Sorry for the delay in this report. As many of you know I had two retinal surgeries over the last couple of weeks so I was a little behind on the reports. As a personal note if you are seeing black spots that do not move or bright flashes please see an eye doctor sooner rather than later. If they catch this early it can be repaired with lasers, if not it is a big deal with a long recovery time.
So far it appears we have several new people coming to IAD as of the 6th of October. Right now that number looks to be much less than the number needed here. When I get firm numbers I will pass them on.
In talking to Bob Luciano today he brought up a very good point regarding the upcoming elections. Bob pointed out that the President appoints members to the NMB. This is especially important to us as negotiations are right around the bend. Bob is writing an article for the Local 210 newsletter on this matter. Please remember that Senator McCain has previously said airline workers were overpaid, and one of his big issues was "Baseball Style Arbitration". He was the sponsoring member on the Airline Labor Dispute Act, S.1327 in 2002. If Senator McCain wins we can expect more of the same and potentially worse decisions from the Board.
As for the C-19 restroom two weeks ago Jim Dymond informed me that the only things remaining to be done were a couple of urinals and a sink to be repaired. When I questioned him on the dividers he said it had not been budgeted. I asked him to please look at the restroom and see if he found this acceptable. Jim told me late last week he had looked at the facility and got approval for the dividers.
I met with Michael Carr from L3 Communications last week. L3 is currently in charge of the C-130 project in Hagerstown MD. He has many positions that need filled there. Also he has jobs around the country and the world. If anyone is interested I will give you his e-mail.
In MM the vacancy grievance has become a moot point since the company did decide to close the hangar in BOS, and layoffs have begun in that station. There was a first step filed for two RDO bypasses and those were upheld. For this grievance the member did everything possible to correct this before it became an issue, but the company failed to correct the problem before it became a bypass situation. The member also kept a detailed paper trail which helped greatly. I am working on a survey regarding overtime issues such as charging for opportunities and averaging hours. This will be sent to the MM group first. If I do not have your personal e-mail it will go to corporate webmail.
In GQ the ten hour day is in the process of expansion after the trial period was successful. The management team is working on how this will look in regards to the schedule. There was a question regarding the daily OT sheet. According to Greg Pinelli the hours are available for everyone to see in his office. Another issue was whether the company had changed the policy of Doctors notes regarding absences. After researching this no change had been implemented.
In PV the ten hour day is being considered but I have no details at this point.
For BAL I called Sean Ryan District 142 AGC to report your issue with USAir mechanics. Tom also brought this to the attention of the Safety Committee on the national conference call.
The first step fill out grievance form is now permanently posted on the blog in the links section.
That's all for now,
Bob
