Member Profile: Colin Taylor
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- Published: March 12, 2015
Colin Taylor, a new PASS Chapter WA3 member of just four months, provides administrative support for the FAA Northwest Mountain region and recently became the contract representative for terminal engineering in the Western Service area. Soon after becoming a contract representative Engineering Services (ES), Taylor was designated to represent most of the ES workcenters in Renton. Taylor became an early chapter activist on the PASS WA3 Organizing Committee and has helped coordinate and conduct PASS orientations and worksite meetings, served for the first time at the annual Northwest Aviation Conference & Trade Show, and rallied PASS bargaining unit employees around new women’s clothing designs for the chapter. He has also supported PASS Region III in negotiations by helping bargaining unit employees who are being forced out of their workspace.
Taylor is known best for his focus and determination, and joined PASS in order to have a voice. When asked what made him become a member, Taylor gave a heartfelt explanation. “There are two reasons. The first is that I was medically discharged from the Air Force just short of 10 years of service. My commander forced a medical evaluation board against my doctor’s recommendation, which resulted in my discharge. That made me feel powerless and I never want to be put in that position again where I feel like I can’t take care of my family.” The second reason, he said, is based on obligation. “The day I started, my manager gave me a copy of the CBA [collective bargaining agreement]. I knew that PASS had to fight to get us a lot of the rights we have in that contract. I felt that if I wasn’t a dues paying member, I was freeloading off the money of others. For me, that was untenable.”
As a PASS member, Taylor knows that he has a lot of work ahead of him and is definitely up for the challenge. He appreciates the guidance he has received from Region III Vice President Dennis Cherwinski and Region III Assistants Monika Warner and Joan Matthiesen. Speaking on the progress she has seen, Warner offered, “Colin is very insightful and has provided a ‘new beginning’ for PASS within the ANM regional office. He also has great instincts and has become a terrific sounding board for us in the chapter as well as Region III.”
Taylor is already making a difference by emphasizing union solidary. “One NAS, One PASS” is his catchy and meaningful slogan. Although he does not consider the origin of the slogan a stroke of genius, the sentiment behind it is a powerful one. “It sends the message that it doesn’t matter if you’re a technician, a drafting coordinator, a secretary or any of the other important disciplines we represent. You are as important to PASS as every part of the National Airspace System—every piece of equipment, every system—is to the mission of the FAA. The aviation system is a multitude of systems and equipment that come together to do way more than they can do on their own, just like PASS is a group of professionals that work together in the same way.”
Hailing from Opelousas, La., Taylor is a huge fan of the online game World of Warcraft for any of you other fans out there who would like to play with him. He also has three associate degrees, jokingly crowning himself the “king of community college.” In the past, Taylor served in the Air Force, where he was an aircraft mechanic, and also worked in places similar to System Support Centers for tracking aircraft flight times and maintenance. He believes this specific experience helps him when he is trying to relate to other technicians. In his own words, “I am not just a PASS brother, but a fellow maintainer.”
PASS welcomes Colin Taylor as a new member and thanks him for the great contributions he has already made to the union. ONE NAS, ONE PASS is something all members can definitely stand firmly behind.