Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

214
2000
Against the Wind
12
When Marlin took her place on the National
Executive Board (and began posting weekly updates
on the Web, too), she joined Carol Branaman, the
newly elected Northwest Mountain Region vice
president. It was the first time in NATCA’s history
that women served on
the board.
While Branaman
is happy to see that rep-
resentation in the union’s
leadership, she says it was
not the reason she campaigned
for the position.
“There’s a point at which
an organization has to
decide that it’s a union—
principally, to make it a
union rather than a loosely
knit group of regions,
all of which were going
their own way.”
Branaman had
been a union member
most of her adult life.
The FAA hired her at
Daytona Beach Tower/TRACON in 1975 and she
later became a PATCO facility rep. As one of the
first women in the tower, she encountered unique,
and often petty, issues.
Sep. Sep.
The FLRA certifies NATCA as the exclusive bargaining representative
for 532 FAA workers in the Aircraft Certification
Service.
“
There’s a point at which an
organization has to decide
that it’s a union—principally,
to make it a union rather
than a loosely knit group of
regions, all of which were
going their own way.
The manager’s daughter accompanied Branaman
to lunch on her first day at work because, the
young woman explained, her father didn’t know what
to do with his new female employee. When Branaman
issued clearances to pilots, she often endured long silences
before hearing the
incredulous response, “Is
that a girl talking?”
Branaman trans-
— Northwest Mountain Region
VP Carol Branaman
17
ferred to Denver Centennial
Tower in May
1981 after resolving
not to strike, a decision
prompted by her perception
that the impending
walkout was more about
the leadership than the
membership. Though
not involved in organizing
NATCA, she joined
the union after it was
certified and ultimately
became the facility rep.
She also served on several
projects, including FAA
reform and the 1998 contract team, before running
for the National Executive Board in 2000.
Her campaign manager, Denver Center facility
rep Chris Monaldi, remembers the night Branaman
About 260 participants attend “NATCA in Washington.” Membership
financial contributions during the week push the union’s
PAC over the $1 million mark for the first time.