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August 9,
2008
BIPARTISAN SENATE BILL CALLS ON FAA TO RESTORE
FAIRNESS IN ITS CONTRACT
NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS
WASHINGTON - Senators
Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and James M. Inhofe (R-Okla....), recognizing
the need to correct what Inhofe described as a "very unfair process
imposed upon employees of the Federal Aviation
Administration," have introduced bipartisan legislation that would
ensure good faith collective bargaining for FAA employees and provide
for an impartial impasse resolution process. Additionally, the bill
would restart contract talks between the FAA and the National Air
Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), with the process going to
binding arbitration if negotiations are not successful at reaching
agreement.
The Federal Aviation
Administration Employee Retention Act (S. 3416) would restore fairness
to the collective bargaining process for NATCA,
the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) and other FAA
employee unions. The legislation seeks to protect federal employees'
collective bargaining rights in two important ways: first, by requiring
either binding arbitration by a panel of arbitrators selected by both
parties or allowing both parties, by mutual agreement, to adopt their
own procedures for resolving collective bargaining disputes, ending an
ongoing cycle of litigation over the correct procedure to resolve
impasses under the current law; and second, by making null and void any
changes to work rules made by the FAA administrator without union
agreement or employee ratification on or after July 10, 2005.
Said NATCA President
Patrick Forrey: "Our aviation system is in disarray. The FAA's
unilateral imposition of work and pay rules has
forced our veteran air traffic controllers into retiring earlier than
they had planned, depleting the human infrastructure that once made the
U.S. aviation system the envy of the world. The flying public is paying
the price for the FAA's mismanagement with record breaking delays, and
we are concerned with the growing number of runway incursions and near
mid-air collisions happening in the system. Passage of this bill will
provide the incentive for controllers to remain on the boards so that
the safety of the flying public can be restored."
Contract negotiations
in all of PASS’s bargaining units have been unsuccessful,
resulting in impasses and lengthy litigation. "This
legislation will ensure that future negotiations are conducted in good
faith and that impasses are resolved in a fair and impartial
manner,"
said Tom Brantley, president of the PASS, which represents five
bargaining units within the FAA including technicians and aviation
safety inspectors. "PASS is encouraged that lawmakers
continue to recognize the need for fairness in collective bargaining and
are grateful to Sens. Lautenberg and Inhofe for their efforts in
resolving
this broken process."
"As a pilot I am
well acquainted with the exceptional work done by the employees of the
FAA and I know first hand that our aviation system is only is as good as
these employees," Senator Inhofe said shortly after the measure was
introduced in the Senate. "They deserve the right to bargain in
good faith on their employment contracts. This bill will give them that
opportunity."
Senator Lautenberg:
"The Bush Administration's disregard of FAA workers' rights has put
the safety of our aviation system at risk. The
Administration’s heavy-handed tactics have forced experienced air
traffic controllers out the door in record numbers. It's time we treat
these workers with the respect they deserve. By giving all FAA employees
fair labor rights, we can recruit and retain the number of safety
professionals our air travel system needs to run smoothly and
safely."
August 1,
2008
The Article 41 Section 4 arbitration
(Holiday In-Lieu of Issue) took place earlier this month (July). Usually
both parties have 30 days after the hearing to send in their final
briefs. The arbitrator usually takes 60 to 90 days to research the facts
and render their decision. Don't look for a ruling until the
October time frame.
Chuck Siragusa
PASS Region 1 VP Assistant
FAA Management Scrambles to Address the Senator Kerry Technical
Staffing Letter
As a result of the Senator Kerry technical staffing letter to Acting
Administrator Sturgell, FAA upper management sent out the attached
report and was asking their management team for the number of ATSSs
available to respond to the outages, if additional ATSSs were brought in
through the call back process and if the staffing levels were sufficient
to address the problems.
Apparently, FAA management is trying to respond to the Kerry letter
and say that our low staffing situation has not resulted in NAS
equipment related air traffic delays and has not been a major factor in
outage duration times.
From May 2007 to May 2008, there were 4958 NAS Equipment Related Air
Traffic Delays.
FAA documents, however, reveal a 50 percent increase in the hours
required to restore and repair vital technical components of the NAS.
Specifically, unscheduled outage restoration times rose from 21.6 hours
in 2001 to 40 hours in 2006. Some facilities are staffed at less than
half of what the facility has been allotted. Not only does this make
daily operations difficult, it lessens the FAA’s
ability to respond to an emergency in a timely and efficient manner.
