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Local 591 Administrative Executive Board Member Russ Dittmer
March 2023 Activities
Quick synopsis:
Scheduled meetings, teleconferences & calls include:
Weekly Executive Board teleconference, Monthly EAP/MAP Coordinator call, Bi-weekly ASAP/Safety Call, Friday President’s Call, Monthly Executive Board Meeting, Line Mtc & GSE Process Standards Meeting, Present at TOLS on behalf of Local 591, Seniority Protest meetings, Quarterly Membership Meetings
Projects:
Assisting Pres. Schaible with campaigns and legislative efforts, Tracking JCBA questions/answers, Compiling Executive Committee interpretation of JCBA language, Grievance tracking and management system updates and improvements, Tracking Art 33.B Presidential grievance evidence, Podcasts prep and recording.
Details:
March was a pretty busy travel month for me. I spent the majority of my time travelling to DFW for various meetings with both the company and with our Members. I also travelled to the Southeast and Northeast & Central Regions for quarterly Membership Meetings. In between, much time was spent drafting documents and reviewing information for the Local, and providing answers for Members to the various questions which normally arise during the work-day.
President Schaible and I worked on a new podcast explaining how the Holiday Off process should work. After discussions with Members and reps around the system we discovered that some locations and work-groups were not in compliance with how the new JCBA M&R and MLS Article 22.A.3 Holiday Off process should work. Unlike in the past, where many stations had some variation of a ‘point system’ which attempted to level out who was awarded a holiday off, the new JCBA no longer permits that. Now, in the JCBA, each holiday is treated as a ‘new’ holiday, with no reference back to any previous holidays for whether you worked or did not work, were awarded holiday off or were not awarded the holiday off. In the JCBA, Classification Seniority is the deciding factor. Please take the time to listen to the podcast. There is an attached flowchart as well for a visual guide to the process.
OSHA Hearing tests and required documents is another topic that came up recently. OSHA Standard 1910.95, in Subpart G, covers the regulatory requirements for hearing conservation programs. While many find the process to be a nuisance, the reality is, this is a critical piece of regulation to protect you, protect your hearing, and to properly document any hearing loss as a result of your exposure to noise in the workplace. The critical part of this is that any deterioration in hearing which can be attributed to noise in the workplace means that you can make a worker’s compensation claim for hearing loss that results from excessive noise level at work. Since States have different Workers Compensation laws, they also have different processes on how and when you need to file those claims. If you suspect, or have seen from the annual tests, hearing loss and want to know what your options are, please contact one of our EAP/Benefits Coordinators.
On the subject to OSHA hearing tests, it was discovered that the primary medical contractor the company uses to administer the required hearing tests was incorrectly demanding that our Members sign general medical release forms and/or general consent to treat forms. This is NOT acceptable. The ONLY form you are required to sign for your OSHA Hearing Conservation test is the specific consent for treatment for hearing testing form which you can find here. Please remember, you may be required to sign that specific consent (NOT A GENERAL CONSENT) form. We want to again thank our Members for being vigilant and bringing this issue to our attention so that we could get it resolved, again. You may want to print this form prior to your hearing test and bring it with you, in case the medical provider mistakenly attempts to use the general forms instead of the correct form. If they do, please contact your Local 591 Representative as soon as possible.
I was informed that I need to once again remind our FAA licensed Members who may not have a current copy of their A&P airmen certificate, or the information on that certificate may no longer be current, or that portions of the certificate are unreadable. FAA regulation (14 CFR 65.89) requires that you, as a licensed FAA Airman, keep your certificate in the immediate area where you normally exercise the privileges of that certificate. In addition, the FAA requires that the information on that certificate be both current and legible. This means an outdated address, or some of the information on that certificate having been obscured or rubbed off is a CFR compliance issue. If any of the information on your certificate is out of date, or the certificate has some unreadable information on it, the easiest way to solve this is to go to www.faa.gov, and then follow the Licenses & Certificates option for Airmen Certification, where you can electronically update your information. While you’re not required to obtain a replacement certificate as long as the information is up to date with the FAA database, if you do, the fee for a new certificate is $2.00. If you prefer to not use the electronic means, there is a form available (AC 8060-55) to submit via USPS mail. If you prefer to not use the internet to request a replacement certificate, there is USPS form (AC 8060-56) for that as well.
Fraternally
Russ Dittmer
Local 591 Administrative E-Board Member
russ.dittmer@local591.com
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