I am back from vacation and finally kicking my campaign off. As I have shared, I work traffic. As far as I know there are only 2 candidates that currently do so. As such, I am at a disadvantage. I don’t travel around on the Union or Agency’s dime or time and disguise it as something else. Unfortunately, I will not be able to meet very many of you or go to many facilities.
I have written about my dissatisfaction with our current NEB. I believe our Union has gone in the wrong direction over the past decade, the horrendous work/life balance, lack of benefits, pay not keeping up as well as the disconnection from our leaders both on the Union and the Agency side. It has become clear over the past few months that our leadership is split, doesn’t work together, and even openly acknowledges this in campaign videos blaming each other. WE ARE TIRED of their antics and lack of doing anything tangible for US. The 5 Center debacle and the lack of the board being cohesive is what ultimately pushed me into deciding to run. Here is the email I sent to the NEB, as well as a few other correspondences from members in my facility with our NEB. While no one wrote anything back, there were several calls from NEB members. In one of the calls, I asked why our leadership would not seek a mediator to assist the board in figuring a way forward since clearly, they can’t do it on their own. As far as I am aware, besides saying it was a good idea, they never took action and just continued to use negative campaigning towards one another. THIS IS OUR LEADERS or lack thereof.
Before I get into what I intend to do, let me stress the importance of a few things. First, this election is critical in the aspect of ANY candidate that is currently serving at the national level brings you status quo or possible regression as well as dysfunction, they had the chance to bring change…. Regardless of what they spill, they sit in a role that has power to do something, and they have FAILED. Their failure to have done some of the things that they now promise you should identify exactly why you should NOT vote for them! If you choose to vote for them, that is YOU choosing to be satisfied with the very product that you currently have.
Second, we are going back in time. While we have done electronic balloting in the past, this election will be done via MAIL. It is vital the WE all take the time to complete these ballots and mail them in. The people running the show are banking on YOU not doing this and only having about 40-50% of the ballots turned in. With low voter turnout we stay status quo. You can bet everyone at the national level, the article 114 reps, many facreps, and those heavily involved have picked a traditional side, and will absolutely be turning in a ballot. They do not want outsiders coming in and shaking the tree. They do not want discomfort from what they are accustomed to, and to be honest they think WE, the members, are all stupid and are just going to keep voting them in. The people currently running our Union have been off the boards, out of the operation, and disconnected from the membership for YEARS!
Lastly, understand that no single person runs this Union or makes its policy, nor should they. The leaders of this Union should always be doing what’s best for US. Voting to replace one member of the board doesn’t necessarily change the direction, so vote for those that have your interest best in mind. Vote for those who are still somewhat connected with the WORKFORCE, who will help to change policy as this has to be done as a board. VOTE FOR CHANGE!
Now comes the question of if elected how I will work to improve our work conditions. This isn’t a quick easy answer, and not everything we do is wrong or bad. Through the years our Union has implemented and done some great things. Obviously, we would not want to discontinue some of our best practices, however, we appear to be failing in several areas.
1. Our pay is substandard across the board for being the safest and busiest NAS in the World.
2. Our Working Conditions, Home/Work Life Balance is ridiculous with the amount of stress that comes from the job.
3. The Amount of Overtime and Fatigue is bordering insane and unsafe across the board.
4. Though it has been in our constitution for a few decades now we have failed to work towards a reduced work week.
5. Our Agencies infrastructure and buildings in many spots are a half century old and even more have outlived its lifespan.
6. Our Union has become disconnected from the Average Dues paying member.
7. Our Union has not always been good stewards financially of our funds.
So here are things I would strive for as soon as I take office if elected to several months of holding office:
· I would engage the Board to identify the top 3 issues for the short, middle, and long term throughout our membership.
· I would propose that the board conduct an electronic membership survey to ensure that the membership lines up with the top 3 issues the board has identified for short, middle, and long-term issues.
· I would introduce proposals to the board to start media campaigns showing our high stress positions, fatigued workforce, and highlight our understaffing. The only way to force congress into acting on some of the very issues we have is by constituents and media painting the picture to make them act.
· Bring back picketing at the airports as we did in the mid 2000’s to complement the media efforts.
· Call for a vote within the board to either have a limited opener on the CBA or call for full negotiations, depending on what has been done up to that point from the previous administration when I take office.
· Additionally, set into action as a Board to start engaging the Agency to improve our work conditions, 32-hour work week, more premium pays, better facilities, etc.
· Work to introduce policy to require MOST of our article 114 representatives to go back to the facility, recertify, and remain current.
· Work to reorganize ATSAP to be more effective and held more accountable from our submitters in the system.
· I would set into motion a review on every program, policy, and budget item to see what can be cut, streamlined, or made improvements on.
· Work to get the Union back to traditional representative training away from Las Vegas and back into DC and/or in places throughout the country more accessible to our members.
· Work to reduce or cancel some consulting contracts that are unnecessary or have not provided substantial improvements for our membership.
· Propose policy to make NEB meetings accessible during open sessions for all our membership to attend or view online. (The NEB would still have the ability to go into closed or executive sessions for issues that are confidential in nature or associated with negotiations.)
I encourage you to continue to give me feedback through my survey link NATCA EVP Survey (surveymonkey.com), email me at Mike@redmond4evp.com, ask questions, etc. I am planning on releasing some videos, interviews and Q & A stuff in the coming weeks and months prior to ballots going out. As I said, my travel is limited but I am trying to get out as much as I can and will absolutely interact through email and phone conversations.