Local 109 - AMC - Professional Helicopter Pilots

Volume 14 Issue 1
Local 109 - AMC
By Steven Rush
Things continue to be quiet for the most part. The CBA negotiations are not going as quickly as I would like so we do not have a contract to present to the membership. I would like to thank the pilots for
their inquiries and support but I am not at liberty to start discussing
what has been on the table during negotiations. The current status of
negotiation is on hold at the moment. All the non monetary positions
have been TA’d, tentative agreement, while the financial side has been
problematic. All open items are being sent up to the OPEIU / AMC top
level managers to see about getting this contract finished as we in the
trenches are at the limits Mr. Todd has set.
Volume 14 Issue 1 - Spring 2014
Local 109
Page 1
President’s Message
Page 3
Local 102
Page 4
Local 107
Page 5
DAG 2007/2007a
Page 6
As I mentioned in my last quarterly report I am seeking pilots
who would like to become involved within their region as Union Stew- TTD News Release
ard. I had a good response but I am still looking for people from Regions 2, 3, 9 and 12. This program will be moving forward in the next PHPA History
couple of weeks as I will be contacting those volunteers. Proper training, leadership and motivation is the key to the successful operation of AMAS
any organization. More to come shortly.
NTSB Briefs
Page 8
Page 9
Page 11
Page 13
This week will be one filed with discussions with top Air MethPage 15
ods management and the development of the FQUA (Flight Operational Benefits
Quality Assurance) program. The accident rates within the HEMS industry is still too high. The Union and the Company are in the process
of developing a FDM program that will deliver critical data on how we
operate our aircraft not only on a daily basis but something to provide
clues and details in the event of an accident. The Union is very sensitive to the use of this data and protections for the pilot to be use for
safety only and not for punitive measures. The union has selected four PHPA International
pilots with excellent credentials to act as gatekeepers along with the
company FDM managers. There are no details at the moment as eve- 354 S Daleville Ave, Ste B
Daleville, AL 36322
rything is in the initial stages.
(Phone) 334-598-1031
Over the last year we continue to experience problems with
(e-mail) [email protected]
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Volume 14 Issue 1
pilots who feel they know how to run or execute the
program they are assigned to better than the managers or the GOM. This is a sure fire ways to attract
the wrong kind of attention. For those of you who
have a better way to run the business take your ideas to your boss, if they have merit they will be given
consideration but please do not go Lone Ranger and
just do things your way that may be contrary to common sense let alone the GOM. Not Pre-flighting, not
taking fuel samples, not using a check list or constantly being at odds with your med crew is not going to turn out well for those who choose that path.
Ask yourself, "Do I want to fly after one of these pilots who cannot work by the rules"? Not me.
The thought for the day: Summer is fast approaching, days getting longer, temps going up
along with the DA and the useful load will be going
down along with power available.
Steven Rush
Trustee 109
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Volume 14 Issue 1
From the President
By Steven Rush
Once again it is HAI Heli Expo time. I spent the articles as he lays out the facts so very well on what it
day wandering the venues looking at the newest and was then and how it is today. Still much work to be
greatest equipment and helicopters. Inevitably I was done.
drawn to the legacy side of the convention where I saw
a few white haired or in some cases little to no haired
gentlemen quietly getting up close to a B Model gunship and telling of learning to hover on a TH-55. It
seemed like it was only a moment ago.
Back to real time and issues of the day. I received an email this morning from a pilot that was upset about new FAA regulations that were set to be implemented this year and the list of the contributors to
policy did not include the PHPA. How could this be? He
was sorely disappointed that the PHPA would not take
more interest in such an important agenda.
What most helicopter line pilots don't realize
the time line required from start to finish on new legislation. I hate to say it but new regulations normally
comes from an accident or series of mishaps in which
people perish. Identify that there is a a problem, solicit
input from the major and minor players, build and analyze the data, propose solutions, vette the solutions for
unintended consequences, review, review and review
some more, vote and then enact. This is normally a
seven to ten year process.
Steven Rush
President PHPA
Chairman International PHPA
Cell 334-389-1337
In this particular instance the FAA was focused
on the high mortality rate coming from HEMS, Helicopter Emergency Medical Service in the first part of the
century. Both in the IFR and VFR operations of air ambulance aircraft were crashing and killing people at an
alarming rate, while somewhat better today they still
are. The FAA convened an Aviation Rules Committee,
ARC in 2003 through 2005 to investigate and recommend and develop solutions. At that time the PHPA
had just been formed with the three founding groups
of Locals 102, 107 and 108, that would be Ft Rucker,
Air Log and PHI. At the time PHPA had no HEMS operators in the group and the primary focus was on getting
pilot salaries up and putting good contracts in the
books on which to build for the future. However PHPA
President Butch Grafton did indeed send out a multi
page solicitation to all the different pilots groups and
organizations he could for their recommendations.
