Stephen Barr - A Push in Congress to Act on Air Traffic Controllers Impasse

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A Push in Congress to Act on Air Traffic Controllers Impasse

By Stephen Barr
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; D04

The clock is ticking in the dispute between the Federal Aviation Administration and its largest union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The FAA declared an impasse in contract negotiations April 5 and sent the dispute to Congress, which has until June 5 to act. If Congress takes no action, the FAA can impose its contract proposal on the union.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio) said yesterday that the congressman had introduced a bill to take Congress off the clock and that House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has promised that the measure will be brought up for a vote next week.

The impasse grew out of one of the most contentious labor-management disputes in the government in years. Both sides have accused the other of spreading misleading information, and FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey and NATCA President John S. Carr have traded jabs throughout the past year.

The FAA proposal would restructure controller pay and produce several million dollars in savings, according to agency officials. The savings are necessary, the officials said, for the FAA to install new technology and successfully hire and train the next generation of controllers. About 12,500 new controllers are expected to be hired through 2014.

The union contends that the proposal would cut the take-home pay of many controllers and, contrary to the agency's goal, encourage controllers to retire as soon as they become eligible to draw pensions.

The LaTourette bill would repeal a provision of the law that sends FAA labor impasses to Congress, and it would send the agency and the controllers union back to the negotiating table, said Deborah Setliff , communications director for LaTourette.

She said Hastert has promised that the bill will be brought up under "suspension of the rules," a procedure in the House that permits bills to come up for limited debate. Under suspension, a two-thirds vote is required for passage.

LaTourette and Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) have been working with GOP leaders to find a way to resolve the matter fairly, Setliff said. LaTourtette "believes both sides want to hammer out a deal," she said in an e-mail.

A spokesman for Hastert did not respond to a request for comment. FAA spokesman Geoff Basye said the agency cannot endorse "a change in the rules in the bottom of the ninth inning" after negotiating in good faith for nearly nine months.

Another effort to address the labor dispute is being led by Reps. Sue W. Kelly (R-N.Y.) and Jerry F. Costello (D-Ill.).

They have sponsored a bill that would send FAA contract disputes into binding arbitration if Congress fails to act, and last week, Costello filed a discharge petition in an effort to bring that bill to the floor.

Discharge petitions require at least 218 signatures to get to the House floor. As of yesterday, 195 House Democrats and no Republicans had signed on, said David Gillies , a spokesman for Costello.

The Kelly-Costello bill has 262 co-sponsors, including 75 Republicans, Gillies said.

Under House rules, the first day the bill could be brought to the floor is June 12. The bill includes a clause that would make it retroactively apply to any FAA contracts in place, Gillies said.

Asked about the LaTourette bill, Gillies said: "We are reviewing their legislation. Mr. Costello believes bringing his bill to the floor is the best alternative."

The FAA is one of the few places in government where unions can bargain over salaries, and the statutory change that permitted bargaining over pay, starting in 1996, also stipulated that impasses would go to Congress for review. At other federal agencies, deadlocked negotiations are turned over to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, a board of presidential appointees.

The talks between the FAA and the controllers union broke down after the FAA insisted on $1.9 billion in savings over five years and the union drew the line at $1.4 billion in savings.

The FAA proposal would phase out some pay supplements and would reduce starting salaries for newly hired controllers by 30 percent compared with the current pay scale.

The average compensation package for current controllers would rise from about $166,000 annually to $187,000 by the end of the proposed five-year contract, the FAA said.

Please join me for a discussion of federal employee and retiree issues at noon today on Federal Diary Live at www.washingtonpost.com. My e-mail address is barrs@washpost.com.