Convention Workshops

NATCA promotes members’ welfare through legislative work, staffing programs, professionalism, labor relations, safety and technology initiatives, collaboration, and more. NATCA has workshops scheduled throughout the Convention week that will highlight these topics and others and help members gain a more comprehensive understanding of the ways NATCA supports you and the membership, as well as provide strategies to tackle some of the day-to-day issues that members face.

Accidents Happen: What Do You Do Now?
Are you prepared? Find out what to do when there is an accident or significant incident at your facility. Understand the investigation process when something goes wrong and learn more about the support available to NATCA members.

ATSAP and Professional Standards
Attendees will be provided useful tools to make ATSAP and Professional Standards work for them. Attendees will gain a better understanding of how these programs can make their job easier, what their roles and responsibilities are, and how to answer questions from their membership.

Building a Stronger Local
This is an interactive workshop designed to enhance the strength of your local by emphasizing the importance of teamwork, education, and communication. Building a stronger local all starts with your local leadership and those members who step up to fill other important roles from legislative activist to safety rep and much more. Increasingly, each individual member plays a role that has a direct and profound impact on the strength of the entire local.

Collaboration: What Comes Next?
Why we are doing what we are doing…learn to control what you can control! Learn the six steps of an interest-based conversation and stop avoiding the difficult conversations that could lead to mutually beneficial outcomes.

Foundations of Professionalism
This workshop discusses each unique program within the Foundations of Professionalism and how they work together. Attendees will learn the importance of these programs to the system and how they can best benefit from them as professionals.

Funding the FAA
The FAA’s lack of a stable, predictable funding stream has resulted in many negative effects on NATCA’s members and the National Airspace System. This workshop will focus on the Congressional appropriations and authorization processes that fund and give direction to the FAA. Attendees will learn about the interplay between FAA authorization and its funding, and why the lack of regular order in the Congressional appropriations process and the lack of long-term authorization has created significant problems for the FAA.

Hate Politics? C’mon In
This workshop will address what NATCA’s legislative efforts have achieved in the past and what we are up against in the future. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how NATCA activism is approachable for everyone and a political background isn’t necessary to be successful.

How to Have a Difficult Conversation
People are not always equipped to communicate effectively when perspectives differ or when discussing a sensitive topic. That could be anything from training challenges, personal differences, or being faced with a last-minute problem. This workshop will cover common workplace conversations, but will also give you strategies and tools to get through tough conversations in your personal life. You will learn to have a more productive conversation with a better outcome and to create a path forward that both parties agree on.

How to Keep Your Local Out of Jail
Learn the correct ways to keep track of your local’s financial records and other documents, and improve your knowledge of NATCA, the Department of Labor, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules. Understand the importance of strict record keeping, consistent financial records for your local, and how to provide written documentation to meet financial guidelines. If you have any role dispersing or keeping the finances for your local, you can’t afford to make mistakes – it really could land you or someone else in jail. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn what you need to keep your local running smoothly and legally.

IFATCA/ITF
Learn more about international air traffic control, international transportation labor issues, and how NATCA fits in from IFATCA Americas Executive Vice President and NATCA President Emeritus John Carr and ITF Air Traffic Services Committee Chair and Prospect ATCOs Branch Chair Paul Winstanley.

Internal Organizing 101
This workshop is all about growing the Union at the local level. Attendees will gain a better understanding of what we all can do to increase awareness about all of the different bargaining units NATCA represents. Leave empowered to grow your local and achieve the status of a 100% membership facility.

NCEPT
The National Centralized ERR (employee requested reassignments) Process Team (NCEPT) implements the process for the selection, placement, and facility transition of air traffic controllers who submit their application to the facilities they desire. This workshop will feature a presentation covering where and how the NCEPT process started, what the team is doing today, and the direction for the future. Join for the presentation followed by Q&A with NATCA leaders and representatives.

NCF 101
This workshop provides a brief overview of the history of the NATCA Charitable Foundation (NCF) and the organization’s current structure. Attendees will learn about the symbiotic relationship between the charitable foundation, the Union itself, and its members. Make a difference by learning how to organize and participate in the wide range of charitable programs NCF sponsors by getting involved at the individual, local, regional, and national levels.

NVT: Traffic Count and Facility Pay Level
The National Validation Team will provide a refresher on all things involving traffic count procedures, Facility Pay Level review processes, and upcoming changes to the system. Attendees will leave with a much better understanding of traffic counting procedures, how your pay is affected, and what you can do at the facility to optimize your situation.

The Right Way to Conduct a Local Union Officer Election
This workshop is designed to provide attendees with a better understanding of how to conduct a union officer election at the local level and the resources NATCA has available to assist locals with that process. Attendees will gain knowledge of the federal laws and Dept. of Labor regulations governing local union officer elections, learn about the top five election problems that could invalidate an election, and have an opportunity to ask questions about their local union officer election process answered by members of the NATCA National Election Committee and the NATCA General Counsel’s staff.

Say Again: Effective Communication Techniques
Whether it’s a face-to-face conversation, a text, or a written email exchange, a meaningful message entails establishing a connection that leaves a powerful impression. Discover the different methods of communication and the best ways to use them. NATCA’s recent legacy has been our commitment to collaboration – working with others to find mutually beneficial solutions to the hardest problems facing the National Airspace System. Working well with others is impossible without effective communication. Join your NATCA brothers and sisters in this continuing push by learning to communicate effectively, no matter the circumstance.

Solidarity through Social Media
To reach NATCA members and other targeted audiences, you must go where they are: social media. This workshop will describe NATCA’s strategy for engaging its members and the public via social media, introduce the newest social initiatives for the Union, show you how to get started or be more successful in your current efforts, avoid pitfalls, and give you an opportunity to connect with NATCA’s senior social media associate to get all your questions answered – about Facebook, Twitter, Slack, YouTube, LinkedIN, Reddit, and more.

Substance Testing Procedures
As a NATCA representative, you have a duty and responsibility to know what to expect when substance testers come to your facility. Substance Testing is contained in Article 73 of the Slate Book CBA. This workshop will walk you through the substance testing process from beginning to end, including the representational rights all bargaining unit employees have. Join this class to gain the knowledge you need to know about contract provisions and what members can expect during this process.

Union Representation During Investigations and Formal Meetings
Know your rights, protect your members. NATCA reps will leave this workshop with a better understanding of their rights as union representatives during employee investigations and formal meetings.