PHPA received zero returns, so much for the pilots
speaking up when asked back then.
Things have change dramatically since. I will
not get into the details to far but all you need to do is
look at your pay check and read Captain Jeff Smith's
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Volume 14 Issue 1
Local 102 - URS
I want to start this Mother Rucker Update off by
thanking our Canadian brothers and sisters for sharing
their ungodly cold winter weather with us down here on
the Gulf coast. In our neck of the woods, we normally
don’t see temperatures below freezing, much less down
into the teens (Fahrenheit scale). Life here this winter
has certainly been interesting. So #*!@$^&%() Thank
You Canucks!
Lay-offs here at Ft. Rucker are continuing but
with lower numbers than expected. The contractor, URS,
has been able to prune the numbers back with early retirements and other incentives. It appears that the final
numbers will be less than 30 total. That’s great unless
you are one of the ones that received a lay-off. So far I
believe that employees on lay-off are finding other work.
Local 102 had a lawsuit going against the U.S.
Army for instituting a weight limit of 250 lbs. for contract
IP’s only. If the IP weighed in at more than 250 lbs then
they were deemed ineligible to fly students and sent
home. The IP would have to re-weigh and be under the
250 lbs. weight limit to again be eligible to fly students.
The weight limit does not apply to other personnel on Ft.
Rucker that teach students. This weight limit even applies to simulator instructors. The Judge assigned the
case, dismissed it out without prejudice, because at the
time the lawsuit was filed no one employee had been
harmed financially. We are considering our options and
may re-file since we now have an employee suffering
financial harm.
Government officials have announced that the
training aircraft here at Ft. Rucker is changing. We are to
transitioning from the TH-67 (Bell 206B3) to the EC-145
known to the Army as the UH-72. The Army owns about
350 UH-72 aircraft with the National Guard having most
of them. As part of an Army Aviation re-structuring plan,
the OH-58D is retired, the National Guard will lose all of
the AH-64’s to the active component and some 200 plus
UH-72‘s will come to Ft. Rucker to be the new training
aircraft. Congress has already gotten involved in the AH64 piece, so it’s a wait and see thing here at Ft. Rucker
as to whether or not the transition to the UH-72 will occur. It is 3 times more expensive to operate and does
By Ron Arsenault
not lend itself very well to the primary trainer mission.
Next month, the Executive Board will receive a
briefing from the regional BC/BS agent concerning the
Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obama Care.
We are trying to get an idea what we may expect from
the Company during negotiations. Our negotiations start
first of July with the Company going through a recompete with the Army the following year.
We recently lost a member unexpectedly to natural causes. You never know when you or a loved one may
pass, so please keep wills and insurance policies up to
date. Make sure that the beneficiary listed on each policy is correct and the intended person will receive the
insurance proceeds. We have a program here that is
wonderful that I would like to share. It is called the Mutual Assistance Program and it works like this, every employee has the chance to opt into the program at a specified rate. No one employee would ever donate more than
they are signed up for. An example of this is when one of
our employees passed away after an illness his family
received a tax free check for over $80,000. He was
signed up at the maximum level of $200. Everyone participating in the program had a deduction made from
their check for the level that they elected to give up to
the maximum amount the deceased employee was
signed up for. For more information contact me. Fly safe
and arrive alive.
Ron Arsenault
President Local 102
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Volume 14 Issue 1
Local 107 - Bristow U. S.
By Ken Bruner
without pilots, you got nothing.
The Status of the Helicopter Industry in the Gulf of Mexico from the prospective of a Bristow Pilot
When I was asked to give an accounting of the
current situation at Local 107, the Bristow Group, nee
Air Logistics, pilots union, my response was "sure no
problem". And it wasn't a problem until I started thinking
about what to write. Essentially, nothing is going on
down here, things are quiet, almost benign. There is no
news or noise coming from the good old G.O.M.
So the question must be asked. We're talking
about helicopter pilots here, a lot of helicopter pilots,
they're not stirring the pot, not howling to the heavens
about anything and everything, not going out of their way
to piss off as many people as possible in one day, how
can that be? It's not natural, it's not the order of things,
and it’s downright bizarre.
In past years, we pilots let them get away with it.
I remember flying a 206B in the Gulf of Mexico and making less than the lowest paid person I flew. I drove a
clunker and worried how I was going to send my kids to
college so they wouldn't have to struggle to pay the bills
that came every month, month after month until the
clunker broke down and you had to decide who not to
pay that month. I didn't want that for my kids or any pilot’s kids. It sucks.
So we changed it. We changed it by convincing
the people that owned and managed our company that
no matter how important or rich or powerful they may be,
they could not do it without us, the revenue producers,
the ones that put the butts in the stands. Some where
along the way we discovered they don't allow stupid people to fly aircraft in the skies of the USA, so collectively, a
key word for helicopter pilots, collectively, we put our
heads together and produced a proposal to our benevolent powers that they could not refuse and voila! Quiet
and contentment down here in the good old G.O.M.
