Why Reclassification?
The NAATS negotiating team is proposing reclassification as the basis for our new pay system. There are sound reasons behind this preference as opposed to a generic, across the board increase that leaves little opportunity for future salary gains.
The FAA is moving toward becoming a "pay for performance" agency. Basically this means that employees are to be compensated for the work they perform as opposed to the old "flat rate" GS system. This forms the foundation for the NATCA pay plan and the other core plans that have been implemented.
It must be emphasized that the NAATS proposal ensures all of our members at facilities, small and large, will receive more compensation than they would have under the old GS system. This comparison includes government-wide increases and step increases. Differentials are to be retained, as is locality pay.
I think all would agree that our facilities do not have identical work requirements. We all brief pilots, provide SAR, NOTAMS and flight planning but there are differences. Some facilities deal with Customs, others have significantly more ICAO workload and one, Miami, has Cuban airspace considerations. Operations per specialist, while a major consideration, is not the only determining factor. While it can be endlessly argued exactly what job functions should receive exactly what weight, the NAATS Classification Index (CI) is a reasonable attempt to quantify several of these differences between our facilities.
The differentiation between facilities is essential for reclassification. Also necessary is a mechanism that will ensure members can move from the lower level facilities to the higher ones. We've addressed this by requiring that all new hires be placed at the lower level facilities; members would then have the option of remaining at these facilities or moving to one at the higher level.
Another critical issue that has to be addressed is the overall staffing figure for our bargaining unit. As you're aware we're lumped into the 3,000 number that contains all flight service personnel. It's vital that we have a number that contains only those bargaining unit members who actually provide the service to the aviation public. Specifically we do not want to include anyone who is on detail, medically disqualified or on temporary promotion. The best way we've concluded to determine this number is by using the facility watch schedules to reflect the personnel actually working the operational positions. Once agreement is reached the FAA will have to maintain this staffing requirement.
The NAATS team feels that reclassification is the better choice for both our option in Air Traffic and our membership as Air Traffic Controllers. We feel it sets a bad precedent to allow the FAA to treat us differently than NATCA. We also feel the previous membership vote supported this choice. Regardless of the course we pursue on pay we realize that not everyone will be happy. The final decision will be yours when you vote on ratification.
The NAATS negotiating team is well qualified for its task. All members have completed a minimum of two courses, FLRA and Karrass, as a bargaining foundation. We have additional number crunching and reclassification resources in Arthur Fox and Randy Barber who have been involved in the Postal negotiations.
It is possible that reclassification won't happen and we'll continue to compensate all of our facilities the same. The playing field isn't level in these negotiations and there are factors beyond our control. And, of course, there's always the management team's opinion of what's best for us.
In any case we'll do the best we can legally, congressionally and administratively. NM Regional Director Don McLennan will continue to keep you updated on our negotiation progress via the Compensation Bulletins. Your continued support, patience and comments are appreciated.
Wally Pike
The first of September is rapidly approaching and no agreements have yet been reached on pay. Don McLennan is meeting with management reps on pay rules, Craig Campbell will meet next week management on facility levels and Kurt Comisky will meet next week with management counterparts on possible part-timing and the FSDPS issues. Hopefully some tentative agreements will be reached but if not then we'll technically be at impasse. It's important that everyone know the process if we actually reach impasse with management on pay.
The congressional language requires that once impasse is reached we must use the services of a mediator. The mediator will try to get the parties to an agreement but they have no authority to force the issue. The next step after the mediator is for the FAA Administrator to take the management position to congress. The language does not specify who in congress receives this information. If congress doesn't act within 60 days then the matter is settled according to the management position. Obviously, this isn't a level playing field for us but it's the only game we have. Despite our efforts neither Congress nor the FAA has any desire to change the rules.
Impasse is also the time for a grassroots congressional effort. In deciding the proper time for this effort, the NAATS negotiating team as well as NAATS Congressional Representative Hal Gross and I must considered factors such as;
The congressional mood around FAA pay negotiations,
This is an election year,
Our message must be clear, reasonable and consistent.
When the time is right we may have to call on you for your help. Of course, if you feel you can individually obtain congressional support for our efforts please feel free to do so and Hal Gross and I will lend you our support. Any suggestions are always welcome. Other avenues we'll use are informational picketing and press releases through our Public Relations Team.
We'll keep you advised of our progress. We know that everyone, including the negotiating team, is anxious to conclude this bargaining but the quick deal is not always the best. One problem in communicating strategy is that our webpage has no security. Anyone can access any part if it at any time. The management negotiating team has readily admitted that they review all of our updates. All of the NAATS Regional Directors are on our team; I encourage you to contact them or me for further discussions.
The NAATS Board of Directors meeting was held last week in D.C. More details will be in the next NAATS News but one of the issues decided was to have a professional quarterly newsletter sent to all NAATS members at their home addresses. This newsletter will also be the one we will distribute to our supporters on Capitol Hill. It will be in addition to the monthly newsletter that Eli composes and John Dibble posts on our webpage. I'm finalizing the contract with the printer and we'll have the first edition to you as soon as possible.
