May 2024 New England Bi-Monthly Regional Update #2
Personnel Update
It is with great pleasure that I announce that New England now has a second ARVP, PWM Facrep Steve Brown. Steve assumes this role having turned PWM into one of the premiere facilities in New England. Steve has gone through his tenure as facrep first by growing the activism within his building, creating the nation’s only 100% membership, 100% PAC facility, until MOB joined them just recently. Steve has spent his entire time as Facrep with his hand raised asking what he can do to help. Steve has been in charge regionally as our Hardship Rep, ran point for all potential shutdowns as well as our regional Covid lead. Steve will begin his run as ARVP assuming the roles Curt Fischer continues to do for the region before he will sit alongside Bryan Krampovitis in dispute resolution. Welcome to the team Steve, we all look forward to seeing where you can help bring this region and union in the future.
From Bryan Krampovitis, NATCA New England ARVP
Another NATCA in Washington (NiW) is in the books, and it was another successful week on Capitol Hill representing our union to all our members of Congress.
Two weeks ago, we had 20 members from the New England Region spend their RDOs and annual leave to meet with every Senate and House office in New England. This may have been the most timely NiW in years, as we were there while a vote in both the Senate and House was imminent for FAA Reauthorization.
Our members spent the first two days getting educated on why we support this round of FAA Reauthorization and how to make it clear to all our members of Congress how important this legislation is. This FAA Reauthorization includes the much-needed revamped CRWG staffing numbers critical to getting our system staffed with controllers once and for all. As I type this update, we are just days away from passing FAA Reauthorization with Congress on both sides agreeing to a final version of the bill. This is no doubt a product of our members’ hard work informing our members of Congress of its importance to us.
I am particularly happy about the number of first-timers attending this NiW. NiW was the very first large NATCA event I attended, and it is responsible for the high respect I give to this union’s legislative efforts. From the New England Region, we had 8 first-timers using their own personal time to come down and learn the ropes of how NATCA does a lobby week. This experience hopefully instilled the importance of NATCA’s legislative efforts into them and fired up a passion to bring back to their facilities. We will hear about their experiences later in this email. I hope they will stay engaged and continue their education on NATCA’s legislative arm to be a resource for our union in the future when we will need them again.
NATCA takes immense pride in celebrating the unwavering dedication and spirit of our members who excel in legislative activism. Since 2009, at the annual NATCA in Washington event, we have bestowed the prestigious National Legislative Activism Award to honor such commitment. Named after one of the most influential activists in NATCA’s history, this award annually recognizes an individual whose extraordinary efforts and fervent dedication to legislative activism embody the spirit of serving the Union.
This year, NATCA presented this award to our very own Andre Jean of A90!
Andre has served NATCA for 13 years in the legislative arena. Driven by a desire to give back, Andre began his legislative journey by asking,
Over the past year, Tim Roig (Y90) worked tirelessly to increase New England’s member activism and participation. At the first regional break out session of NATCA in Washington, New England RVP Mick Devine, New England NLC Representative Jamie Green, and New England NLC Alternate Nick Monahan presented Tim with the 2024 New England Legislative Award.
Congratulations Tim, your hard work across the region has not gone unnoticed!
NEW NiW Attendee Experiences
After each NATCA national event, we ask a few members who attended that event for the first time to share their experiences with our region. This year, we had 8 first-time attendees at NATCA in Washington and they learned what it takes to be effective NATCAvists. Read more about their experiences below.
This was my first NATCA in Washington, and my first event as the Rhode Island State coordinator. I truly did leave NiW this year feeling inspired after seeing so many of our NATCA brothers and sisters working hard to build valuable relationships on the Hill and emphasizing the need for a collaborative staffing crisis solution. Being in the company of NATCA members from other regions and facilities revealed to me just how uniquely brilliant, diverse, and unified our membership is. I look forward to continuing my legislative work on behalf of NATCA and encourage everyone to get involved.
– Bryan Pelkey, PVD
My first NATCA in Washington was such a unique experience. Going to Washington DC and talking with your state’s Senators and House Representatives is something not a lot of people do in their lifetime. I was nervous about my upcoming meetings, but after the first day of training and understanding our ask, I felt confident for the next day on Capitol Hill. Fortunately, all of Maine’s Senators and House Representatives were sympathetic to our message and wanted to support us. That showed when Senator Susan Collins reached out to Bangor for a follow up question on a local issue of theirs.
This being my first national NATCA event, it was also great to just meet and talk with other controllers from around the country. Seeing about 400 of us gather in Washington DC is powerful, and seeing the Senate pass the FAA Reauthorization Act shortly after shows that we had an influence. I would like to go to another NATCA in Washington event in the future!
– Preston Doak, PWM
This year was my first experience going to NiW, but I hope it is not my last. This event was impressive in a multiple ways, and does a great job showing that our union can work to get things done for its members. Seeing first hand the reputation that Natca has with the congressional offices that I was able to visit really made it clear that a lot of work is done behind the scenes every day that most members might not be able to see. Additionally as this is my first year in the FAA it was a great opportunity to meet people from my region and across the country and learn more about how both the union and other facilities operate. I would encourage everyone to go to NiW at least once and, if it interests you, keep going.
– Jonathan King, BED
Controlled Chaos Recap
From Jim Basford, NATCA New England Drug & Alcohol Rep, A90
Wow! First off, thank you. I will be honest with you, I have been very anxious the past few weeks as Tuesday the 7th grew near. What if no one joins? What if no one participates? What if, what if, what if…
Well, we had 42 different users including the team equaling 7.75% of the New England membership. That is an amazing turnout in my eyes; we have short staffing, six-day work weeks, and people on rotating shifts, and we still managed to get a sizeable group together to talk about issues we all face. A special thanks to Mike Napolitano from ZMP for joining us from the EAP committee his knowledge helped to answer some questions that came up.
The next step is to go over the feedback forms. Thank you to those who filled one out and reached out with feedback so far. We will be using some of that feedback to drive the topics for the next meeting in July. If you have ideas for topics or guest speakers feel free to email them to me at [email protected].
Second, an apology from me, I mentioned I had reached out to a child therapist friend of mine when a member mentioned struggling with those challenges. I remember firsthand how much my youngest was a challenge especially when I was training at A90. I promised that book list and I never got a chance to post it in the chat. So, here is a Google Document with all of the recommended books.
Lastly, if you’d like to review the detailed notes from our first iteration of Controlled Chaos, please contact your FacRep.
That’s it for now and I hope to see you in July!
Announcements and Information
This is your last chance to nominate them for the 2024 NATCA National Professionalism Award. A unique aspect of the nomination process is that all individuals nominated will receive a phone call from NATCA Professional Standards appreciating them, even if they are not the recipient of the award. Award recipients are selected from each service area, receive a trip to Communicating for Safety in Las Vegas, and are recognized for their professionalism during a CFS awards luncheon.
Nominations for members in good standing will be considered for the award. There is no limit to the amount of nominations for one individual. We recommend you encourage additional nominations from other peers, co-workers, and credible sources. When creating a nomination you will be asked to provide a brief work history for the individual, as well as provide examples, statements, and stories describing how the individual inspires, motivates, and demonstrates professionalism in the workplace.
The deadline for nominations is June 1, 2024.
Nominate your peers at www.natca.org/professionalismaward
Questions? Email [email protected]