The answer to the long winded question above
is, the old guys are happy and the new guys don't know
any better. I'm an old guy, I've been flying these things
This article owes special thanks to the Office of
since 1969, and I don't know how much flight time I
Professional Employees International Union and the Prohave. I drive a new car, live in a nice place, have money
fessional Helicopter Pilots Association, without whom,
in the bank, am treated as a professional at work, and
none of this would have been possible.
off work, I have 2 full weeks off a month to do anything I
please, and if that's not enough, I have 28 days of vacation at my disposal to use or sell back to the Company at
$650 a day at the end of the year. In other words, the
last ten or so years of my career have been sweet as
puppy dog breath.
The young new guys are starting their careers at
a salary commensurate to what most new attorneys are
offered. They fly well maintained aircraft in an environment that is as safe as any in the industry. They are
young professionals that are treated with respect and
conduct themselves as such. Their future is bright indeed.
So what's going on down in the Gulf of Mexico?
Nothing much, other than 500 helicopters in the sky a
day making very little noise. Which raises another question; what brought on this unnatural state of affairs?
It’s pretty simple if you think about it. What are
the Yankees without baseball players, or the Celtics without basketball players, or the Saints without football
players? They are all a group of talented, dedicated unemployed people. Same thing at any aviation company,
Ken Bruner
Former President
Local 107
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Volume 14 Issue 1
DAG 2007 - CHL & ORNGE Global Air (RW)
In my last article, I touched on the transition
from our pilots’ previous employer into our new employer, Ornge. I mentioned the tumultuous period from our
transition until now, how the system has degraded, how
expertise left and how we lost respected colleagues in
the first fatal crash of a HEMS Helicopter in Canada. I
left off by saying “Where are we headed”
So, where are we headed???
Working diligently with our OPEIU Representatives, we have finally completed a new Collective Agreement for all rotor pilots plus agreements for our engineers and fixed wing colleagues. As you can imagine,
bargaining ranged from nonexistent to “testy” but we got
it done. As you read this, the new CBA will have been
signed on January 30th and it is in force; hopefully, stability and respect for our members will be a result.
By Bruce Wade
have increased from 3% pilot 3% employer to what will
effectively triple the overall value of our annual contributions. As an example, under our previous pension system, a pilot earning $100K per year would accumulate
$6,000 in pension contributions in a year. Under our
new pension, that same pilot would now have approximately $18,000 in contributions for the year; a three
fold increase with the majority of those contributions
coming from the employer.
First year salary improvements, in immediate
effect, where high single digits. No other bargaining unit
in our company was able to achieve such gains. One of
our fixed wing colleagues said he “was stunned to see
what we got”. We gained additional holidays, statutory
holidays, personal days, time off for union work, etc.
There are several areas of financial improvement
which I’m willing to share with any Bargaining Unit Chair
Gains for our rotor pilot members were tangible.
or Negotiation Team so they can also target these great
benefits for their membership. Even though no agreeWe have now set the de facto North American ment is perfect, our CBA represents a huge leap forward,
standard for pension plans. Our members are presently setting the standard in many areas that others can use
under a Defined Contribution Pension Plan until such in their negotiations.
time OPEIU / Ornge gains access to a fully funded Defined Benefit Pension Plan on our behalf. Under our new Ch Ch Ch Changes….
Defined Contribution Pension, the contribution levels
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Volume 14 Issue 1
I mentioned in my last article there would changes to the management structure of Ornge. Thankfully
these changes happened in mid January with the right
persons being removed from the operation. One particular removal at the senior level of aviation has been most
welcome and celebrated across our system. From this
point on, there’s hope we pilots and our employer can
come together in a cohesive partnership to improve our
overall Air Ambulance System.
In closing, there has been much done, is much
still to do and a future of improvement to look forward
to.
Who ever says to you “what’s the union done for
me??” …. tell them to read this Article….
PHPA / OPEIU is Pilots working for Pilots….. nuf said.
Now if we can find a way to improve the winter
weather into something more like the Bahamas….
Initiatives pushed from the union front
OPEIU member pilots are leading the charge to All the best,
hopefully implement a night vision goggles program into
our northern operating bases. Imagine a pitch black Bruce
room, put a blindfold on and put a bag over your
head…… that’s exactly what Flight Operations in Northern Ontario are like on all but the clearest of nights.
Member pilots who are true experts in NVG usage/
training are writing the training manuals, ground school
and re-currency requirements. With luck, their methods
will become the company standards.
iPads go flying…..
