Natca Contract to Congress

[Fox Xray]

From: "John Carr" (jcarr@natcadc.org)
It is clear, now, that the FAA never had ANY intention of negotiating an agreement in good faith with NATCA. In fact, it is abundantly clear that the FAA has no intention of negotiating an agreement in good faith with ANY of their employees. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey has yet to reach a voluntary term agreement with any of her employees except for AFSCME, and the agency has refused to implement that contract to this day.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey does not respect work and she does not respect workers. I have been in virtually daily contact with her, and I am deeply disappointed in her conduct over the last week. I have appealed to her to get personally involved in contract talks and she has refused. I have asked her to discuss specifics of our proposals together with me, and she has feigned ignorance, claiming, “I’m not a labor relations specialist.” I have asked her to meet together with the FMCS in a principals-only meeting and she has refused. In conversation after conversation the FAA Administrator has avoided doing any real work on the issues between us.

Now it has all become clear. While the FAA Administrator was making small talk with me she had her minions preparing their submission to the Congress. You see, the FAA walked out of contract talks shortly after 3pm on Wednesday, and by 6pm they already had sent a several hundred page, bound, collated, multi-color contract submission to the Congress. Stunningly, the FAA Administrator once AGAIN disregarded Federal Law (49USC40122,) by having her puppets create, and then submit the “union’s objections” and the “reasons for those objections.” By later Wednesday evening the agency had posted PDF Executive Summaries on their websites, put forward press releases, distributed Congressional packages and sent out employee notices.

This betrayal exposes the FAA lie. On Friday, the FAA insisted that negotiations were continuous and ongoing. FAA Spokesmodel Greg Martin bleated to the press on Friday that contract talks continued. Over the weekend, the Administrator alluded privately to the parties getting together during the week to continue negotiations. During conversations early this week, the FAA Administrator again suggested that bargaining was continuing. Meanwhile, the agency had made the decision to declare impasse, and was secretly preparing their submission, even as their contract team pretended to engage the union across the bargaining table.
NATCA convened an emergency telcon between the NATCA National Executive Board and the Contract Team on Tuesday evening at five pm. Subsequent to these discussions the Contract Team set about modifying NATCA’s offer in order to address specific concerns of the FAA Administrator as described to the President of the Union. The Administrator specifically requested a cut to the bottoms of the pay bands, and this was accomplished. The Administrator specifically mentioned hard to staff facilities and the need for a program to address their unique situations, and this was addressed, as well. The NATCA Contract Team worked nonstop for the remainder of the afternoon and evening to address the FAA Administrator’s concerns. This work was completed at 10pm on Tuesday, and the economic proposal was hand-delivered to the FAA at that time.

On Wednesday, the parties met at 9:30am to go over each other’s submissions. The agency’s pay proposal remained virtually unchanged from their first proposal of July of last year: 2 BILLION dollars in wage cuts and givebacks, and a 30% cut to the pay bands. The creation of a whole new pay system, invented out of whole cloth, devoid of any research or rigor. The imposition of pay cuts and career-long pay freezes to virtually every single working controller.

NATCA offered an economic package that represented 1.4 BILLION dollars in savings over the life of the agreement. We will be releasing both the NATCA and FAA initial proposals shortly, and we will be releasing the NATCA and FAA last offers on pay, as well.

In addition to the economic proposal, the agency failed in their obligation to negotiate in good faith on many other articles, and has submitted to the Congress disputed articles covering:

Annual Leave
Child Care Subsidy
Tuition For Dependent Children Outside the CONUS
Student Loan Repayment Program
Prime Time Leave Periods
Work Assignments
Holidays
Relief Periods
Overtime
Dress Code

We have filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against the FAA for bad faith bargaining on Articles 18 and 108, and we have filed negotiability appeals on articles 111 (Flight Training,) 116 (Child Care Subsidy,) 125 (Runway Incursion Prevention,) 143 (Student Load Repayment Program,) and 150 (ATC Facility Levels.)

The agency has clearly ignored the will of Congress by failing in their obligation to reach a voluntary collective bargaining agreement with the Union. The FAA failed in their obligation to the taxpayer, the Congress, and the employees. But if you carefully consider what has transpired here, the FAA Administrator has given us a gift, really: The best possible opportunity for us to fix this problem, once and for all. Not just for this negotiation, and not just for NATCA. For all time, and for all of us.
We are prepared for this battle, and the victory will be sweeter than any contract ever could be. It will restore fairness to our system and to our futures, once and for all.

This victory is within our grasp, and together we are just the team to do it. With your help, we will lead FAA employees in restoring fairness and accountability to collective bargaining in our agency. With your hard work, we will take our case directly to the American public and the Congress, and together we will prevail.
We will have much more to say in the coming weeks and months as this debate unfolds before the Congress and the public. We will have information and instructions on how to get involved for everyone from current employees to CTI students and their families. In the short term, if you haven’t visited www.fairfaa.com , now might be a good time to do that. Send a letter to your Congressional representatives, and call them using the toll free number.

Stay strong, stay united and keep the faith. For the last nine months of negotiations the FAA Administrator and her team have shown you the level of their trust, honor and integrity. When it mattered most…..in the eleventh hour of contract negotiations…..they lied. Now, and for the next sixty days, we will show the FAA, the public and the Congress the level of our trust, honor and integrity. And on the sixty-first day, we’ll see where we stand.

For my part, I will stand where I have always stood: With you, the men and women who stood fast on the morning of September 11th. With you, the men and women who drove south, towards the air traffic control facilities on the Gulf Coast, as everyone else drove north. With you, the men and women who worked Bagram and Baghdad Towers. With you, the very best and brightest in public service, who have given so much to our nation and who have asked for nothing more than a fair opportunity to negotiate in good faith.
We know now that the FAA Administrator does not stand with you.

She stands alone.
In Solidarity,
John S. Carr
President
NATCA
AFL-CIO

[cessna2351]

FX,

I caught that this morning. That "I'm not a labor relations specialist" comment made my blood boil, although it is true in that she has no real respect for her labor. I have to admit I was a bit concerned hearing about the impasse, but can't say I was suprised. I was very curious as to what Carr would write next. There was a Washington Post article that said NATCA was going to bring a lawsuit upon the FAA. Any idea of the details yet? Is it basically an appeal of sorts?

I took a peak at the proposed B-Scale, its not enough to sway me away from the profession but it sure as hell sucks, especially after the FAA promoted the CTI program by waving six-figure salaries in the faces of prospective students. I'm sure that if that B-Scale is implemented, the CTI schools will take a serious hit in students. Great long term planning by the agency huh?

However, it is very humbling that a powerful group of people who have know idea who I am are fighting for my rights and future livelihood.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by cessna2351

I took a peak at the proposed B-Scale, its not enough to sway me away from the profession but it sure as hell sucks,

Take a quick lesson from the history books - this is exactly why regional airline pay is low IMO.

Although, at least the airlines have some defense when it comes to self help. It almost sounds like the FAA can do whatever they want to you guys, and the only recourse you have is either a) take it or b) quit. Talk about a rock and a hard palce, especially when you invest $XX,XXX into a 4-year degree specalizing in ATC. The FAA knows this hence why they can get away with paying less (or so they think).