people who are picked up from a facility thus blocking others from leaving and then turning their offered transfer down? I’d suggest one or two years from the date you denied the offer not from the panel thus ensuring you miss one or two full years of available transfers. (Example: I want out of CHA and I put in 30 ERRs. I get selected at SCT and only one person can leave the facility. The guy next in line would’ve gone to MEM, which was right behind SCT in the Facility Priority List. I decide Southern California is too expensive and decide to turn down my offer. Now, no one leaves that panel and there isn’t a guarantee I don’t do the same thing next panel and block a coworker from leaving by having a slightly higher facility and then turning it down.)
 
2) Is he for or against the possibility of limiting the amount of ERRs for a person to say three or five localized geographical areas? (Example: I want to transfer to South Florida so one of my areas is “South Florida” consisting of EYW, MIA, TMB, RSW, FXE, FLL, PBI, and ZMA)

I sincerely hope he, and any other union official involved in the NCEPT, opposes this idea. This is ridiculous. Penalize people who put in for a million places and turn their offer down, sure, but restricting them from putting in requests in the first place is just dumb. People should be given the benefit of the doubt that they're willing to move to facilities they put transfer requests in to. I personally have ERRs to a few facilities in different parts of the country right now, and your idea could potentially stop me from doing that.
 
I sincerely hope he, and any other union official involved in the NCEPT, opposes this idea. This is ridiculous. Penalize people who put in for a million places and turn their offer down, sure, but restricting them from putting in requests in the first place is just dumb. People should be given the benefit of the doubt that they're willing to move to facilities they put transfer requests in to. I personally have ERRs to a few facilities in different parts of the country right now, and your idea could potentially stop me from doing that.
Yet, when you receive an offer for a part of the country you may or may not have ever been to, but thought “it gets me out of xyz facility so I’ll bid it” and you turn it down, now you screwed over others who actually have an idea of where they’d want to transfer to in the agency. With your mindset, we should just have anyone willing to move have an automatic ERR into every facility in the NAS and just keep offering them what’s available until they make a selection that they’re happy with at that moment.
Hell, you probably oppose the idea of a facility cap as well because that might unnecessarily punish the people assigned lower level facilities from realizing their level 12 dream right out of a level 4/5 facility.
 
4) Is he for or against the idea of sending all training withdrawals right back to the facility they transferred from versus letting them play the NEST Lotto? (Example: I want out of SAT , level 9, so I bid PCT, level 12, because they’re high on the priority list and it gets me out of San Antonio, but I’m hoping for a facility in Florida that’s a 9 or lower by withdrawing from training.)
 
Yet, when you receive an offer for a part of the country you may or may not have ever been to, but thought “it gets me out of xyz facility so I’ll bid it” and you turn it down, now you screwed over others who actually have an idea of where they’d want to transfer to in the agency. With your mindset, we should just have anyone willing to move have an automatic ERR into every facility in the NAS and just keep offering them what’s available until they make a selection that they’re happy with at that moment.
Hell, you probably oppose the idea of a facility cap as well because that might unnecessarily punish the people assigned lower level facilities from realizing their level 12 dream right out of a level 4/5 facility.

Then after the person turns down the offer is when the penalization happens. Not before when you think that maybe the person from North Dakota will turn down the offer from Hawaii.
ERR in to any number of facilities should not be an issue because you have to think that maybe this person actually does want to try a new region out.
 
Lets keep this thread for questions and not debating the merits of them please.
 
Questions:
What will you do to change the culture of exclusion, intimidation, and retaliation? What will happen when representatives of NATCA are found to behaving in such ways?

You said you want the membership to be the ones negotiating and not have everything concentrated with the RVPs and a chosen few. How would negotiation teams for things like NCEPT be chosen?
 
Questions:
What will you do to change the culture of exclusion, intimidation, and retaliation? What will happen when representatives of NATCA are found to behaving in such ways?

You said you want the membership to be the ones negotiating and not have everything concentrated with the RVPs and a chosen few. How would negotiation teams for things like NCEPT be chosen?
Nicely worded.
 
Do you have any idea so on how those stuck at Cat 3 facilities can see a light at the end of the tunnel for getting out? Only worded better. I don't want to do 20 years of 6 day weeks. Besides the apparent current plan of just shoving OTS hires through the door.
 
