Good comments above. I with a heavy heart will be voting FOR the ratification of the contract. Too many were left out in the arbitration but one step at a time I guess...

"Management, for its part, took a markedly narrower view of the issues in dispute; advocating from the outset that any future movement must be premised on the proposition that one takes the validity of the White Book as a starting point"

This is who we work for folks. They hate us, they devalue us, and they continue to rip off the American people with their full payraises and the benefit of not working for a living. The veteran controllers took it up the wazoo today..

I echo the above comments. Right now NATCA needs a very polished communicator and Ruth fits the bill. I am sorry but Paul Rinaldi is way lacking in this arena vs a Ruth Marlin. Paul is all union and a good man but we need an outgoing public leader and not just a smart behind the scenes person. Ruth and Trish will make a formidable team and lead NATCA to the next level.

I'd vote for you if I was at Seattle. You have done so much to get people motivated to challenge the folks who have done harm to the nation's air traffic controllers.

I make $4.50 an hour extra to run the watch for an up/down facility. At least prior to September 3,2006, I made $4.50 an hour extra. 2400 hours of CIC on the books since IWR's. The FLM/controller ratio was supposed to be 10-12 to 1. In a briefing sheet I saw with the SCI payouts for FLM's/OM's/ATM's, I believe that ratio has gone to about 4 to 1. What a waste of taxpayer money having a $60-100 an hour FLM's watching controllers doing the job that controllers can do as well or better for peanuts.

Sorry WV4Food but you are wrong. The observers at my airport make over 22.00 an hour or more than our controllers who are checked out through the tower. Last night, the observation showed light rain and in fact it was sky clear. We waited for the entire hour to see if they would catch it. NOPE. Don't worry, safety was NEVER compromised! As for the LAWRS test, yes it is hard but very doable for folks who can seperate tin with ease. My point with all of this is that the NWS meteorologists at the centers are much more needed than the 24/7 folks augmenting metars at tower controlled airports.

I agree with the clown statement. There is one area though where the FAA is absolutely wasting money in the meteorology area. Many, many facilities have ASOS. For the most part, ASOS is a godsend for airports, especially the smaller non-towered ones where real-time weather reporting was spotty or non-existant. Where the FAA is wasting money is paying folks 24 hours a day to AUGMENT the ASOS. I believe these augmented sites are airports WITH control towers. I have heard it costs about 300K a year to have 24/7/365 staffing per airport. From my experience, they provide NO service whatsoever. Usually if the tower controller sees an error in the ASOS observation(vsby/cloud bases/etc)and calls the observer to change it, the automated system corrects it before they do or no one answers the phone. Tower controllers also have the means to input tower vsby into the system without the augmentor.
I think if you eliminate the millions and millions spent on this farce and allocate the funds to saving the meteorologists who ACTUALLY provide a valuable service, it would send a message that someone in FAA management is getting the flick.

"THAT, folks, is why we’re so uptight about ERAM. There’s no backup. If the software dies, we’re screwed, blued, and tattooed"
When THAT day happens, I'll be glad I work in a tracon and not the center.

"At least we'll be able to keep collecting a paycheck many, many others have lost theirs. It would be a refreshing change if occasionally controllers realized how good a job they have, how easy it usually is"
Hey Bluecat19, you got a mouse in your pocket? What's this we shit? Refreshing change if controllers realized how EASY of a job we have. Put on a headset and plug in traffic dodger! You FLM's and OM's make me sick..

It really is time for the Lavey's and Laura Brown's of the FAA to go. They have to be held accountable for their actions or inactions. The Doucharmes,Days,Gibsons,Johnsons,Miniaces also need to be shown the door or politely "asked" to retire. They were willing participants in the harming of America's Air Traffic Control system and in the harming of America's Air Traffic Controllers.