FAA brings in mediator to assist contract negotiations

Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey on Monday said she is asking a federal mediator to assist in contract negotiations with a union representing 20,000 air traffic controllers, engineers and safety officers.

In a news briefing, Blakey said talks with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association have stalled. "NATCA isn't moving on issues that are at the heart of negotiations," she told reporters.

The FAA and NATCA entered discussions about a new contract in mid-July. These are the first such negotiations since 1998.

Blakey said she called for mediation because the union has refused to budge on a proposal that would drive average controller compensation up 5.6 percent to $200,000 in the next six years.

She added that the union's contract proposal is "out of touch" with the current fiscal environment for FAA and the air transportation services it regulates. "At a time when the industry can least afford it," Blakey said, "NATCA wants more money."

The union denounced Blakey's news conference as a publicity stunt that does not reflect the actual status of contract negotiations. "This call for a mediator is quite a mystery, because the parties have been making progress of late," NATCA spokesman Doug Church told Government Executive.

Church also disputed Blakey's representation of the terms of NATCA's proposal. "The simple fact is, we proposed the current pay table - meaning the status quo would be maintained throughout the agreement…with no new investment…and an annual pay raise at the discretion of Congress," he said. "I don't know where the FAA gets its numbers."

Church said the two sides are scheduled to begin a two-week bargaining session in Northern Virginia on Tuesday.

The FAA would like to reach an agreement with the union before Christmas, Blakey said. Agency officials believe a mediator will help to achieve that goal, she said.