June 11,
2008
The FAA is continuing to avoid the agreed-upon number of
Technical Employees on-board as per the 2000 PASS / FAA Agreement.
See PASS President Brantleys' letter
to Steve Zaidman concerning the FAAs' LACK of compliance.
June 6, 2008
This from Abby, our PASS National Legislative Director:
"Many thanks to all of you
for helping to make this such a huge success. Senator Kerry is
sending the letter out today and we were able to get 32 Senators to join
him (33 total)! Once I receive the final copy with all the
signatures, I will email it to everyone. Thanks again!!"
Abby
PASS
has won the support of 1/3 of the Senate in pushing the FAA to hire the
6,100 Technical Staffing positions required by the contract. The FAA has
time and time again, refused to comply with the Mandate that they hire
to that level. See the Senate letters to Bobby Sturgell here
, here.
and here.
The FAA is hiring because PASS is forcing
the issue.
May
23, 2008
Here's another 'Gotcha', this one snuck in under the
pale moonlight, escorted by the FAA itself.
Watch
your backs !!!
April
30, 2008
Senate FAA
Funding Bill, S-1300 in play.
White House Warns President May Veto Senate
FAA Funding Bill....more
April
15, 2008
Due to a family emergency involving the Agency's main witness, the 4-3-08 arbitration hearing involving the Agency's repudiation of Art. 41, Sec. 4, has been postponed to a later, yet-to-be-determined date. Please encourage all employees who are involuntarily scheduled off on their day in lieu of holiday to continue to file grievances so we can demonstrate damages and identify back pay recipients.
Thanks.
Mike Derby,
PASS Counsel
Inspectors
Union presents Safety concerns to Senate Lawmakers......more
April
9, 2008
Where FAA
sees roses in new Telecommunications system, Technicians and
Controllers feel the pain of Thorns....more
April
2, 2008
Tomorrow, April 3, PASS will be presenting it's case
re: the repudiation of Art. 41,
Sec. 4. This FLRA
decision appears to support our argument that Sec. 4 is an
appropriate arrangement. Note the discussion of Title 5
applicability regarding "Proposal 2."
Mike Derby
PASSLaw-one
FAA Management is Frightening, Not the Airlines...
CNN’s Lou Dobbs ran a story and told the audience that the FAA was
really just a solid bunch of overworked professionals.
Oh please Lou. Overworked?
Air Traffic Controllers yes. Technicians yes. Inspectors yes.
But what an insult to tens of thousands of FAA employees to lump them
in with the people in Washington that run the agency.......read
more
Lawmaker to Offer FERS Sick Leave Compensation Bill
PASS, and other Federal Unions support this measure and feel it's time
for the change.....read
more
March
24, 2008
FAA INSPECTORS UNION QUESTIONS TIMING OF
$10.2 MILLION PENALTY AGAINST SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
Union Appalled That It Took Over a Year and a
Congressional Investigation to Prompt Decision....read
more
March
21, 2008
FAA will FINALLY Adhere to the Hiring
of the 6,100 Technicians and will expedite hiring as per the
PASS Contract and the numerous grievances & Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs)
that PASS
has WON against the agency. The agency is
FINALLY solving this issue and seeing the light.
March
20, 2008
This is the latest plan that FAA want to impose on
Engineering Services. See the pdf
file and the powerpoint
file.
Bob Swan.
IL3PASS Chapter president.
March 18, 2008
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
on Comp Time. signed recently by PASS and the FAA.
March
5, 2008
PASS Fears 'Labor Fatigue' Getting In Way Of NextGen
Talks
Today, Aero News Net's Jim Campbell talks with representatives of the
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists about concerns they expressed
at AOPA Expo 2007.
Is the FAA letting "labor relations fatigue" push unionized
employees out of discussions concerning NextGen Air Traffic
Control? Listen
Here
Feb.
11, 2008
See
Aero-TV's Conversation With P.A.S.S.
Feb.
8, 2008
The PASS Region 1 team will be conducting representative training in
the Chicago metro area June 17 - June 19, 2008. If you are
currently a Rep. and have not had the training you may attend.
More information is in Article 3, Section of the Collective Bargaining
Agreement. If you are interested please contact Luke, Mark or
Chuck enough in advance so that we may work on your release to attend.
Feb.
7, 2008
OPM
says that FAA employees are happy with the "Pay for someone
else's lack of performance" pay plan.
Where else can we get our annual pay raise CUT, because of inclement
weather, Defective, Outsourced Aircraft maintenance
which causes accidents, annual FAA Surveys which say we are NOT
happy with these criteria which determine our pay, and more. See the OPM
Full report here.
