Air Traffic Controllers Ratify Contract After Three-Year Battle with Bush FAA

by Mike Hall, Sep 24, 2009

A three-year battle for workplace justice came to a successful conclusion yesterday when the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) announced controllers had ratified a new three-year contract with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

NATCA says the new pact throws out the Bush-era FAA’s 2006 imposed work and pay rules and restores fairness and stability to the collective bargaining process. The overwhelmingly approved contract takes effect Oct. 1. The contract covers a set of new work rules that both NATCA and the FAA agreed to at the negotiating table earlier this year. Other contract articles, including pay, were decided through a binding arbitration this summer.

NATCA President Patrick Forrey calls the new agreement

a testament to our membership that they have endured the worst time in our union’s history, working towards and holding out for a contract that was negotiated in a fair process and agreed to by the parties.

In 2006, the Bush administration’s FAA rejected NATCA’s call for mediation to settle a contract and walked away from the bargaining table. The agency then imposed a set of work rules and wage cuts that have driven controllers out of the towers. Because of the deplorable work environment, more than 2,600 controllers have left the FAA, creating a shortage of experienced controllers and threatening aviation safety.

The FAA under Bush rejected all calls to resume negotiations and threatened to veto any legislation that required the agency to sit down and bargain with the union.

Forrey says that along with the strength and solidarity of the union’s members, the victory

would not have been possible without the support and commitment of the Obama administration, key members of Congress and the AFL-CIO in providing a fair and transparent process.

Now is the time to move forward and forge a working relationship that will stabilize the workforce, effectively train the large number of new hires and keep the current system safe and efficient while we transition to the Next Generation Air Transportation System.

Forrey will step down as NATCA president Oct. 16, when the newly elected Paul M. Rinaldi takes over the reins of the 18,000 member union.

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