NAATS Labor Relations Specialist Chris Klemm conducted his first NAATS arbitration last week. The matter concerned the FAA's refusal to provide official time for our FAA Academy representative Dave Hoover. We'll have the ruling in about a month but all members should know that Chris did a great job. His next hearing is in September and concerns the CPP MOU and the FAA's refusal to negotiate the national placement of students with NAATS. Chris will also be providing the training at our national meeting in November.
Wally Pike
Pay Negotiations:
Subgroup Status Facility levels Meeting this week Part-timing and FSDPS Meeting this week Pay rules Scheduling next meeting Remainder of work rules Met last week, no progress While we continue to hope that the subgroups will accomplish something meaningful, the preliminary theme from management isn't good. The position they seem to feel most comfortable with is the quick and effortless across the board increase. Basically this involves a ceiling of 5.5% over 5 years with the entire increase funded through bargaining unit attrition. Add to that the fact that they want to "backload" the payout with almost all of it occurring in years 4 and 5. Obviously the NAATS negotiating team has no interest in this proposal.
The deadline is Friday, September 8. Expect a comprehensive update at that time, outlining the status of the negotiations and our future plans. It's past time for FAA management to assign the necessary priorities and resources to come to a reasonable agreement with us on pay.
Hopefully the Update of Friday, September 8 will contain good news.
Wally Pike
Pay Negotiations: IMPASSE
Although the part timing and FSDPS subgroup made some progress last week, the remainder of the subgroups did not reach any agreements and made very little, if any, progress. It seems that the FAA doesn't value us as Air Traffic Controllers and has no intention of entertaining any meaningful discussions on reclassification. Quite the contrary, they only know one tune and that one is 5.5% over 5 years, all accomplished through workforce attrition and basically all of it paid in the last two years. This is obviously totally unacceptable to the NAATS negotiating team.
I've informed the management team leader that we're at a bargaining impasse and that I've contacted the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and scheduled a mediator. Pending management agreement, I've scheduled the week of October 16, which is the earliest date the mediator had available.
In the meantime we'll be busy. I've asked our Public Relations Team (PRT) Chairman Larry Burdick to use PRT to help publicize our issues. If you have any ideas or contacts with the various publications please feel free to use them or you can coordinate through Larry. His email address is [email protected].
NAATS Congressional Reprehensive Hal Gross and I will be contacting Congress and the White House to attempt to break the stalemate. I'll also talk with Administrator Garvey next week and a meeting with Deputy Administrator Belger is being scheduled.
We're asking for your support in a grassroots letter-writing effort aimed at Congress. Hal Gross will be publishing some guidelines and advice in a separate letter for correspondence to your representatives and he'll be available to help on any matters relating to Congress. Hal may be contacted at 703-256-2784 or he's at NAATS Headquarters every Friday.
The NAATS team recognizes and shares our memberships' impatience with the lack of responsiveness or fairness by the management team. We're doing everything we can to move the process along as quickly as possible but this may take some time. The only alternative is to accept the management offer. Let us you�re your feelings. We'll keep you advised of any developments though NM Director Don McLennan's Pay Bulletins.
Other Matters:
Constitutional Amendments
All passed. Results:
Article Number Yes No 6 317 32 7 275 73 8 299 47 10 & 13 205 128
No Name Ballots Yes No 6 4 0 7 1 1 8 3 0 10 & 13 3 0 We'll begin implementing these changes. Details will be forthcoming on the scheduling of the delegate meeting and, if you need it, on delegate selection after the next BOD meeting in November.
Information:
The first edition of the new NAATS periodical will be published within the next few weeks. This is the professionally produced quarterly that will be mailed to each member's home address. It will also be circulated to FAA Headquarters, Capitol Hill and the various user groups. This will be in addition to the NAATS News that Eli Morrissy publishes as well as our email updates.
Lobbying:
With this being an election year, Hal Gross and I are lobbying both sides of the aisle and, of course, only NAATS PAC funds are used. While we may not agree personally with lobbying, it is the way business is done in this town. It, therefore, behooves us to be good at it and to hedge our bets.
AOPA:
We've contacted AOPA regarding their AFSS survey and offered to assist them. They've advised that there's nothing we can do at this time but that they will keep us in mind.
Flying Magazine:
Several of you have noted the recent articles in Flying Magazine that don't portray FSS briefers in a particularly good light. I've written a response (posted on our web page) and talked with the editor, Mac McClellan. It appears that portions of my response will be included in a future columns edition.
I've also had a good discussion with Jay Hopkins, who authored the two articles. We've agreed to work together on a future article that will tell our side of the story. Please feel free to send me your thoughts, suggestions and other ideas for this article. An example we're considering would be the top ten things briefers want pilots to know when they contact Flight Service.
STL AFSS:
Last week I attended the opening ceremony for the new STL AFSS building. As I said at the time, congratulations go to the professional men and women FSS controllers for their perseverance and for their beautiful new building.
I particularly enjoyed meeting with the CE Region FacReps on Tuesday evening. The dialogue was very insightful and many good ideas and suggestions were discussed. My thanks to NAATS CE Regional Director Mike Terry for inviting me.
BOD MEETING:
The next Board of Directors meeting is November 13-14 in San Diego. If you can't attend the meeting please contact your Regional Director with any comments or suggestions.
Wally Pike