PASS Applauds Legislation to Secure Pay for Furloughed FAA Employees

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tom Brantley, National President of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO (PASS), which represents over 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and

Department of Defense employees, released the following statement following introduction of the Federal Aviation Employees Protection Act of 2011, legislation aimed at allowing furloughed FAA employees to return to work with full pay and benefits.

"PASS applauds the legislation introduced by Senators Rockefeller and Cantwell and believes it will provide relief for the thousands of FAA employees caught in the middle of this congressional standoff. This is a financial hardship for many FAA employees represented by PASS and we urge Congress to immediately pass this legislation.

"Among the PASS members impacted by the furlough are a single mother who has worked for the FAA for over 24 years who is already struggling to make ends meet; an engineering technician responsible for installation projects from Maine to Puerto Rico who is considering filing for unemployment if the furlough continues; and an aviation safety assistant who works with inspectors on special instrument procedures who calls the furlough ‘completely unexpected' and had to file for unemployment.

"These are real people suffering real hardships and the fact that their jobs have been taken away in this troubled economy due to controversial provisions in the House-passed FAA extension is beyond disturbing. Above all, these FAA employees want to return to work. They want to continue in their efforts to protect and promote the safe and efficient operation of this country's aviation system.

"While PASS is cautiously optimist regarding recent efforts made by members of the House and Senate to introduce a clean extension of FAA funding, we greatly appreciate the efforts to secure paychecks for those impacted by the furloughs. PASS thanks Senators Rockefeller and Cantwell as well as the bill's cosponsors, Senators Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.)."

For more information or questions, please contact Kori Blalock Keller at (202) 293-7277 x110.

###

For 36 years, PASS has represented 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.

1000 characters left