Committee Approves Bill Pushing FAA Back to Bargaining Table

by Mike Hall, Jun 29, 2007

It’s time for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to get back to the bargaining table and resume contract talks with the nation’s air traffic controllers, says the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Yesterday, the committee approved the FAA reauthorization bill that includes a provision to renew bargaining.

Last April, the FAA stopped bargaining and walked out on contract talks with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association ( NATCA). On Labor Day, the FAA unilaterally imposednew work rules and pay cuts for new hires. (Click here to read how those rules made an already serious staffing and morale crisis in the nation’s control towers even worse.)

Along with restarting the talks, the House bill calls for binding arbitration if a contract cannot be reached. Says NATCA President Patrick Forrey:

This bill is an important step toward putting fairness back into the collective bargaining process. Morale has suffered, and the mass exodus has left controllers working for longer periods of time, causing fatigue and loss of focus, which the [National Transportation Safety Board] has said is a major safety concern.

Veteran controllers are the professionals holding the system together, while at the same time responsible for training the next generation of air traffic controllers. The FAA’s staffing [policy] has resulted in the frantic hiring of new trainees who will require years to certify before contributing to the system.

These veteran professionals must have an incentive to stick around past their retirement eligibility date…and a ratifiable contract is exactly the incentive they are waiting for. This bill language is a means to that end and is critically important when you’re talking about the ability of the FAA to safely and efficiently keep the air traffic control system moving.

Last year, the House approved legislation by a large bipartisan margin to restart the talks. But a veto threat from President Bush and backroom maneuvering by two far-right groups and conservative Republican lawmakers killed the bill. 

Capitol Hill observers predict the same groups will mount an attack on the bargaining provision and for Bush to renew his veto threat.

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