Moving PASS forward.

It’s important for us all to reflect on some gains we’ve achieved since you elected me as Region IV Vice President, and why I want to continue serving the membership in that capacity.

As I began my role of the RVP, I surveyed our Region IV Leaders (our RBAs, HQ Division Reps, AVS Safety Rep, & the Region IV National Assistants) seeking input on what they needed, what their concerns were, and what tools they (and the Representatives in their areas) needed to be effective and efficient to serve our members and represent all our bargaining unit employees. I was fortunate that my vision for what I believed Region IV needed aligned with the survey results. So, empowered with that information I began to outfit our Region with the necessary elements to lay the foundation for our growth.

Inclusion:

On day one, I invited our HQ Division Reps to join our weekly RBA call with all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of an RBA without the title. Under my watch, together, the RBAs and the HQ Division Reps, along with the AVS National Safety Rep, MIDO National Contract Rep, the Region IV National Assistants, the AVS Collective Bargaining Team, and the RVP make up the Region IV Leadership Team. And I do believe we are a Team, even if the rhetoric of the current election cycle demonstrates otherwise.

Together, we’ve grown the membership in Region IV to record numbers and we continue to grow.

Communications:

Since taking office, I have provided consistent avenues of communication for membership. We increased the frequency, format, and method of communications. Firstly, to our members, we shared with you news from Region IV, increased direct communication via email, and invited you to a newly established monthly call to share information and provide you an opportunity to ask us questions. We included messages to the entire bargaining unit so they too were aware of what PASS is doing and how they are benefiting from the efforts and dues of our members.

We continue to engage active members on our invitations to Article 23 workgroups and committees. We continue to have input with the ASTARS workgroup on staffing. We provide meaningful feedback to the press and to Congress on issues impacting our workforce, including ensuring language beneficial to PASS members is incorporated into legislation. We have represented PASS on industry panels. We continue to play a vital role in the Voluntary Safety Reporting Program (VSRP) and our members have worked side-by-side with management to develop and implement corrective actions based on issues you, the workforce, has reported through that system.

Region IV responds regularly to requests from the National Office on topics relevant to our members and our workforce and we provide meaningful context and information to support the needs of PASS National.

Infrastructure:

I authorized our National staff to provide new email accounts and tools to our Region IV leaders to allow us to more easily and efficiently collaborate with each other, away from the prying eyes of government furnished equipment.

I created structure to our meeting schedule and our meetings internal to PASS and with the Agency. For each of those meetings, we have agreed upon meeting norms, we have an agenda, clearly identifying the topic(s) and what we need from each discussion. For our Agency meetings we have a dedicated PASS notetaker which allows us to focus on results and not rely on the Agency’s memory. This allows us to hold the Agency accountable to actions promised, decisions made, or commitments delayed.

We continue to regularly share information with our Region IV Leadership Team which they use and reference and should be sharing with the Representatives and members in their areas of responsibility.

We have included some automation in our Article 23 process, allowing members to express their interest in participating on certain workgroups by completing and submitting a simple web form. It may sound simple, but the efficiencies gained there allow us to free up resources for other projects.

Presence:

We continue to meet regularly with Agency leadership. Normally, we meet regularly with the Agency, I meet weekly 1-on-1 with AFX-1, we meet to share relevant information with our RBA/HQ Division Reps, and now meet frequently with AQS leadership as they have taken a new role in Agency decision-making and information sharing. I am pleased to report that we regularly have the opportunity to discuss issues relevant to your needs, and where we do hold the Agency accountable to their actions and decisions.

Through my leadership, I continue to be invited to participate in Town Halls and All-Hands meetings; beyond just what’s required in the statute or our CBA. We continue to develop those relationships and show that PASS is an important part of the AVS organization ensuring the Union is providing consistent reliable information in various forums relevant to the workforce. That progress must not be lost; it’s critical that there be a face of PASS representing our membership on those calls and at those meetings.

On the Horizon:

We have more to do, more improvements to make, and continued growth for PASS is on the horizon.

In my next term, in addition to ensuring our Representatives are trained on the new contract following ratification by the membership, I'd like to begin to focus on a few areas to continue to grow our Union. Together, we will continue to develop & mentor our representatives to ensure they have the resources necessary to resolve problems and effectively represent the employees in their offices.

In my next term, I plan to increase information sharing and transparency across Region IV using tools and technologies to more efficiently get relevant information to our Representatives and members. This will allow us as a Union to more effectively respond to the continued changes, policy updates, and organizational impacts resultant from Agency decisions.

I also plan to strengthen and improve our relationships in industry, including with our labor partners. I want to continue to promote PASS as a great Union to industry and to the aviation public and demonstrate the strength, expertise, and professionalism of our membership and our Union.

I continue to believe that “it’s about We. What’s best for We, the Union and We, the membership? I believe that together “We” can continue to grow Region IV and grow the PASS Union to be stronger than ever”.

I look forward to continuing to serve the membership and PASS and serving as your Region IV Vice President.