FAA air traffic control Contract?

Question

Can someone fill me in on the contract negotiations. It seems to me that it's a bit unfair. After a new controller is trained and certified he will be making about half of what the guy siting next to him will be making?? Are the negotiations making any progress? if so what is the new proposal?

Answer 1

research “The Federal Aviation Administration Employee Retention Act,”T he bill would restart contract talks between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, with the process going to binding arbitration if negotiations are not successful at reaching agreement.

it was introduced(8-08) to restore fairness to the collective bargaining process for NATCA, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) and other FAA employee unions. The legislation seeks to protect federal employees’ collective bargaining rights in two important ways: first, by requiring either binding arbitration by a panel of arbitrators selected by both parties or allowing both parties, by mutual agreement, to adopt their own procedures for resolving collective bargaining disputes, ending an ongoing cycle of litigation over the correct procedure to resolve impasses under the current law; and second, making null and void any changes to work rules made by the FAA administrator without union agreement or employee ratification on or after July 10, 2005.

Answer 2

This called the B scale.  It is wrong.  It is where the senior guys sell out the junior guys for whatever, but they do.  

We need to get together with your union.  Because the Captains of Major Airlines are only making $140,000, while ATC average was 166,00, not you on B scale.

There is enough money there for all of us.  Stop McCain.  Vote Union.  Stop Cheap Tickets:  How Much Is Your Life Worth?

Answer 3

As of today, the FAA air traffic controllers have been working for 722 days without a contract.

The FAA felt that the rules allowed them to impose work rules on its controller workforce if certain conditions were met.  Those conditions were that negotiations resulted in an impasse and then the FAA submitted their last best offer to Congress.  If Congress took no action within 60 days, the FAA was free to implement their last best offer.  Just to put this in perspective, the FAA timed their submission for the start of a two week recess.

The truth is that the FAA felt they did not have to negotiate in good faith and never budged on key issues, including pay, while the union did offer concessions.

You may read about the FAA offering the union a 'settlement', but that is all smoke and mirrors to mislead Congress and the media.  These settlement offers are often little more than a small increase in pay that doesn't affect the most senior controllers, while offering the new hires a small portion of the money that the FAA stole from them!  The last 'settlement' came the morning of a Congressional subcommittee hearing, so that the FAA rep could say that they were trying to work with the union.  BS!

There are various avenues to try to force the FAA to negotiate in good faith, with binding arbitration if another impasse is reached, but so far none have been successful.

See:

http://jurassicbark.blogspot.com/2008/08...

The current situation is unfair.  Not only are the newest controllers suffering with 'B' scale wages, but the more experienced controller's pay is frozen, so they will never again receive the same Cost of Living Adjustments that every other federal employee receives.

Just so you know, the union did not throw the new hires under the bus.  If they did, the senior controllers would probably be enjoying the COLA raises right now.

To be entirely clear, the FAA is not engaging in real negotiations of any kind and apparently has no intention of doing so.