April 13 Call with the FAA

Details

Published: April 13, 2020

PASS Sisters and Brothers:

I hope you were able to spend some time with family this weekend, although I know many of you were on the job.

On today’s call with the FAA, we discussed a concern that many of you have raised in relation to the additional sick leave made available in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

New FFCRA Leave: You would be allowed to use this new leave over traditional sick or annual leave to deal with issues brought about by the COVID-19 crisis, whether dealing with your own illness from coronavirus or for a family member, or if you have children at home because schools are closed and you need to supervise their education. While the Department of Labor has issued this guidance for federal employees the FAA is still working on how to code the new leave in CASTLE. They will provide that information to PASS as soon as they have it.

Training Cancellations: We received notice of more cancellations at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center. All Tech Ops and Air Traffic courses scheduled to start the weeks of May 4 and 11 have been cancelled. We asked today if the training materials could still be provided if your classes have been cancelled. The agency agreed to look into this matter to see if it can be accomplished.

Periodic Maintenance (PMs): Despite our best joint efforts to bring clarity to the issue of what maintenance is critical and what PMs can be deferred, there is still some confusion. Maintenance Alert NMA-20-043 added Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) back in as required maintenance, requiring technicians to go into a facility more often. We were told today that ‘daily’ means no less than three times per week, in accordance with the General Maintenance Handbook for NAS Facilities. Three California facilities were specifically addressed but if you are seeing the same in your facility, please report that to PASS.

They have promised to get back to us as soon as possible on this issue to reduce the risk exposure for those employees tasked with working on STARS.

Use of Stylus on Equipment: A handful of sites are reporting that the styluses received aren’t working on the NAS Information Display (NIDS) and Integrated Display System Replacement (IDSR) monitors. They are touch screens and may need the natural electricity present in ones’ fingers to operate properly. The agency is still gathering information, especially for sites that supplied their own styluses. Please let PASS know if this is a problem if you have been provided a stylus.

We are still working on concerns with receiving timely situation reports and have asked that those be provided in a timely manner for all PASS bargaining units, with personal identification removed.

While field reports from you have decreased in the last few days, please feel free to submit any concerns you see in your workplace, with your telework arrangements or inconsistent messaging from your frontline managers.

In Solidarity,

Mike Perrone

National President