Member pilots on both the fixed wing and rotor
wing side have come together as one unit to move forward on aircraft iPad use for documents, manuals and
approach plates. Recently a business case was presented to Aviation Management and seemed to be well received, good job to those members! Time will tell if we
can move that technological direction.
Bruce Wade
Chair
DAG 2007A
Ornge Rotor Pilots
Base Safety Pilots…
Pushed from the union front, our Base
Safety Pilots will get some teeth. Since inception, Ornge has had a very ineffectual ‘safety
department’ with nobody in safety coming from
the pilot front at all but yet they can tell us how
we’re wrong….. As everyone reading this can
appreciate, unless you fly helicopters, you cannot relate to what’s going on at any given point
during a flight. Our Base Safety Pilots will have
greater responsibility so we can drive flight
safety initiatives from the front line where we
see issues and can understand how to fix them,
rather than “fixes” being top down driven without any practical sense.
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Volume 14 Issue 1
The Formation and Purpose of PHPA - Volume 2
In the first installment of this series, we touched on the
original purpose in the formation of PHPA. This edition
will delve a little deeper into where we came from and
who we are.
Who Needs a Helicopter Pilots Association?
At the conclusion of the Vietnam conflict, helicopter pilots found themselves in a situation that would
have looked very familiar to fixed wing pilots at the end
of World War 2. The military had trained over 40,000
helicopter pilots during the Vietnam era and released
them into a very underdeveloped civil market. While enterprising operators struggled to find good equipment to
employ, pilots were another matter altogether. One operator was widely quoted that he could find all the helicopter pilots he wanted in the gutters of Bourbon Street. Pay
scales and working conditions reflected the reality of
what was a buyers’ market.
Long after many European helicopter pilots had
organized to improve their lot, the United States still had
no organized pilot group representing the collective interests of their pilots outside of a small group of contract
pilots flying on an Army contract at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Those pilots chartered their organization in 1973
under the name The Professional Helicopter Pilots Association and for decades PHPA referred only to this single
group of pilots who conducted all of their business inhouse and were unaffiliated with any national labor union.
It was not until just before the turn of the century
that pilots from what was then Air Logistics (now Bristow
Group) contracted for the services of OPEIU (the Office
and Professional Employees International Union), an arm
of the AFL/CIO. With this affiliation, helicopter pilots began organizing under a professional labor union after
first approaching and being turned down by ALPA (Airline
Pilots Association).
By Jeff Smith
the OPEIU negotiators to improve the pay and working
conditions of pilots, the industry had seen a huge increase in capability in both the off-shore segment as well
as the HEMS area by the late 1990s’. In addition, pilot
training had been cut significantly in the 90s’ under the
Clinton administration and attrition was reducing the
availability of skilled pilots. The result was a doubling of
salaries for off-shore pilots over the next decade, a tide
that tended to lift all boats across the industry. Pilots
new to the industry after about 2005 really have no idea
how much things have changed for many pilots and the
stories you hear of the bad old days really are as bad as
they are made out to be.
PHPA Enters the Stage
As several other groups of pilots affiliated with
OPEIU (including the pilots from Fort Rucker who were in
need of some professional negotiating help after several
years of very poor contracts) a Council of individual Local
Unions was formed under the OPEIU charter with the
purpose of sharing information and working together on
common complaints. Bylaws were drafted and were
ready for signing by 2002, but how should the organization be known?
OPEIU Local 102 which represented the Fort
Rucker pilots suggested the name PHPA be given to the
Council for use by all represented helicopter pilots. Thus
the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association was recreated as an umbrella organization under the OPEIU Charter. It was decided early that the term PHPA would be
used in reference to all helicopter pilot matters, so
OPEIU Local 102, 107, 108 etc. were rebranded PHPA
Local 102, et all. The Council representing all of the locals was branded PHPA International in recognition of
the Canadian locals that were joining by that time.
The Council (PHPA International) is run by a President chosen by a Board of Directors made up of representatives chosen by the individual locals. Part of the
Timing is Everything
dues paid to each local goes to support the work perWithout question, a fortunate set of circumstanc- formed by the International on behalf of everyone and
es were developing around the time that OPEIU came this includes maintaining a very hard working paid secreinto the picture. Without detracting from the efforts of tary in a small office attached to the Fort Rucker PHPA
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Volume 14 Issue 1
Local 102 Union Hall in Daleville, Alabama. The PHPA copter Committee PHPA again has a representative on
Board of Directors meets at least once every year to re- this international committee.
view the performance of the organization, select officers,
and set priorities for the coming year.
