MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU)
between the
NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION
and the
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
This Agreement is made between the National Air Traffic Controllers Association ("NATCA" or "the Union") and the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA" or "the Agency"), collectively known as "the Parties." This Agreement represents the complete understanding between the Parties at the national level concerning all issues regarding the solicitation, bidding, and selection process for ATC, TMC, and NOTAM bargaining unit employees to be considered for and assigned to special air traffic events (e.g. Sun N Fun©, Oshkosh AirVenture°, NASCAR° events, the Masters Golf Tournament) requiring additional personnel or the establishment of temporary towers or air traffic control procedures.
Section 1. No bargaining unit employee participating under the provisions of this agreement will be required to staff any FAA information booth at a Special Event.
Section 2. No employee will be required to attend any function, gathering or meeting outside of his or her assigned shift while not in a duty status.
Section 3. Any bargaining unit employee designated as a Team Leader will be paid a 10% premium for all hours worked, in addition to any other premium and/or differential to which they would be entitled.
Section 4. The Regional Vice President in whose region the special event is held will designate, in writing, an individual who will serve as the NATCA representative for the event. This representative shall be selected to serve as a participant in the event. This designation shall occur prior to the solicitation for other volunteers.
Section 5. The Agency shall ensure lodging is provided, as close to the event as practicable, for any NATCA Critical Incident Stress Management representative dispatched to a special event.
Section 6. Bargaining unit employees shall be provided access to the same lodging as management officials. The Agency agrees to request that hotels assign premium rooms on a percentage basis between Management Officials and NATCA represented bargaining unit employees attending the event. To facilitate such a request, the event manager and NATCA event representative shall each identify their designated individuals requesting premium rooms in priority order and provide said list to the servicing hotel.
Section 7. The Agency shall be responsible for transportation for the duration of the temporary duty at all special events.
Section 8. Any required attire items shall be provided by the Agency at no expense to the employee. The Agency shall supply chilled water, at readily available locations for all employees required to work outside.
Section 9. Any use of a government credit card shall be handled in accordance with the CBA and agency travel policy.
Section 10. For those special events where Article 44 of the CBA does not apply due to the need for multiple tiers of employee qualifications, the following procedures shall apply:
A.Bidding procedures:
1.Event volunteers' primary duties involve the direct separation of aircraft and coordination with aircraft. Any additional responsibilities will be described in the initial solicitation for the special event.
2.The Agency's solicitation shall include notification that a participant’s performance in special events will be evaluated and may have bearing on future participation.
3.Teams at OshKosh and Sun-N-Fun will normally consist of two (2) Veterans, one (1) Limited and (1) Rookie. The number of teams and their make up will be determined by the agency, and provided to the appropriate NATCA RVP or their designee prior to solicitation of bargaining unit volunteers. This shall include the number of bargaining unit volunteers being solicited for and identification of any non-bargaining unit participation on teams.
4.Solicitations for special events shall be posted service area wide. However, selections shall be made from the region in which the event is being hosted. Applicants from outside the region but within the service area shall only be selected in the event that an insufficient number of applicants are obtained from the host region. If there is still an insufficient number of applicants from the host region and service area in any specific position qualification listed in 10(C)2, then a solicitation shall be expanded to fill that specific position from controllers with similar special event experience in a second service area by seniority.
5.Solicitations shall be advertised for a minimum of twenty-one (21) days.
6.The Agency agrees to notify all bidders that their application(s) were received and indicate selection or non-selection.
B.The total number of times an individual can be selected for any position (all inclusive) at an individual special event is ten (10) unless there are no other qualified bidders. No more than five (5) instances of participation prior to April 6, 2010 will count towards the total.
C.Selections will be made in the following order: Veterans, Limiteds and then Rookies. Selections in each category shall be made by seniority amongst those in the same category with the following Agency determined qualifications
1.All applicants must meet all the following qualifications:
a)Must be a CPC and facility rated at present facility on the date of application.
b)Operationally current on Local and Ground positions, if the work will be performed in a tower, and possess a current medical certificate.
c)Applicants are permitted to bid on one position only.
2.Specific position qualifications:
a)Veteran Team Members:
Candidates must have three (3) or more years experience at the specific special event, two (2) of them within the last five (5) years. No more than fifty percent of the participants shall be Veterans.
b)Limited Experience Applicant:
Candidates with one (1) or two (2) years of experience at the specific special event within the last five (5) years.
c)Rookie Applicant:
Candidates with no experience at the specific event within the last five (5) years are eligible to bid.
d)Apprentice Applicant (applicable for Sun n Fun only from 2013 to 2016):
Candidates with no special event experience within the last five (5) years who have been CPC’s in a tower for more than 5 years but less than 10 years. Apprentice Applicants will be in addition to all other categories of applicants. The numbers of Apprentice Applicants slots, if any, will be collaboratively determined after all rookie selections are made. Selections for Apprentice Applicants shall be made by seniority from the remaining rookie applicants meeting the criteria described herein.
