Yeah? I pushed NATCA leadership to see about getting ATC included in those that could be on a Basic Med medical - they wanted nothing to do with it. This was when that particular FAA reauthorization was in the works.
Justin Dailey for NATCA President
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And when is the public ever going to be on our side saying give raises. Right and you want to know a way to get the public interested. NATCA needs to grow a set and limit all this overtime that is cover for their bad hiring and this staffing problem.
Let peoples flight get delay on bluebird sky days. Let fights get canceled. Let services get curtailed….because we don’t have staffing. Don’t want to give us a pay raise that’s fine. We will work our 40 and be done. NATCA’s part to blame for this overtime abuse period.
AB19
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The public is almost never on the side of unions, even ones that can strike. You're right
HurryUpandWait
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In the past when we’ve done this the public blamed the controllers not the government. It is a tough position to be in for sure. I know it is a multi-faceted issue and I’m sure NATCA has a percentage of the blame.
We can’t forget that the public are the stakeholders. They are how we get paid and use our services. We banked on shutting down the system before and it back fired. One thing that can keep happening in our favor is airlines announced the curtail of their services due to staffing which puts the blame on FAA
Is that what the BU wants? Or do you only care what you want? I’m not defending management’s staffing shitshow, far from it, but no union is gonna say “no OT”. It’s a wage increase.
32andBelow
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When do you ever see rich on cnn advocating for us to the public?
HurryUpandWait
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There are other avenues to utilize than just interviews.
32andBelow
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Like what? What ones are they using to message to the public?
I think this is a bold faced lie. For the last many years “the ask” at NiW has failed. No stable funding, retired controller contract tower exemptions, etc etc. the people who work in this area might be dedicated and they might even work hard but they haven’t produced any results. Name a recent NiW win? Name any legislative win in the last 6 years? The hiring bill that enshrined a special CTI bid? The hiring bill that isn’t close to keeping up with what we need
Putting a natca logo on the stadium for the Washington nationals! Obviously, the super sophisticated subliminal advertising is working, based on how much better things get on a daily basis. Politicians are 10x more likely to support unions that advertise at sporting events and don’t you dare ask about who uses the tickets that come with such a sponsorship deal
CaptainObvious
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Especially when I worked 39/52 weeks on 6 days plus holdover. That’s after banging for a good number of OTs. Was a great “wage increase”
Limit mandatory OT, if on No list it
Means NO.
If on yes list then so be it leave it as is.
Turnpike14
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Is it January 1 2026?
This would be ideal. But management has the right to assign work. We couldn’t put it into the fatigue mitigation policy because it wouldn’t work for only half the BUEs. Management would never give it up easily. But yeah everyone in the BU would want a voluntary OT policy.
HurryUpandWait
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Well of course you immediately dismiss a W. I hope you know that there isn’t a straight forward solution or means to get there. It is complex with multiple huge government agencies involved. I think you are vastly overestimating the expectations of NATCA.
NATCA can’t legally strike. When an ATC union did strike a precedent was set and labor was changed forever. NATCA can get politicians to introduce the best bill you could ever imagine and there are still more hurdles to go through for it to get passed. It isn’t an easy task like you make it out to be. Once things get to a certain point it is out of NATCAs hands thanks to the ever growing big government we have.
The CTI bill is a win. I know you and others want the moon and want it now but it took a decades for the FAA to take a real interest in to changing their staffing system. They finally made action after years of shrugging their shoulders stating they made their hiring goal (when the issue was their hiring goal was too low). They announced a hiring goal of 1,800 for 2024. In 2022 it was just 1,020 so that is an upgrade of 800. The ball is finally moving in the right direction due to all of the political pressure (senate hearings), pressure from the press alerting the public of the status of the system (NYT,WSJ), and of course the close calls making headlines (which is an unfortunate cause). Along with the CTI bill they made huge strides in the FAA Reauthorization Bill to make much needed change to the FAA hiring and training structure and the finances needed.
The NTI does more good than bad. Yes there is some bad but it significantly reduced training times for facilities across the NAS.
The OJT premium increase. If you roll your eyes at it then give back the extra 10%.
and again the CBA is extended until 2026 so you expect the FAA to come to the table to negotiate over a contract that they already shook hands on? They could but chances are low.
A good discussion we should be having is the agenda of NATCA. It appears our current leadership looked at the current state of the system and chose to focus on fixing the staffing issue (CRWG, Hiring bills, OJTI) to fix the NAS staffing levels and OT. It appears whoever will be in charge should have most of the staffing fix actions in motion by the time they get to the negotiating table where they can focus on what we all want, PAY!
But that’s just my opinion and look on things with no inside knowledge. Just my own research and analysis 🤷♂️
32andBelow
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The current leadership should explain in detail what they are going to ask for and what their goals are
Completely agree. They need to stop doing shit behind everyone’s backs and be clear with what they are advocating for.
HurryUpandWait
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Yes, more transparency is always better.
However, I put all of that together by just being involved and doing research. And by being involved I mean just reading their emails, watching senate hearings or reading them, and reading the bills being pushed.
What they are advocating for is out in the open in front of all of us. I’ve never been in a position with that much responsibility but I would choose to be transparent for what it is worth
ManBearPig
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I also enjoy telling my adversary exactly what my end goal is, and what I am willing to settle for, prior to beginning negotiations. What could POSSIBLY go wrong with that strategy.
32andBelow
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What would go wrong with it? Was the auto union afraid to go on news 24/7 and say what they wanted? How can you garner any support if we don’t know what we are supporting.