Pay to Play
To be sure, none of this is free. While all commitWe Have an Organization - Now What?
tee work is done on an unpaid volunteer basis, there is a
In the first few years after the formation of PHPA, cost for transportation, accommodations, meals and
activity was focused on organizing and improving con- time lost from work. One of the disappointments we had
tracts. As indicated above, this effort went extremely well early in the IHST effort was an inability to participate bethough not without setbacks, most notably a failed labor yond the observer status even though we had the opporaction at PHI from which much was learned for the fu- tunity to join the committees. The schedules and locature.
tions of those committee meetings made it financially
There were a few attempts to work towards impossible for PHPA to physically send a representative.
some safety related issues including several poorly at- Until the organization has the resources of an ALPA, we
tended safety meetings, but the organization was not must remain selective on what activities we can afford to
mature enough or recognized enough to be effective in get actively involved in.
this effort. For the second half of the 2000 decade, progress on many fronts appeared to slow though PHPA was PHPA in 2013
slowly gaining name recognition around the industry.
So here we are at the end of 2013 and we have
This was accomplished by attending the IHST come a long way in 11 years. PHPA is recognized around
(International Helicopter Safety Team) symposiums that the industry both in North America and perhaps even
began in 2005, obtaining recognition from ALPA as the more so abroad, as an organization that is working to
recognized voice of North American helicopter pilots, improve the lives and working conditions for helicopter
and participating in IFALPA (International Federation of pilots. In the next installment, we will look closer at the
Airline Pilots Associations) Helicopter Committee meet- importance of our relationship with ALPA and IFALPA and
ings as invited observers.
how that bodes for the future.
By the end of the decade PHPA had been invited
to speak at a Congressional Hearing on HEMS Until then …..Fly Safe!
(Helicopter Emergency Medical Services) safety, had put
a helicopter pilot through the NTSB accident investigation course (who subsequently participated on an accident investigation), was being invited to set up a booth
at the annual HAI Heli-Expo, and was participating well
beyond the observer level on the IFALPA Helicopter Committee.
Indeed, in 2010 through the IFALPA Helicopter
Committee, we were asked to join an ICAO Working
Group with other industry representatives including operators, manufacturers and regulators (including the FAA)
with the goal of developing a document of best practices
to help reduce the alarming number of fatal HEMS acciJeff Smith
PHPA International Representative
dents. This work was completed on 2012 and has resultVice Chairman, IFALPA Helicopter Committee
ed in ICAO reworking the HEMS committee into a stand334-406-6957
ing Helicopter Sub-Group and through the IFALPA Heli10
Volume 14 Issue 1
Aeromedical Column—Hypertension and Flying
The Professional Helicopter Pilots Association
(PHPA) partnered with Aviation Medicine Advisory Service (formerly Virtual Flight Surgeons) in 2005 as the
association’s Aeromedical advisors, providing members
with access to a free yearly aeromedical consultation
with their staff and physicians. If comprehensive Aeromedical services are needed, PHPA members in good
standing receive a discount on AMAS services. This issue we will discuss the treatment of hypertension and
how it relates to your medical certification.
Good blood pressure control is one key way to
protect your health. Failure to prevent or treat hypertension can lead to kidney damage, vision problems and
cardiovascular issues leading to heart attacks or
strokes. Management of blood pressure is usually
straightforward. As a first step the typical lifestyle recommendations apply – eat a healthy diet low in salt, exercise and maintain a healthy weight. However even after
optimizing these factors some individuals will still require medication to keep their numbers down.
A medical certificate can be granted so long as
the blood pressure reading taken by the Aviation Medical
Examiner is at or below 155/95 mmHg. However this is
not the blood pressure your regular physician will be
happy with. Blood pressure categories per the American
Heart Association recommendations are listed below:
By: Jon M. Riccitello, M.D., M.P.H.
outcomes.
The doctors at AMAS will not have any input into
whether you should start blood pressure medication.
This is a decision between you and your treating primary
care physician that is based on your complete medical
history, a full physical exam and the average value of
several good blood pressure measurements. Should you
and your doctor decide drug therapy is appropriate,
there are many options to choose from.
The FAA approves every current first-line blood
pressure medication your doctor might prescribe for hypertension. These include diuretics that reduce the
amount of salt and fluid in the body, alpha, beta and calcium channel blockers that relax blood vessels, and ACEinhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers that adjust
how the kidneys regulate blood pressure. The only medications the FAA does not allow are centrally acting antihypertensives such as clonidine (Catapres). These were
the main drugs used back in the 1960’s and 1970’s to
treat hypertension, but are now rarely prescribed due to
their potential for side effects. Occasionally they are still
utilized a 3rd or 4th medication if the first few drugs used
fail to control the blood pressure adequately, but this is
quite rare.