What do you think about possibly dividing the centralized NCEPT process to assigned regions which still communicate but focus more on the necessity of their regions? Do you think this would assist in the gaps and delays of solving manning issues? If not, what could be improved upon in your opinion, if any, in order to solve some of the manning issues?
 
Question: Would it be a good idea for people to work a certain amount of time after checking out before being allowed to ERR?

Someone goes to a facility, several people work hard at getting them certified, then they bail ASAP, providing little benefit to the facility or the ones who trained them.

What if one had to work as a CPC for as long as it took them to check out or a minimum of 1.5 years, whichever is greater? It would motivate people to bust their butt to get checked out fast if they want to try to leave, and it would allow places that certify quickly to receive a known amount of service before losing someone.
 
Q: What ideas do you have to improve the NCEPT?

A: The problem that I see with NCEPT is the impact it has had on facilities. The process was taken on to improve upon a known problem: Employees getting bypassed for selection and the frequency in which two-year or more release dates ended with the employee never actually moving. While more people are moving, to improve upon the process we need to include the ideas and input from bargaining unit employees and activists actually working an operational schedule. It is time that we stop patting ourselves on the back for having put ourselves in a position to collaboratively help people move. It is time to research the negative impacts and decide whether our bargaining unit members want to see change.


Q: Are you for or against the possibility of limiting the amount of ERRs for a person to say three or five localized geographical areas?

A: As with the previous question, I am open to discussing anything. However with all changes, we must be mindful of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. We currently have no limitations on the number of ERRs an employee may file. Since it was expressly covered, and ratified by a majority of our bargaining unit, this type of change may or may not be possible during the life of our current CBA. We can certainly discuss it and determine how best to move forward if change is needed. I do believe it will have to be handled by some other means than restrictions.



Q: How would negotiation teams for things like NCEPT be chosen?

A: The National Executive Board will select negotiating teams and Activists, with a focus on ensuring diversity of positions and viewpoints when it comes to participation. We will carefully ensure that opposing viewpoints are represented. The current reality of get in line with the direction of the organization or get out will not continue.



Q: Do you have any idea on how those stuck at Cat 3 facilities can see a light at the end of the tunnel for getting out?

A: The only way to fix this problem is to deal with the overall question of whether we are appropriately staffed as a workforce. This is not something that will likely be fixed with an MOU. As a Union, we will continue to attack this on the Legislative front. We will however, sit down and evaluate whether Agreements like the NCEPT is helping or harming our overall battle with appropriate staffing. We need to have a better understanding of whether there has been negative impact, as we’ve seen that while we’ve created more movement, we simply shifted the ability of movement for others. We need to decide as a Union whether this is acceptable.


Q: What do you think about possibly dividing the centralized NCEPT process to assigned regions, which still communicate, but focus more on the necessity of their regions?

A: I participate in the Collaborative Resource Workgroup process. When Service Areas or legacy Regions handled the process, as HR still operated there, the process was broken beyond description. I do support the concept of a national process. If we are going to have one, it needs to be fair for us all. Most importantly, we need to evaluate whether the impact it has had is acceptable or not. That can only be accomplished with participation of the field facilities.



Q: Would it be a good idea for people to work a certain amount of time after checking out before being allowed to ERR?

A: The important thing to remember is that an ERR is a request. On a basic level, I do not support suppressing the ability for people to make requests. I would instead want to focus on the process, answering questions like, “Is the NCEPT accomplishing what it was intended to do?”, and “How has it impacted the workforce?” The membership needs to tell leadership what is best for them as a respected voice participating in their Union, rather than leadership telling you what is best for you and excluding your voice for disagreeing.


Q: Are you for or against the possibility of negotiating a facility level cap for the NCEPT?


A: I have no aversion to taking a position on a level cap for ERR upgrades. I was an off the street hire that was assigned to a level 12 facility, ZAU, as my first facility. It would be hypocritical of me to say that someone at a level 4 or 5 facility is less qualified than I was. I am open to having the discussion and coming to an understanding of how this may help or hurt our members. I will never make false promises. This topic, under the Law, is something that the Agency can choose to do without our involvement. Every topic is on the table for me to discuss. The purpose of your National Leadership is to serve you, not tell you what is best for you.





Q: Are you for or against having a penalty in place for people who are picked up from a facility thus blocking others from leaving and then turning their offered transfer down?