Section 11. The Agency agrees, if requested, to provide an employee with a written assessment of the employee's performance at the event within thirty (30) days of the end of the event. If the employee's performance is deemed unsatisfactory for future participation in the event, the agency shall provide the employee with a written assessment of the employee’s performance at the event within 30 days of the event. The employee will have the opportunity to reply to such assessment. Management will consider this reply in determining whether or not to change its assessment of the employee's performance at the special event. The designated representative shall be given a copy of the form being used prior to the event.
Section 12. The agency has determined employee performance at a special event shall not be used as supporting evidence for any performance assessment at the employee's facility of record.
Section 13. The agency has determined performance deficiencies identified at a special event shall not be used as a basis for disciplinary action.
Section 14. Solicitations, selections and the bid process for local special events or temporary towers within a district/facility area of consideration will be handled by the district/facility in accordance with the NATCA/FAA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and this MOU.
Section 15. The Agency agrees that it will not cancel leave, change an alternate work schedule, and/or assignments to the basic watch schedule of employees remaining at field facilities in order to accommodate another employee attending a special event.
Section 16. The Regional Vice President and Director of Operations for the Service Area in which the Special Event is held, or their designees, shall meet prior to solicitation for volunteers to collaborate on the development of the Special Events Watch Schedules for the Event to include the use of AWS if appropriate. Following the selections the Parties will meet for a post selection review. The Union representative will be on official time.
Section 17. The Controller of the Year award at Sun-N-Fun and OshKosh will be invited to attend the reciprocal event when it is next held (Sun-N-Fun to OshKosh and OshKosh to Sun-N-Fun). This will be a slot outside of the normal selections made for each event and in addition to those positions identified in section 10 A 3. The controller of the year award at each event shall be a controller in the Limited or Veteran category.
All controllers and members of management participating at the event shall be allowed 1 vote on the award. No one who has been a previous winner of the award will be on the ballot in the succeeding years. Ballots shall be jointly counted by a Management event representative and the NATCA event representative.
Section 18. This MOU shall remain in effect for the duration of the 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement between NATCA and the FAA
For the Union:
/s/ Phil Barbarello, 12-13-2012
/s/ Victor Santore, 12/13/12
For the Agency:
/s/ Shelly Mlakar, 12/13/12
/s/ Russ Buchanan, 12-14-12
Appendix 1 to Special Events MOU Dated 12-13-12
When should Article 44 be used instead of Section 10 of the MOU?
If multiple tiers of qualifications are not required as described in Section 10, then utilize Article 44 and select the most senior volunteers.
If Art 44 is utilized to staff for a smaller special event do the provisions of the MOU other than Section 10 still apply?
Yes, the MOU applies to all special events whether the staffing selections are derived from section 10 or by Article 44 of the CBA.
Will the Union designate a representative for the event if Article 44 is used to select participants?
Yes, a Union representative will always be designated by the Regional Vice President.
If Section 10 of the MOU is used to staff an event can solicitations be made from one facility or district if the event is smaller than Oshkosh, Masters or Sun ‘n Fun?
No, if solicitations are made using section 10 the area of consideration must be service area wide.
How should the 10% premium pay for special event Team Leaders be coded ?
Team Leaders are considered to be CICs for T&A purposes while on duty at the event.
What type of transportation is the Agency responsible for in section 7 of the MOU?
The intent was to ensure transportation at the event was provided by the Agency. If vans are not provided for transportation then the use of POVs is appropriate. One vehicle per team leader should be sufficient for event transportation.
What if a large number of volunteers bid from one facility?
The manager and the local facility representative should collaboratively determine how many employees can be released before soliciting for volunteers. Volunteers at each facility will be selected by seniority. The first to be released will be the senior volunteer in the Veteran category followed by Limited and then Rookie.
What is meant in 10 A 4 “If there is still an insufficient number of applicants from the host region and service area in any specific position qualification listed in 10(C)2, then a solicitation shall be expanded to fill that specific position from controllers with similar special event experience.
Solicitation for volunteers from the insufficient position who meet the qualifications for that position will be announced outside of the event service area and selections will be made from those who qualify by seniority.
Are Apprentice Applicant volunteers different than rookies?
Apprentice applicants are rookies in the fact that they have not attended the event before. These volunteers must meet the requirements listed in 10 C (2) d. These individuals are in addition to selections made to fill the normal team make-up listed in 10 A 3.
Can an applicant submit a bid if their medical certificate has been temporarily restricted?
Yes, provided the applicants medical certificate has not been withdrawn since the last exam. Restricted or temporarily suspended certificates still allow the applicant to submit a bid.
What is the cutoff for a current non-restricted medical applicant being assigned to work a special event?
The Agency may remove any applicant that does not possess a current non-restricted medical certificate no sooner than forty-five (45) days prior to the special event. Once an applicant has been removed for lack of a non-restricted medical certificate they will not be placed back on the working list for that special event.
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