The Four Winds Member News
Senate Committee Approves Waiver of Premium Pay Cap for IMETS
(November 4, 2021) The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee today approved legislation that would exempt Federal wildland firefighting personnel, including NWS Incident Meteorologists, from both the weekly and annual premium pay caps during 2022. The original version of the Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act applied only to employees of the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, but Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Alex Padilla
(D-CA) offered an amendment to extend that pay cap waiver to NWS IMETS at the request of NWSEO.
In offering her amendment, Senator Rosen explained why IMETS should be included in the bill:
“These individuals work closely with incident command teams in the field to interpret the weather to help predict fire severity and behavior and provide weather briefings to fire crews. As wildfires continue to worsen and wildfire season gets longer each year, it is more important now than ever to reduce any barriers for our firefighting workforce. . .”
“These meteorologists deserve to be included in the bill. They really work closely with these incident teams. As we know, wildfires do create their own weather on the ground and this saves lives, not just of the firefighters, people and structures, animals all around there. It helps them fight the fire. It helps them also evacuate if they need to. It’s very important that these meteorologists are with them. So I would urge a yes vote on our amendment.”
Read the full article and more news within the links below.
Release for NWS Employees
New CBA - It's Official!
NWSEO National Convention News
Announcing 2021 NWSEO Convention Training Workshops
(July 22, 2021) We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting Training Workshops at the 2021 NWSEO National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada! The convention will take place at Caesars Palace on October 18th & 19th, with the workshops held on the afternoon of the 18th. The Training Workshops are open to all conference attendees. Conference attendees will need to pre-register for these workshops (details coming soon) and will be allowed to attend two different workshops.
Workshop descriptions are below:
Workshop 1: NWS Grievances and Arbitrations: This workshop is designed for all stewards. This workshop will address the NWS Grievance and Arbitration process. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the grievance process, such as how to file a grievance; learn the differences between an employee grievance and a union grievance.
Workshop 2: NWS Local Office Teams/Negotiations: This workshop is designed for all NWS stewards. This workshop is a deep dive into Local Office Teams (LOTs). Attendees will learn techniques for holding effective LOT meetings and understanding the negotiation process at the local level. This workshop will provide you tools to help you be more effective in your negotiations.
Up-to-date news and information regarding the 2021 NWSEO National Convention will be posted on our website at https://nwseo.org/convention/.
Read the full article within the link below.
Media Relations
Welcome to the NWSEO Media Center
The goal of NWSEO Media Relations is to assist you with your media needs and provide answers to questions you may have. Here you will find press releases, weather images, and an archive of NWSEO news articles. If you need to interview an expert source on national or local level or would like someone to talk to your group regarding weather, this is the place to find weather specialists.
If you need additional information, please contact NWSEO Communications at mediarelations@nwseo.org or call 202-907-3036.
Learn why others have joined NWSEO and benefited from the work of our professional organization.
"Member Spotlights" and "Membership Matters" articles are
included in this section.
Why I Joined NWSEO - Member Testimonials
NWSEO Four Winds Member News, Convention & Media Relations Archives
Labor Management Forum
The Department of Commerce Labor Management Forum
National Academy of Public Administration Report for the NWS and U.S. Congress
(May 13, 2013) The National Academy of Public Administration published its report for the National Weather Service and U.S. Congress on its website today. Follow this link to view the full report and Project Results.
