NATCA President Rich Santa opened the 18th Biennial Convention in Houston on Dec. 9 - an abbreviated event focused solely on the business of the Union - by noting that even though the event was postponed multiple times over more than 18 months due to the pandemic, the membership could take pride in coming together and renewing NATCA’s solidarity. “You’re the strength. You’re the vision and you’re the voice of this Union,” Santa told the members. “There is power that you will wield over the next two days to make this Union better, to make us better. This is ours. Not self-serving. It’s for us and that’s something to be proud of. Thank you. Thank you all for attending and giving us the opportunity to do a business-only convention.” View remarks here.

Houston hosted the first biennial convention in the Southwest Region since 1992, when the Fourth Biennial Convention was held in San Antonio. Coincidentally, that was the same year Executive Vice President Andrew LeBovidge began his career in the FAA. “The theme of that convention was Pride-Purpose-Unity,” LeBovidge told convention attendees on Thursday, Dec. 9, during his remarks. “We gather this week with those three words in mind as we emerge cautiously from a pandemic that has been so tragic and devastating to our country and the world, especially in the aviation sector.” View remarks here.

The 18th Biennial Convention in Houston, held the first week of December 2021, was focused exclusively on the business of the Union, as carried out by the convention delegates. With professionalism and poise, our convention delegates carried out their duty to conduct our Union’s business and represent each of our nearly 16,000 brothers and sisters around the country. We were honored to be able to safely bring delegates together to discuss issues that are vital to our Union and make any changes to the NATCA Constitution that the convention body deemed necessary to ensure a strong future for our members and the National Airspace System. We’ve detailed all of the discussion and votes made by your delegates at the convention, including video footage and documentation of the business conducted on the convention floor.

Find the full list of resolutions here.

Watch the video of discussions here.

Last week, Congress voted to approve an increase in the federal debt borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion, an amount that Democratic leadership says will allow the government to pay its bills until early 2023. The votes in the House and Senate were largely along party lines and followed a months-long standoff between Democrats and Republicans. This increase in the debt limit means Congress does not need to revisit this issue until after the 2022 midterm election. If Congress had failed to increase or suspend the debt limit, the country would eventually be unable to meet its financial obligations, which would result in a wide range of unprecedented economic consequences, potentially including “save money” furloughs of federal employees. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden.

Over the course of several hours between Dec. 10-11, over 30 reported tornadoes touched down over areas of Arkansas, Mississippi, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. They traveled a staggering 250 miles and caused unimaginable amounts of damage and heartbreak to the surrounding areas. NATCA's Disaster Response Committee (DRC) has been following the storms and its destruction closely. Through the use of interactive ArcGIS Explorer maps. The DRC was able to determine not only which facilities were at risk, but which individual members were in the paths of the storms. The DRC has been in contact with most of the facilities within the affected regions. As of now, all of the NATCA brothers and sisters that have been successfully reached are counted among the fortunate who have escaped unharmed and with little to no damage. Read more.

Some 1,400 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) at the Kellogg Co. are taking a stand on the future of their workforce by going on strike at four different cereal plants. The strike follows Kellogg's demands, amid record profits, that workers give up quality health care, retirement benefits, and holiday and vacation pay, Anthony Shelton, president of BCTGM, told Reuters. Kellogg's workers are on strike against its exploitive two-tier employment system that does not offer temporary workers a path to become permanent workers with better benefits and pay. In addition, BCTGM members have been forced to work 16-hour overtime shifts and 7-day work weeks, sometimes up to 120 days straight.

Our NATCA family joins in solidarity with the BCTGM members standing up for fair treatment and humane, safe working conditions. Do not cross the picket line. Please boycott these Kellogg's products in support of our striking brothers and sisters as you shop for your breakfasts, holiday parties & other meals.

It's not too late yet to find that perfect holiday gift that carries a union label and is made in America. The AFL-CIO lists a wide range of gift ideas, from clothes to games to sports equipment and more, made by fellow union members.