There is no immediate reporting requirement
when starting blood pressure medicine. The airman’s
immediate responsibility is to ground him or herself per
FAR 61.53 until the medication’s effectiveness is verified. As we will see below, the Aviation Medical Examiner
(AME) will need to verify the treatment regimen is well
tolerated without side effects for at least two weeks before he can grant a new medical certificate. Therefore
FAR 61.53, which states the airman should ground
themselves if they have reason to believe they do not
qualify for the class of certificate they hold, would apply
until a two week ground test were successfully completed. If the pilot and their treating physician agree things
are going well at the end of the two weeks, the pilot can
Prehypertension can usually be managed with clear themselves back to flying. There is no need to imlifestyle changes. Drug therapy is initiated if lifestyle mediately notify the AME or the FAA. This applies to all
modifications fail to correct a diagnosis of Stage 1 hyper- classes of medical certificate.
tension, or immediately upon a finding of Stage 2 hyperThe medication must be reported on the medical
tension. The numbers applied to the above table should
application for the subsequent certificate renewal. The
be an average of several blood pressure measurements
old requirements to do a cholesterol panel, fasting blood
taken days apart while the individual is seated and resugar measurement and an ECG for submission to the
laxed. A hypertensive crisis is a medical emergency and
FAA along with three consecutive daily blood pressure
requires immediate intervention to lower the risk of
readings no longer apply. Nothing has to go forward to
stroke, heart attack, aortic dissection and other adverse
the FAA so long as the AME can verify the conditions of a
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Volume 14 Issue 1
new hypertension worksheet are met. That checklist
from the AME guide is reprinted below. So long as the
airman gets a summary from their treating doctor indicating the conditions of the worksheet are met, with details of the particular medication regimen, response to it
and verification of no adverse side effects, the renewal
appointment should go smoothly. Most AME’s will want
to see this type of summary once a year.
Jon M. Riccitello, MD, MPH
Staff Physician
About the Author:

Adapted from the 2014 guide for Aviation Medical Examiners, updated 1/15/14
Except in cases of hypertensive urgency, there is
generally some flexibility in when to start medication so
that the required ground test can be handled with minimal impact to one’s flight schedule. Starting therapy
does not impact the medical certification status to any
significant degree, and fear of ramifications should not
stop a pilot from getting on needed treatment. It is much
easier to maintain one’s medical with good control of
hypertension, even on medications, than it is to get a
waiver for any of the complications that can occur from
untreated high blood pressure. As always, a
healthy pilot is a safe pilot and a pilot whose
AME exams go smoothly. The physicians at
AMAS are standing by to handle inquiries
from PHPA members regarding this or any
other medical issue you may face.
Dr. Riccitello is a graduate of the University of
Colorado and the McGill Faculty of Medicine. He is
board certified in both Internal Medicine and Aerospace
Medicine after completing a combined residency program at the University of Texas Medical Branch where he
also received his Master's of Public Health degree. Prior
to his career in medicine, Dr. Riccitello served in the U.S.
Navy as an officer onboard the Ohio class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming. His background also includes experience as an ambulance Emergency Medical Technician and professional ski patroller. Dr. Riccitello is a licensed private pilot and certified
SCUBA divemaster.
URS
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Volume 14 Issue 1
NTSB Briefs
NTSB Identification: CEN14LA103
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, January 05, 2014 in West Delta 109, GM
Aircraft: BELL 430, registration: N430CT
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected
when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On January 5, 2014, about 1000 central standard time, a Bell 430 helicopter, N430CT, sustained substantial damage during landing when the tail rotor struck a handrail on the crane davit on the West Delta 109 oil platform located in the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The helicopter was owned and operated by
Chevron USA Inc., under the provisions of the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight. Visual
meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The helicopter departed the MP313 oil platform
about 0930, and was on a company visual flight rules flight plan.
NTSB Identification: WPR14CA041
14 CFR Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load
Accident occurred Saturday, November 02, 2013 in Superior, MT
Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/19/2013
Aircraft: BELL 206B, registration: N888DR
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot reported that during the last long-line load of the day moving bags of cedar mulch, while on approach to
the drop zone, he looked outside at the trees, and did not see any indication of wind; however, he felt a little shudder as the helicopter came out of translational lift. He again looked outside at the trees, and did not see any indication of wind, and continued his approach to the drop zone. Once over the drop zone, as he went to release the bag,
he noticed that the remote hook plug had come unplugged. He decided to pick the load back up and move the bag
over to the pile of mulch so he could land and manually unhook the bag. When he picked the bag off the ground,
the helicopter started to spin to the right, which he was unable to stop. He noticed that the collective was in the full
up position so he lowered it to stop the spinning; however, before he could arrest the spinning, the helicopter
struck a pile of mulch, and rolled onto its right side, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot
reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while maneuvering during a long-line operation.
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Volume 14 Issue 1
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Volume 14 Issue 1
Scholarships
OPEIU have three 2014 scholarships available for
OPEIU members and their families. The John Kelly Labor
Studies Scholarship, the Howard Coughlin Memorial
Scholarship, and the Romeo Corbeil/Gilles Beauregard
Summer Camp.