Here's
my suggestion... Maybe it has something to do with New Hires being paid
FAR LESS than their peers. As an example, check the H band
starting salary for the Chicago locality area.....
then, check the GS-12
Pay band for the Chicago area. Compare the starting salaries and
tell me it's all about
Pay-4-Performance......
Go ahead. I Double Dare ya !
In case you don't have excel, you can find the free viewer here
I can tell you that the FAA Core Comp
H band starting salary is $58,255.00 / year
whereas the
GS-12 Starting salary is $71,074.00 / year
Jerry
Feb.
2, 2008
Airline Safety: A Whistleblower's Tale
A new report spotlights how FAA inspectors must battle
not only carriers but their own agency, too...read
more about how this PASS Member was treated by the very same
agency that PUNISHED the very same inspector for trying to do his job.
Jan
24, 2008
O'Hare Radar System Is Criticized
By TARA BURGHART
CHICAGO (AP) — A new ground radar system designed to prevent runway
collisions at the nation's busiest airports loses accuracy during
snowstorms at O'Hare Airport and can fail to see snowplows, baggage
carts and other vehicles, the president of the local air traffic
controllers union warned on Thursday.....more
Jan
17, 2008
37,000
FAA employees to get 3.08 percent raise
Here's the Kick in the pants that the FAA won't let
you know, and will sneak up and BITE you in the future though....
FAA is also raising maximum salaries for its core
compensation and executive compensation pay bands by 2.5 percent,
Sturgell said. Research shows the FAA’s core
pay bands lag behind the market by more than 2 percent, he said.
The maximum salary increase is the FAA’s third in as
many years, and the largest.
Last year’s increase was 1.7 percent, and the 2006
increase was 2.1 percent.
The pay raises took effect Jan. 6.
Webmasters' Note:
In a nutshell, as you get your OSI/SCI/Presidential
Pay raise, your salary is moving up by an average of 4% or MORE. If
the FAA only moves the pay band by 1.7% and such (remember, they FROZE
the pay bands for 2 or 3 years already), you WILL TOP OUT in your pay band
MUCH SOONER than you'll realize. Then, for the remainder of your FAA
Career, you will be CAPPED, and your future raises will be given to
you as a Quarterly Bonus. THINK about what that will do to your
hourly pay, your retirement, your Overtime, your
Holiday Pay, your Shift Differential,
your Locality Pay, and yes Gladys...YOUR TSP Contributions, by not
only YOU, but the matching contributions from the FAA.
YOUR FUTURE, and YOUR FAMILY'S Future is at stake
here !
PASS is the ONLY
one fighting for YOUR FUTURE and YOUR Financial Well Being.
HELP PASS to HELP YOU !!!
Jerry
January
1, 2008
PASS Changes it's name !!!
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS),
AFL-CIO, the union that represents more than 11,000 Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) employees, voted to
change its name to Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS),
AFL-CIO. Among other things, PASS members install, maintain,
support and certify air traffic control and national defense equipment,
inspect and oversee the commercial and general aviation industries,
develop flight procedures and perform quality analyses of the aviation
systems
12/23/07
The Bush administration has used its traffic-light
system to rate agency management since 2001. Now we evaluate the
president's progress....the FAA Follows this "Guidance" to a
T ............more
12/14/07
PASS Puts the FAAs' Director of Labor-Relations,
Melvin Harris on Notice...NO MORE LYING to the Bargaining Unit
concerning surveys........more
12/7/07
PASS Changes it's name !!!
.......more
12/6/07
Holiday In-Lieu Repudiation Issue:
As you know, we will be arbitrating the Art. 41, Sec. 4 repudiation issue in
April 2008. The CBA says that "watch schedules on in lieu of days ...shall not be changed so as to avoid the payment of holiday pay." The FAA is claiming this language and the next sentence regarding the employee's right to work on an lieu of holiday even if management wants them to observe their in lieu of holiday violates management's right to assign work. I would like to have some testimony from employees who have been scheduled off on their in lieu of day to the effect that they were scheduled off due to "budget" concerns or solely to save money, etc. I would appreciate it if you would talk to some of the employees who have filed grievances to see what they have been told by management as the reason for the schedule change. I'm assuming that we will win the arbitration case, but have a very steep uphill battle with the FLRA. Therefore, I would like to have a good record of evidence on the motivation issue - not work or operationally related - strictly financial.
Thanks.
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