BIPARTISAN BILL WOULD PROTECT COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS

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Published: July 18, 2013

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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Reps. Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.), Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) and thirty of their House colleagues introduced a companion bill (H.R.4755) to the Senate’s “FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006” aimed at protecting federal employees’ collective bargaining rights by preventing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from unilaterally imposing contract terms on employees through its misinterpretation of the law.

“We are encouraged to see that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle recognize the need for fairness in collective bargaining,” said Tom Brantley, national president of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS, AFL-CIO).

The “FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006” seeks to change the method by which negotiations between the FAA and employee unions are handled in the event of impasse by creating a three-step process of negotiations:

1. 1.  Mediation: If labor and management are unable to reach an agreement, negotiations are submitted to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS).
   2.  Congressional Action: If parties cannot reach an agreement through services of FMCS, the FAA sends its contract offer to Congress along with the union’s objections. The FAA would not be able to implement its proposal unless it is specifically authorized through a bill passed by Congress. The bill includes a provision that allows Congress to weigh in if it chooses.
   3.  Binding Arbitration: If Congress does not pass a bill within the 60-day limit, both the agency and the union would present their proposals to binding arbitration.

PASS is currently at impasse with four of its five bargaining units. While negotiations in the remaining bargaining unit have just begun, the FAA has already attempted to limit negotiations in order to expedite the impasse process and get the contract to Congress as soon as possible. “The current system gives the FAA no incentive to negotiate in good faith. This legislation would require the FAA to stay at the table until contract negotiations are successful,” said Brantley. “FAA employees are entitled to participate in fair contract negotiations where both labor and management are valued.

“The fact that both the House and Senate have introduced this legislation should send a very strong message to the FAA that the current process is unreasonable,” continued Brantley. “PASS is extremely grateful to Representatives Kelly, Costello and their House colleagues for introducing this legislation.”

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PASS represents more than 11,000 employees of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense who install, maintain, support and certify air traffic control and national defense equipment, inspect and oversee the commercial and general aviation industries, develop flight procedures and perform quality analyses of the aviation systems. For more information, visit the PASS website at www.passnational.org.