The deadline for the John Kelly and Howard
Coughlin Scholarships are March 31, 2014, and the Romeo Corbeil/Gilles Beauregard Summer Camp is May
15,2014.
Further information and applications can be obtained from the OPEIU website at www.opeiu.org. Click on
Member Resources/OPEIU Membership Benefits link.
Death and Dismemberment Insurance
$4,000 death benefit and;
$2,000 accidental death/dismemberment
THESE BENEFITS ARE BEING PROVIDED AT
NO ADDITIONAL COST TO PHPA MEMBERS.
All members in good standing of the PHPA with
twelve (12) or more consecutive months of membership
shall be covered for these benefits. A member’s good
standing and eligibility is forfeited if the member is more
than two (2) months in arrears in dues during the fourteen-month (14-month) period prior to death, exclusive
of the month of death.
To request a beneficiary enrollment form please
contact Sharon at [email protected] or 334-5981031. If you choose not to send the form, the benefit will
automatically be paid to the next-of-kin upon death.
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Volume 14 Issue 1
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Volume 14 Issue 1
Identity Theft Benefit
OPEIU is pleased to announce an improvement
to your identity theft protection benefit, providing you
with an even more proactive, comprehensive defense
against identity theft — all at no cost to you as an OPEIU
member.
OPEIU has contracted a new identity protection
solution, lnfoArmor’s PrivacyArmor, to protect you
against this $56 billion crime that impacted almost 13
million Americans last year. There has been no disruption in service during this transition to the new provider;
however, it is important that you register as soon as possible with InfoArmor to ensure you receive all benefits
available.
To activate the following benefits, register immediately at www.OPElUidProtect.com. You can also register by calling 800-789-2720. Don’t delay! Take advantage of this OPEIU benefit and register today.
If you do become a victim of identity fraud, InfoArmor’s trained experts will help you to restore your
identity as best as possible to what it was before the incident. This can save you hundreds of hours of your own
time, productivity and money.
Features of this benefit include:
Full-Service Privacy Advocate® Restoration
If you become a victim of identity fraud, InfoArmor’s Privacy Advocates are trained and certified
experts on identity theft and restoration. They
are on standby, ready to notify victims of fraudulent activity and act as a dedicated case manager from the first red-flag indicating a problem to
its full and complete resolution. Their training,
insight, and familiarity with specific cases equip
them to offer specific suggestions on preventative steps to deter future problems as well as to
offer their expertise to resolve identity issues.
compromised, sensitive information. Whether it
is personal identifying data or a medical insurance card, Internet Surveillance finds breached
data and alerts in real time. InfoArmor monitors
your information on black market forums, known
-compromised machines and servers, phishing
networks, exploited websites and malicious command and control networks to detect fraud
where thieves are buying and selling personal
information.
To get the most out of your Internet Surveillance,
register
for
the
program
at
www.OPElUidProtect.com and then login to your
account at www.myportal.infoarmor.com and
make sure your personal information is up to
date in your account section (such as Social Security numbers, names, addresses, emails and
date of birth) as well as to securely enter items
to be monitored like login credentials, and wallet
items such as credit cards and medical insurance cards.
Digital Identity Report
This interactive, easy-to-read report not only
summarizes what a deep Internet search uncovered, but also offers tangible value while InfoArmor monitors the Underground Economy.
Again, to activate your benefits, register immediately at
www.OPEltiidProtect.com. You can also register by calling 800-789-2720.
f you have any questions regarding your account
or difficulty registering, please contact one of InfoArmor’s Privacy Advocates by calling (800) 789-2720.
They are available 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST, Monday
through Friday, and can also be reached via email at
Internet Surveillance
[email protected]. You can also contact
InfoArmor’s Internet Surveillance continuously OPEIU directly at 877-737-1086.
monitors the Underground Economy to uncover
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Volume 14 Issue 1
Notice To Employees Subject to Union Security Clauses
This Notice is for all employees working in the
United States under an OPEIU contract containing a union security clause which requires, as a condition of employment, that an employee pay dues or fees to the Union. The obligation stated in this Notice is the only obligation under such clause regardless of the wording of
the clause. Individuals who are members pay dues,
while individuals who are nonmembers pay equivalent
fees. These dues or fees, which are authorized by law,
are your fair share of sustaining your Union’s broad
range of programs in support of you and your coworkers, but nonmembers may file objections to funding
expenditures that are not germane to the collective bargaining process and thereby be obligated to pay fees
representing only expenditures germane to the collective
bargaining process.
Only if you are not a member of the Union or if
you resign your membership, and in either case, file an
objection to the funding of expenditures that are not germane to the collective bargaining process, may you pay
fees representing only expenditures germane to the collective bargaining process. However, if you resign your
membership, the many rights and opportunities available to Union members will not be open to you. For example, if you resign your membership you will no longer be
able to:

Vote on the terms of your contract;

Participate in strike votes;

Participate in the development of contract
proposals;

Nominate, vote for, or serve as an officer of
your Local Union;

Nominate, vote for, or serve as a delegate to
the International Convention; and

Enjoy discounts and other benefits available
only to members, including eligibility for
OPEIU scholarships for you and your family.
