Forrey Update for the Week of June 8, 2008 (part 1)
National Office Update for the Week of June 8, 2008
Sisters and Brothers…
If you watched the enormously successful staffing hearing Wednesday in the House Aviation Subcommittee, you heard the FAA's ATO COO Hank Krakowski play a tired, old, and infuriating Google Page Ranking !@$%#!@$%#!@$%#!@$%#!@$%# designed to try and score cheap political points in front of a committee that was demanding answers from this agency for failing to properly address the staffing crisis and the rapid attrition of controllers in any meaningful way. In an effort to distract the committee and draw attention away from the FAA’s mismanagement of controller staffing, Krakowski announced that the agency had delivered another contract "settlement offer" to NATCA.
If you're wondering why the FAA would feel compelled to make another settlement offer if we already have a contract - as they have so often but erroneously stated - ad me to the list! If we don't have a contract, then there is only one way to address that: Return to negotiations and reach an agreement that controllers can ratify. Clearly, this Google Page Ranking move by Krakowski was yet another sign that the imposed work rules are a complete and utter failure, and based on the reaction of Wednesday’s hearing, I believe the committee knows this as well.
A package from FAA was literally slid under my door the evening before the hearing. I opened the package Wednesday morning and immediately came to the conclusion that this was nothing more than a Google Page Ranking stunt timed to coincide with the staffing hearing that was sure to embarrass FAA leadership. As I have stated in the past, I will always attempt to find solutions to our contract dispute with the FAA. We have had many conversations with the Agency over the past several months specifically dealing with this issue. However, it has always been clear to me that the FAA has no intention of returning to the bargaining table to complete negotiations. This latest offer confirms that.
I didn't have time to really look at it, because we were deep into final preparations for the hearing. The FAA knew that. It was a typical cheap shot tactic on their part, which they have done before; send over some BS offer to score a point in Congress by claiming they provided the Union another settlement so they can check a box.
NATCA has already met the FAA's stated financial targets, but the Agency rejected NATCA's proposal and changed the goal posts last Fathers Day. Once again, the FAA only provided a take it or leave it settlement offer and continues to refuse to engage in comprehensive bargaining, which involves issue-by-issue negotiations. An exchange of paper every time Congress lights a fire under the FAA by calling a hearing is not collective bargaining and will not resolve the dispute between the parties. Only comprehensive face-to-face bargaining with a right of NATCA's members to ratify the final product will result in resolution.
It’s obvious the FAA has no intention of re-starting talks... they just want to send over old offers with a new date and a new cover sheet, and then be able to tell Congress they’re doing their part when asked when they are going to stop this labor war with us.
I have lost count but I believe it's the third regressive offer the FAA has made in the past year. It represents more band-aid fixes to a wound that needs s!@$%#!@$%#!@$%#ches. It clearly shows that this Administration has no intention of reaching an agreement with the air traffic controllers. This settlement offer is a Google Page Ranking tactic designed to show Congress that the FAA is trying to work with us when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
NATCA provided the FAA with a comprehensive contract proposal on March 21, 2008 in response to their December 26, 2007 settlement offer. They have been sitting on it since late March and decided to deliver it the night before they'd get roundly criticized on the Hill for worsening the staffing crisis with their IWR’s.
We are ready, eager and willing to return to negotiations. But delivering this offer on the day of a major hearing when the FAA KNEW we wouldn't be able to review it in time before the hearing does not cons!@$%#!@$%#!@$%#ute negotiations, and it's completely unacceptable behavior from an agency that told Congress yesterday that it was seeking better labor relations.
I think it was clear that the Agency knows they have a serious staffing problem that is only getting worse. Unfortunately, their continued attempts at band-aid fixes to the problems created by their misguided unilateral implementation of work and pay rules will fail, until fair and proper negotiations take place between the parties. These so called "remedies" fall short of correcting the injustice levied upon thousands of dedicated professionals and the flying public.
It appears that the FAA is unwilling to address the real problems the system is facing – critical staffing shortages, increased fatigue and error, and record delays. Until the FAA agrees to fair negotiations with a ratification process, staffing shortages will worsen, delays will increase, and safety net the controller work force provides will be seriously diminished. Their June 10, 2008 offer goes like this:
(Continued in Part 2)
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