Brothers and Sisters, Guests to my
Site,
Let me introduce myself.
I am in my second term as the
Western Pacific Region/NATCA EWP Local President. In this capacity, I have represented the interests of all parties
in the Region, particularly in legislative activities with our state’s
Congressional representatives. No
other Region Local has had personal information-sharing and fact-finding visits
from Congressional leaders as we have had, owing to my correspondences.
I am in my third term as theNATCA Airports National Representative. As the National Airports
Representative, I have been very active in pursuing ARP goals. I consider it one of my most important
duties to improve understanding between the diverse occupations of ARP,
and to promote a modern professional model for union solidarity.
I was very active in lobbying against the Engineering Services
Efficiency Plan, and worked very closely with the legislative staffs of
numerous congressional leaders to insert wording into legislative proposals that
would protect our employees from forced relocation.
I have been very active in labor
relations disputes, both as ARP’s National Representative, and as EWP Local
president. This February, a grievance
process I had shepherded for over 2 years, that began as an unjust proposal for
termination, resulted in a full reversal of all penalties for one of our
AWP local employees.
I am proficient in all aspects of the grievance process. I am dedicated to defending the interests of
all the Bargaining Unit Employees (BUEs) in the Airports Organization, and in
the Western Pacific Region. I have a
proven track record, and a good reputation for working with management in a
reasonable fashion to resolve differences.
My thoughts on some issues! This is what I tell the legislators.
A lot has been happening so far
this year.
We have the War against
Collective Bargaining rights that began in Wisconsin, which truly threatens us
all.
We also have had more than our
share of troubles from the various incidents at our Control Towers.
The FAA is very much in the
news, and I would encourage you to visit our national NATCA web site during
these difficult times. We all are
representatives of NATCA to our friends and family. If you only read the media, you will never have the full story.
I am very active legislatively
representing our local interests with Congressional leaders from our Southern
California Districts.
Representatives Maxine Waters,
from the 35th District, and Laura Richardson, from the 37th
District, have been strong allies for
us on the Hill. They correspond with
me on a continuing basis.
When Representative Richardson
came and visited with us in May, she mentioned how concerned she was about
working conditions at the towers, and said she believes our organization should
not be thrown under the bus for the missteps of a few.
In June, I was invited by Xavier
Becerra, our Los Angeles Representative from the 31st Congressional
District, to participate in a round-table discussion with representatives from
other Unions, in a fact-finding session.
Xavier is the Vice-Chairman of
the Democratic Caucus of the US House of Representatives. I hope to have him come speak to us at one
of our monthly meetings as well.
The first subject he asked me about
was the issue of controllers sleeping
on the job.
The NATCA national web site has excellent coverage of
NATCA’s efforts in this matter. In the current crisis, the Union is working
just as hard as management to solve the problems at the control towers.
The 2009 contract with the
National Air Traffic Controllers Association required the agency to create a
national working group with the union to address controller fatigue. It has been a recognized problem for years.
There have been at least five recent
incidents of controllers falling asleep on the job while working overnight
shifts. In two cases, controllers have been fired.
In a sixth incident, a
controller working an overnight shift was suspended for watching a movie on a
portable DVD player while he was supposed to be monitoring air traffic.
The national workgroup
recommendations would allow sleep during breaks. The FAA held off on its plan, however, to allow sleep or rest by
controllers during their shifts when not working air traffic to allow the
working group more time to address the issue.
To quote Paul Renaldi, “The
recommendations are based on advice from NASA and the military and in line with
international air traffic control best practices,” he said in a statement.
Actions the FAA has taken recently to address the fatigue problem — adding a
second controller on overnight shifts at more than two dozen airports and
giving controllers an extra hour between work shifts — have “barely scratched
the surface,” he said.
NATCA continues to formally press the FAA to adopt all 12
recommendations of the work group.
Another big issue we have is
that of the war against our Public Service Unions.
The other Public Sector unions
are just now experiencing what FAA employees experienced under George
Bush. During the past administration,
our members suffered under imposed work rules. We fully support our Brothers and Sisters in labor movements
across the country.
While the Congress and the
various state legislatures have been focusing their ire primarily against state
employees, nobody in government service at any level should feel
comfortable. Representative Richardson
told us during her visit, that there are those in the Congress who would like
to go back retroactively even on our CSRS employees pension benefits.
In conversations with your
friends and family, I would stress the following facts:
* Unions put an extra set of eyes on
the situation
* Unions do police their own –
NATCA is a full partner in the tower investigations
* Management covers up mistakes –there needs to be a balance between labor and management, to protect the public trust
Union Collective Bargaining
Agreements (CBAs) are instruments of
protection. They aren’t all about money. They establish ground rules in it for negotiating disputes,
requirements that questions be answered within a given timeframe. They protect everyone.
Whistleblower protection, which
has made our skies safer, is greatly facilitated by Union protections and
having two oversight functions in the mix.
The tragedy I see in the
widespread misperception of unions, is people don't realize that unions are the
most effective watchdogs there are in keeping processes straight and ethical,
whether in the public or private sectors. Union members are closest to the
ground. CBAs, and good union action,
can keep situations and PEOPLE from been swept under the rug!! CBA rules help create case histories and
foundations that specialist attorneys and knowledge experts can pick up on to
"short cut" to the issues.
Unions are the most effective
watchdogs the public has in guarding against unethical conduct in either the
Public or Private Sectors. They are closest
to the action. It is they who are there
to mitigate and change circumstances before they get out of hand, and/or
protect whistleblowers when they do get out of hand.
The idiots in Wisconsin are
acting like heavy-handed bureaucrats.
They are hitting the most obvious political targets, just because they
can. They are lazy. They are looking for scapegoats, and quick
points they can score. They don't have
the knowledge and integrity to sit down and reason with all sectors of their
electorate, as worthy administrators do.
They are throwing the baby out with the wash.
I have been given a relatively
simple mechanism to update this informational panel on the web site, and will
update it from time to time. Please
contact me if there is any subject you feel should be shared or aired!!
In Solidarity,
Sam Samad,
President, NATCA EWP Local, Los
Angeles,
NATCA National Airports
Representative