In addition to a global, once-in-a-century pandemic, 2021 has also brought severe weather throughout the world. In the United States, wildfires and hurricanes have become more damaging than ever. Long after the news media moves on to the next weather event, communities are still recovering. Chapter LA3 President Rob Gordon, who works in New Orleans, submitted this first person account of how his PASS brothers and sisters pulled together across bargaining units to help members in need.

After Hurricane Ida passed through southern Louisiana [making landfall on August 29, 16 years after Hurricane Katrina], we were all able to assess any damage to our homes and start checking in so the agency knew our status. Shortly after that, PASS SSC rep Tim Lindsey in Texas reached out to us and said he was bringing supplies such as food and water. Tim also coordinated with Chad Baglio, the SSC rep in New Orleans, who kept him current on the situation. With the assistance of the Lafayette SSC techs, members Jason Maroon and Clyde Hunt, the supplies made it to us. Then a few days later they were joined by member Mike Lilley with more water for us as they were bringing in fuel for our GOVs. Those of us who did not need to evacuate or were able to come to work, showed up to start restoring equipment damaged by the storm, with the aid of F&E, FMP and T-Staff. The supplies coming in from our PASS brethren were also shared with the facilities maintenance personnel who were sent to help.

While 2020 was a busy general election year, PASS joined many political action committees (PACs) and lawmakers in significantly curtailing election and campaign spending in light of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world and Capitol Hill grappled with working from home and embraced video conferencing, PASS found creative ways to remain engaged with lawmakers to advocate for aviation safety, federal employee benefits, workplace safety and more. 

In the increasingly polarized political environment, a strong PAC is more important than ever and allows PASS to work with members of Congress on critical issues regardless of political party. PASS remains focused on the issues that impact you: protections for federal employees and the safety of the National Airspace System. Supporting those who maintain the world’s largest and safest airspace 365 days a year should never be a partisan issue. The 2020 election resulted in one of the most closely divided congresses in modern history and having a strong PAC gives us a seat at the table where decisions and compromises are being made that directly impact PASS members. Contributions to the PASS PAC are essential to building and fostering meaningful relationships with lawmakers and their staff. By law, union dues are not used for partisan political activity and PAC contributions are voluntarily made.