So in case you haven't heard, we finished contract negotiations at the end of last week. The agency now has two weeks to send us a final draft with all the grammar / typo / formatting corrections. We then get to review it to approve that it meets what was agreed upon. Once we confirm that, we will start the ratification process. I will be traveling to each of the bases and talking about what's in the contract and all of the changes (and there are significant number of them). We will then have a vote from all of the members in good standing. The majority will ratify or choose not to ratify. Every vote matters cuz you can win or lose by one vote. In the next week or so I will put out a schedule for traveling to all of the bases. If you are off duty I behoove you to choose to come in for the briefing. This is how you get your say on what's going on in the department and the Union. The vote is ratified by the majority of the number of people who bother to vote. If you choose not to vote you don't count at all. Don't let a handful of people decide your fate. Non-members do not get to vote as this is an internal Union process.

I would like to thank the negotiating team members for all of their hard work. Brent McAllister, Sam Hayes, and Dusty Miller. I would additionally like to thank all those who participated in the contract preparation to help draft the proposals prior to contract negotiations. A lot of people gave up a lot of off days, nights and weekends to ensure that we put our best foot forward for these negotiations. I look forward to seeing you all and sharing everything that's in the contract.