Individuals who are employed by public employers in the states of New Jersey and Minnesota are covered by the demand and return system applicable to
them and are not covered by this procedure. Other individuals who elect to be nonmembers may object to funding expenditures which are not germane to the collective
bargaining process. Expenditures germane to the collective bargaining process (“chargeable” expenditures) represent that portion of the Union’s expenditures devoted
to collective bargaining, contract administration, grievances, arbitration, and other matters affecting wages,
hours and other conditions of employment. Examples of
“chargeable” expenditures include: the costs of negotiations with employers; contract administration expenses;
communication with employers in regard to work-related
issues; handling employees’ work-related problems
through the grievance and arbitration procedure; and
Union administration.
Examples of expenditures not germane to the
collective bargaining process (“non-chargeable” expenditures) include: expenses made for community services;
for political purposes; for certain affiliation fees; and for
benefits available only to members and their families.
The fee reduction will represent these non-chargeable
expenditures. The International Union’s J.B. Moss Voice
Of The Electorate fund (“VOTE”), is an independent, segregated fund that receives voluntary donations and contributes to political candidates who support the needs of
working men and women. No money received from dues
or fees goes to the VOTE fund. Accordingly, the VOTE
fund is not considered in the calculation of the percentage of expenditures that is spent on non-chargeable expenses.
Individuals who choose to file an objection will
receive a rebate of their fees equal to the percentage of
the Local Union’s expenditures that is spent on nonchargeable expenses. The Local Union’s expenditures
include those amounts it remits to the International Union as per capita payments. In determining the Local Union’s percentage of non-chargeable expenses, the percentage of non-chargeable expenses of the International
Union is applied only to the Local Union’s per capita payments to the International Union. The percentage of nonchargeable expenses of the International Union, which
will be effective starting with the month of January 2014,
and continuing until a new percentage is issued, is
12.53%. The major portion of a Local Union’s expenditures is for items other than per capita to the OPEIU.
Studies show that the final percentage of rebate for nonchargeable Local Union expenditures ranges between
0% and 8%.
Individuals who choose to file objections to funding expenditures that are not germane to the collective
bargaining process should file them in writing with the
Office and Professional Employees International Union,
80 Eighth Avenue, Suite 610, New York, NY 10011, Attention: Mary Mahoney, Secretary-Treasurer. The object18
Volume 14 Issue 1
tion must include the objector’s name, home address, Association. Such challenges may also be coordinated or
social security number, employer, job title, department, consolidated with challenges to other OPEIU Local Union
work location, local union number, and business tele- classifications or calculations.
phone number.
Challengers must notify Mary Mahoney, SecreIn order for an objection to be recognized at this tary-Treasurer, Office and Professional Employees Intertime, it must be postmarked during the month of June, national Union, 80 Eighth Avenue, Suite 610, New York,
except that new hires who choose not to join the union NY 10011, in writing, of any challenge he or she wishes
may also submit their objection postmarked within thirty to make through this arbitration procedure. Such notifi(30) days of being compelled to pay dues or fees to the cation must be received by the Secretary-Treasurer withUnion or within thirty (30) days of the new hire’s receipt in thirty (30) days of the challenger’s receipt of a letter
of a new employee letter from a Local Union, and except from the Local Union informing the challenger of the
that newly resigned members may also submit their ob- amount of the rebate, the basis for the calculation, and
jections postmarked within thirty (30) days from the re- the internal procedures for filing a challenge. That chalceipt by the Union of the resigning member’s letter of lenge should specify which classifications and/or calcuresignation. All objections will be effective on the first lations of the International Union and/or Local Union are
day of the month following the month in which the objec- being challenged.
tion was received by the Union.
The Unions shall bear the burden of justifying
In addition to any other avenue of relief available their classifications and calculations. If a hearing at
under the law, an objector may challenge the Interna- which the parties or witnesses may be present is held by
tional Union’s and/or the Local Union’s classification or the arbitrator, it will be held at a location most convencalculation of expenditures before a neutral arbitrator ient to the largest number of involved challengers. The
appointed by the American Arbitration Association pursu- cost of any arbitration proceedings will be paid for by the
ant to its Rules for Impartial Determination of Union Unions. However, a challenger will have to pay his or her
Fees. Any challenge a nonmember makes may be coor- own lost time and travel expenses, and the fees, costs,
dinated or consolidated with other challenges to the Lo- and expenses of any persons they involve in the procal Union or International Union determinations before a ceedings.
single arbitrator selected by the American Arbitration
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