A: I do not support actions as described here, where employees use tactics to manipulate a process and prevent others from being able to transfer. A penalty would be difficult to impose without creating a new problem. That being said, it needs to be corrected.





Q: Are you for or against the idea of sending all training withdrawals right back to the facility they transferred from versus letting them play the NEST Lotto?


A: The concern behind this is the process — where a handful of people use the provisions of the priority release MOUs to get out of their facility. There is a perception and some accusations that employees have purposefully withdrawn from training to get a list of facilities from the NEST. This perception, whether real or perceived, has been harmful to our Union. It makes negotiating MOUs difficult as the Agency is leery to agree to joint fixes to our common problems. While this suggestion would solve the problem, the Agency is not open to the idea of limiting themselves to placement at a specific facility regardless of staffing. Under 5 USC, they do not have to agree to provisions such as this one. That being said, this problem needs to be fixed. I am open to whatever path fixes this loophole. The Executive Board is currently trying to fix this, and those discussions will continue should I be elected.





Q: What will you do to change the culture of exclusion, intimidation, and retaliation? What will happen when representatives of NATCA are found to be behaving in such ways?



A: The culture of exclusion, intimidation, and retaliation is very disappointing to me. The issue will be dealt with immediately upon taking office if I receive the honor to serve as your president. I learned at a very young age in NATCA the importance of diverse viewpoints and positions. My passion even when misdirected was accepted and fostered by my NATCA National Leadership. It has molded my own style as a Regional Vice President. My team is encouraged to challenge and disagree with me. It is important to remember that there are several different things happening when it comes to dealing with our current culture. Many members are afraid to lose their involvement in NATCA. I have encouraged anyone that has come to me with that concern to do what they feel they need to do to protect themselves. I only ask people to listen to my message and, if you relate to it, I would be honored to have your vote. Most importantly, this is a secret ballot. I have even encouraged some of my closest friends that they should bend to the pressure and write an endorsement if they feel that will protect their Union involvement. I knew what I was getting into with this election. My supporters did not in many cases. I expect members and activists to have a loyalty to NATCA, not any one individual. Someone who supports Paul because they feel that he is the better choice for NATCA should have no fear of losing their position, nor should individuals that felt it important to protect themselves from retaliation. For those activists that have behaved in a way to circumvent the democratic process, suppress access to information, or have outright behaved in a threatening manner to other members, we are going to sit down as an Executive Board with them and discuss where their loyalties and priorities are. There is no room for disrespectful or inappropriate behavior in NATCA. Every member deserves to be treated with respect and to be heard. I feel it important that we address this as an organization. We need to make it clear to those that support the culture of intimidation that NATCA will no longer tolerate that behavior.


Zilonis President Natca Election 2018 | Zilonis2018
 
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If your question was not answered, or you would like to ask for more, or clarification/detailed response, please let me know! Always feel free to reach out to the candidate!
 
Thank you very much for taking the time to type this up and ask these questions.

You guys submitted the questions, I just sent them, he typed them up. He will be here Tuesday so keep them coming, any questions between now and then, those answers I will actually type :)
 
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Any one else have questions? I suspect NCEPT will continue to dominate this but keep them coming, he arrives in an hour.
 
I don't think anyone else had this question, but if so, sorry.

Do you have any sort of idea or plan to some how give people who have gone to an undesirable facility, certified, put in their time, trained replacements etc... the opportunity to ERR to the more desirable locations before allowing academy grads, previous experience and NEST folks to go to those desirable places?

There has got to be a way to allow someone to ERR (who has earned it) the available slot before sending newbies to great places. At least somehow look and see if there are eligible ERRs into said facility before throwing them on an academy, previous experience, or NEST list.. before the final PPT comes out for a panel. Time and time again there have been desirable facilities that need people, they get filled with newbies, and THEN the final PPT comes out (a couple weeks prior to a panel, in which our facility can release), and the slots JUST got filled, and now they can't accept anyone anymore. It's frustrating seeing a brand new hire get the opportunity to go to a great first facility and meanwhile there are numerous CPCs that are stuck at 4's, 5's, and 6's in the middle of nowhere. Granted, I get that they can't wait to send people to those places forever, but at least make the conscious decision to allow an eligible ERR to go there first on a panel. Then, after the panel, continue to throw those facilities on lists.
 
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