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December 9, 2011

The HITS just keep on coming !

Keep your eyes posted on your emails and notify your Federal Representatives that you are tired of being blamed for everything!

Today, House Republicans introduced their version of the payroll tax extension plan, which would finance the tax cut by extending the current federal employee pay freeze an additional year, increasing pension contributions by .5 percent over three years to equal a 1.5 percent increase by 2015 and changing the pension structure for federal employees hired after 2012. 
They plan to vote on this legislation early next week.

While Democrats, Republicans and the administration continue to negotiate over how to cover the cost of the payroll tax break, it cannot be at the expense of federal employees. Therefore, we need all PASS members to continue sending letters to their House and Senate lawmakers urging them to reject these misplaced attacks on federal employees. Tell Congress it cannot continue to ask more of federal employees than it does of contractors, corporations and millionaires.

Click here to submit a letter to your members of Congress.

Per the Broadcast Message re: the Settlement Agreement put out by the Agency, anyone who previously filed a grievance re: Article 41, Section 4, re: being forced off by management on his/her in-lieu-of holiday does not need to re-file the grievance or submit any additional evidence. Still, some folks have been sending me lists of their grievance numbers to verify that I have all of them on file. This is fine. In fact, please encourage employees to do this. We have found a few missing here and there. Thank you.

Allyn Van Vechten

Labor Relations Specialist / Paralegal PASS
1150 17th Street, NW Ste #702
Washington, DC 20036

Oct 26, 2011

FINALLY !    A Breakthrough !

This is PASS President Tom Brantley with a broadcast message for Wednesday, October 26, 2011.


This message is for PASS members in our Technical Operations bargaining unit. As most of you are aware, PASS has been fighting with the FAA for a few years about the meaning and application of Article 41 of the PASS/Tech Ops contract. In particular, the dispute has been around Section 4 of the Article, which identifies how employees are treated on days in-lieu-of the holiday. A few years ago, the agency began forcing employees on holiday leave on their in-lieu-of day, rather than working at the holiday rate of pay. Since this directly contradicts the terms of Article 41, Section 4,PASS pursued a national grievance to correct the agency’s actions. PASS was successful before an arbitrator and the agency was ordered to comply with Article 41 and to reimburse employees for pay that was lost because they were forced to observe, rather than work, their in-lieu-of holiday. The agency disagreed with the decision and in March of 2009 filed exceptions with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), primarily arguing that following the terms of the agreement, as it had for many years, was contrary to law because it interfered with management’s right to make changes based on “operational needs.” Because of the improving relationship between PASS and the FAA, particularly in Tech Ops, we have been able to reach a comprehensive settlement agreement that resolves the Article 41 dispute and provides back pay for employees who were forced to stay home on their in-lieu-of holiday. Individual grievances previously filed by employees on this issue will automatically be considered as claims for back pay under the settlement. In addition, the settlement provides a procedure that allows any employee who did not file a grievance and who believes he/she was impacted to file a claim. A joint message from PASS and the FAA will be coming out very soon, providing the details and requirements for using the claim process. Please look for this message and follow the procedure to file your claim. This is a significant victory for PASS. I want to thank members for their patience and support as we worked to resolve this problem during the past four years. I also want to offer a special thank you to every member who took the time to file a grievance when they were impacted by the agency’s actions. It is because of your willingness to participate in the union’s effort to uphold our agreements that we were able to achieve a successful result.

October 25, 2011

And another Fall leaves/ Winter snowflakes sets in upon us. Let's take a close look at  the flakes  that will be thrust upon our property, if the chance happens...(as I understand it, the Capitol Hill "Deficit Reduction Committee" or should I say, Gang of 12, have been inundated by well over 200 well paid lobbyists. 

PASS is looking out for your interests, because, certainly, the FAA isn't, but, we can't do it all. Any and All help you can give is certainly appreciated, and that includes any, and I mean ANY amount ($2.00 or $3.00/pay period) would help us lobby Congress as well. I say this because, your PASS Dues are FORBIDDEN from going into the "Political Action Committee" fund to support our (YOU'RE) lobbying effort. Help Us to Help You !

On another front, The NAV Unit here at ORD would like to welcome our newest member, George. 

Thank You for your support George !!!  Of course, I would like to personally thank Everyone in the NAV unit, and at O'Hare for their support as well. 

Feb. 28, 2011

FERS Annuity Info