Senators try a new tactic to reopen FAA’s negotiations with controllers

Two senators have introduced a bill to address an issue that has stalled along with legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration: the collective bargaining rights of FAA employees.

The Federal Aviation Administration Employee Retention Act (S. 3416), introduced last week by Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., would require FAA and its unions to work with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service if contract negotiations reach an impasse, or adopt a mutually agreed-upon process to break the deadlock. If those methods failed, then the negotiations would go to binding arbitration and the bargaining unit could require that union members ratify the resulting agreement.

The FAA reauthorization bill contains similar language, but that measure has been stalled since May. Lawmakers have been unable to reach agreement on fees and other mechanisms to fund the agency.

Currently, FAA's administrator can impose the agency's final offer on a union if negotiations stall. In 2006, then-FAA administrator Marion Blakey imposed new pay and work rules on the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Many controllers said those rules contributed to their decisions to retire, thinning ranks at some of the nation's busiest airports.

"The Bush administration's disregard of FAA workers' rights has put the safety of our aviation system at risk," Lautenberg said. "The administration's heavy-handed tactics have forced experienced air traffic controllers out the door in record numbers. It's time we treat these workers with the respect they deserve."

Inhofe, a pilot, called the implementation of the pay and work rules "a very unfair process," and said his support for the bill grew out of his experiences with FAA employees. The bill would nullify the pay and work rules under which controllers have worked for almost two years and reinstate the terms of their last ratified contract until NATCA and FAA could negotiate a new one.

Restarting negotiations and ending the pay and work rules have been among NATCA's highest priorities. The union's political action committee contributed $4,000 to Lautenberg and $2,000 to Inhofe as of July 30 in the 2008 election cycle, and has made substantial contributions to Lautenberg's campaign dating back to 2002, when he returned to the Senate after retiring in 2000.

Both NATCA president Pat Forrey and Professional Aviation Safety Specialists President Tom Brantley praised the legislation, saying it would guarantee good-faith bargaining in the future.

"Passage of this bill will provide the incentive for controllers to remain on the boards so the safety of the flying public can be restored," Forrey said.