Members,

I would first like to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope you had an enjoyable season and were able to put your stress about the A-76 aside for at least a few days while you spent tme with family and friends.

I get calls and emails daily asking the same questions: How are the RIF negotiations going? , Will I have a job when this is over?, When will the announcement be made?

In this email, I will tell you what I know so far. I cant answer all of the questions because I dont have all of the answers. Lets start first with the announcement date. The latest I hear is the announcement is that it will be in late January or in the first two weeks of February. My opinion is that the announcement will not be made until after the Super Bowl because management is worried about a negative reaction by the bargaining unit no matter who wins the bid. Many of the BOD dont believe management is smart enough to think that way so take my opinion for what it is worth.

The next question, I will answer is on RIF negotiations. So far no agreement has been made. The agency wants our help to get them through the transition but so far has not made any concrete effort on career transition, job placement or buyouts. They continue to complain that they dont have the money. The NAATS team is doing its best and is floationg many innovative proposals during these sessions. I can tell you this, they WILL NOT come to an agreement unless the agency does what is morally and ethically right and provide soft landings for all of our employees. You made have heard rumors that the age waiver for ex military controllers has been signed. Neither Kate or Scott Malon has been notified that the waiver has been signed. However, Scott believes that even if RIF negotiations go to impasse, the waiver will happen because it is in the angencies best interest to do it. The last question I need to answer is Will you have a job when this is over depends on the agency doing the right thing during RIF negotiations. This union is committed to doing every thing it can to make sure you can continue your FAA career in some position. We are working hard to get committment to place every person who wants to continue an FAA career somewhere in the agency. Our efforts revolve around you the members and not the future of the union organization. We are trying to get as many people placed outside of the bargaining unit so that those who want to work in an MEO win will have a job. Our membership will decline greatly in any scenario.

Your facreps have been sent talking points for congress regarding the FAA announcement that they will hire 12500 controllers over the next 10 years. NAATS has responded with a press release talking about how at the same time the agency is going through a process which could result in the firing our over 2000 controllers in our bargaining unit. I am urging every bargaining unit member to take these points and call your congressinal rep and both Senators. You also need to follow this up with a letter. The last time we asked for congressional calls and letters, the response was less than impressive. Take some time to make the calls and write letters in an effort to save your job.

The last point I would like to make is we need to communicate better. Your facrep is an important part in this process. We send out every piece of information that we can. Ther are some things we cant share because we do not want to weaken our bargaining position. I dont like not being able to tell you everything but I will not put anything in writing that the agency or a vendor can use against us. We have monthly telcons with the facreps. Sometime, there may be something I will say on a telcon that I cant put in writing. Your facrep will brief you on those things if i tell them its okay to pass on verbally. We had our monthly telcon yesterday. Nothing really earth shattering was discussed but it is our way of sharing national, regional and local issues. I am dissapointed to say only Jeff Bittner of MIV and Bill Straube of DCA were present. Bill doesnt even take office until January 8th and Jeff returned from vacation and got on as soon as he could. I would hope that next month Every facrep will call in or designate a member to be available.

I am available for your questions by email at rjconsalvo@comcast.net or you can call me at home 856.270.9029 or on my cell at 609.221.3964.

In Unity,

Ron

Home 856.270.9029

Cell 609.221.3964

Email rjconsalvo@comcast.net