NATCA Bookshelf

THE DELEGATE NATCA'S BIENNIAL CONVENTION | APRIL 17-20, 2018 3 NATCA continues to advocate for all of the issues that are important to our members and critical to maintaining the safest, most efficient, most complex, and most diverse aviation system in the world. In doing so, we understand the weight of responsibility we hold on our shoulders as proud union members. Our Union's many NATCAvists take seriously their responsibility to stand up for and promote the general welfare of our members, and to be worthy stewards of the legacy of labor leaders that came before us. While we advocate on multiple fronts, we strive to remember our place in the progress of the labor movement, and work to push the movement forward. Our brothers and sisters fought tirelessly to establish the rights we enjoy today for our workforce. Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated 50 years ago this month, some even made the ultimate sacrifice, fighting for the belief that working Americans should be treated with respect, paid fair wages, and operate in safe working conditions. Dr. King fought for all workers' right to organize and believed that unions and fair labor practices were crucial to economic equality as the next step in the civil rights movement. He was in Memphis before his death on behalf of sanitation workers who were striking for the right to unionize after two of their co-workers were crushed to death by a malfunctioning truck. "We know that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters," Dr. King told the crowd in Memphis at Mason Temple in March 1968. "What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter, if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?" Meanwhile, during that time period, when racial tensions were at a peak – not to mention the prejudice women faced for joining the military at that time – Sandra Durbin paved the way for progress when she joined the Navy in 1966 and began her career in aviation, motivated by a desire to go to college. Durbin faced her circumstance with bravery and grit. On graduating in the top 10 percent of her class at 19, Durbin said, "They had said I was stupid, and they didn't understand why they even allowed women in that part of the service.I proved them wrong." Four years after Durbin graduated from Navy Air Traffic Control school, Eleanor Williams became the Federal Aviation Administration's first black female air traffic controller. NATCA members always have been and continue to be brothers and sisters in the fight for progress for all working people, and for fair and safe working conditions. Together, we are stronger. Together, our collective voice is louder. We share in the progress they helped secure and continue to fight for their legacy. On Thursday afternoon, NATCA Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert will lead a panel of key NATCA leaders working on a cross-section of our most important initiatives. Panelists will discuss how these initiatives work system-wide to push our membership to new heights and to promote the welfare of our members which, in turn, benefits the National Airspace System (NAS) as a whole. Promoting the General Welfare NATCA INITIATIVES: continued from page 1 continued on page 4 NATCA's primary purpose is to protect and "Promote the General Welfare" of our members. On day two, we will discuss many of the ways in which NATCA promotes your welfare through legislative work, staffing programs, professionalism, labor relations, safety and technology initiatives, collaboration, and more. We have dozens of classes and breakouts scheduled throughout the week that will highlight these topics and others and help you gain a more comprehensive understanding of the ways NATCA supports you and the membership, as well as provide strategies to tackle some of the day-to-day issues that you face. Finally, day three really sums up what Convention is all about, "To Form a More Perfect Union." For the last three decades, NATCA members have constantly worked to make NATCA a more perfect Union. Our work in Philadelphia this week and throughout the year should always be with that goal in mind. It takes every one of us contributing our ideas, hard work, time, and enthusiasm to push our Union forward. After convention business hours this week, we hope you'll join us at the evening events that will allow us to grow and strengthen the bonds of the NATCA family. The opening reception will take place at the National Constitution Center, where you can learn about the history of the United States' Constitution and participate in a scavenger hunt hosted by the Legislative Committee on the Convention App. On Wednesday, the NATCA Charitable Foundation will host a solidarity night at the Eastern State Penitentiary benefiting several local charities. You will all have a chance to spend time with your regions on Thursday night, and on Friday, we will host a truly special closing banquet at the historic Reading Terminal Market. Philadelphia is a city of strong unions and rich labor history. Unions have risen and fought here on the principles of fair wages, safe working conditions for every worker, and the fundamental right to bargain with a collective voice. As we discuss the issues facing NATCA today and learn from one another, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us in the fight for equality, progress, and workers' rights. This week will be a time to reflect on the great strides we have made as a country, but also as a Union, and the possibilities of where we can go from here. Thank you for joining us in the nation's birthplace this week to represent your facilities' membership, and to strengthen this great Union. In solidarity, Paul Rinaldi, President Patricia Gilbert, Executive Vice President Dean Iacopelli, Eastern Regional Vice President

• Cover