TangoTangoTango
Member
- Messages
- 5
The need for increased pay and staffing is obvious, how we’re actually getting there is far less so. Full disclosure that clearly not all these items are in the purview of a contract negotiation (the “beyond” portion), but discussions of these items are still warranted and some should be advocated for even if they can’t be negotiated. I’ve compiled this list over the last few months – a couple ideas of my own, but mostly ones that have been discussed at my facility or repeated across different forums. I’m sure I’m missing plenty of quality ideas, so I’ll add others’ ideas (with credit) to keep a semi-up to date list, if there’s interest in that. I’m not touching any of the much needed internal NATCA/NEB reforms (aside from firing Rinaldi Consulting into the sun), but I’d gladly add that section too if there are suggestions and interest.
Here we go -
Financial
1. A base pay raise, either percentage or a dollar amount, to address the effects of inflation and lessened spending power of our salaries.
2. A tiered overtime system such as 1-50 hours annually 1.5x, 51-100 1.75x, 101-150 2x, etc.
3. Expansion of the Sunday differential into a weekend differential, giving 25% for Friday 1800-Saturday 2359 and Monday 0000-0600.
4. Tying the pension’s ‘high three’ and the current 5% TSP match to gross salary rather than base salary.
5. Increasing the June 1.6% contract-specified raise.
6. Lowering the four weeks annual leave threshold from 15 years to 10 years.
7. Increasing sick leave in year tiers, similar to annual leave.
8. Increase the pension percentage from years 21+ (1%) to match years 1-20 (1.3%)
9. Increase training premium to 25% and make it permanent.
10. Increase CIC premium from 10% to 20%.
11. Increased TSP matching percentage.
12. Raising the credit cap above 24 hours.
13. Increase the pay of the AG band so new trainees aren’t getting paid poverty wages in high COL areas until they certify on their first positions.
14. Increase sick leave payout at retirement to 100%.
15. Admin time/“Pete leave” given to controller workforce as annual or credit hours.
16. Increase CIP pool and restart it from scratch
17. Increase working an actual holiday from double time to 2.5-3x time. Holiday-in-lieu days stay double time.
18. Increased compensation for contract tower controllers.
Hiring/training/staffing
1. Return to the eastern/central/western placement choices. For lower level, more difficult to staff areas, there should actual effort in the form of recruitment drives at local state/community colleges and high schools.
2. If you put in a set number of years in your first facility, you can transfer to a facility within the region of your choosing.
3. Allow developmentals to swap facilities with other developmentals anytime before beginning D-side school.
4. For facilities with a large training backlog in high cost of living areas, provide better assistance to trainees. Whether that’s finding a way to get them a raise from AG quicker, providing a housing stipend, etc.
5. Push for the creation of an additional FAA Academy (eastern US makes most sense, imo) to help enable increased hiring numbers.
6. Increased funding for upkeep, improvement, and construction of physical facilities
7. Elimination of random drug testing, testing allowed for cause or suspicion.
8. Contract language that specifies “BUE cannot be forced to work on scheduled days off”
Everything else
1. Reduce the power of flight surgeons.
2. While there has some movement on controllers being able to tend to mental health issues without the fear of losing everything, there are still substantial barriers to this.
3. In the interest of transparency, advocate for whistleblower protections for controller workforce and eliminate the ban of controllers talking to the media
4. It is admittedly very low on the priority list now, but there needs to at least be initial discussions on a widely legalized substance that is illegal federally. If that federal classification changes, what if anything could it mean to NATCA members? For starters, its potentially positive impact on sleep length and quality, a core controller issue, is well documented.
Here we go -
Financial
1. A base pay raise, either percentage or a dollar amount, to address the effects of inflation and lessened spending power of our salaries.
2. A tiered overtime system such as 1-50 hours annually 1.5x, 51-100 1.75x, 101-150 2x, etc.
3. Expansion of the Sunday differential into a weekend differential, giving 25% for Friday 1800-Saturday 2359 and Monday 0000-0600.
4. Tying the pension’s ‘high three’ and the current 5% TSP match to gross salary rather than base salary.
5. Increasing the June 1.6% contract-specified raise.
6. Lowering the four weeks annual leave threshold from 15 years to 10 years.
7. Increasing sick leave in year tiers, similar to annual leave.
8. Increase the pension percentage from years 21+ (1%) to match years 1-20 (1.3%)
9. Increase training premium to 25% and make it permanent.
10. Increase CIC premium from 10% to 20%.
11. Increased TSP matching percentage.
12. Raising the credit cap above 24 hours.
13. Increase the pay of the AG band so new trainees aren’t getting paid poverty wages in high COL areas until they certify on their first positions.
14. Increase sick leave payout at retirement to 100%.
15. Admin time/“Pete leave” given to controller workforce as annual or credit hours.
16. Increase CIP pool and restart it from scratch
17. Increase working an actual holiday from double time to 2.5-3x time. Holiday-in-lieu days stay double time.
18. Increased compensation for contract tower controllers.
Hiring/training/staffing
1. Return to the eastern/central/western placement choices. For lower level, more difficult to staff areas, there should actual effort in the form of recruitment drives at local state/community colleges and high schools.
2. If you put in a set number of years in your first facility, you can transfer to a facility within the region of your choosing.
3. Allow developmentals to swap facilities with other developmentals anytime before beginning D-side school.
4. For facilities with a large training backlog in high cost of living areas, provide better assistance to trainees. Whether that’s finding a way to get them a raise from AG quicker, providing a housing stipend, etc.
5. Push for the creation of an additional FAA Academy (eastern US makes most sense, imo) to help enable increased hiring numbers.
6. Increased funding for upkeep, improvement, and construction of physical facilities
7. Elimination of random drug testing, testing allowed for cause or suspicion.
8. Contract language that specifies “BUE cannot be forced to work on scheduled days off”
Everything else
1. Reduce the power of flight surgeons.
2. While there has some movement on controllers being able to tend to mental health issues without the fear of losing everything, there are still substantial barriers to this.
3. In the interest of transparency, advocate for whistleblower protections for controller workforce and eliminate the ban of controllers talking to the media
4. It is admittedly very low on the priority list now, but there needs to at least be initial discussions on a widely legalized substance that is illegal federally. If that federal classification changes, what if anything could it mean to NATCA members? For starters, its potentially positive impact on sleep length and quality, a core controller issue, is well documented.
