Contract Negotiations Update
May 12, 2006

Flight Standards, AFS-700, AVN and MIDO bargaining units

There have been no discussions between PASS and the agency for several months over the impasses for our Flight Standards, AFS-700, AVN and MIDO bargaining units. However, based on the agency’s recent actions during its impasse with NATCA, I expect the FAA to submit our impasses to Congress in the very near future.

The only way to stop the FAA from imposing new contracts on PASS members is to get help from Congress. Until Congress tells the FAA that it does not want to be responsible for resolving bargaining disputes for the agency, we will have new contracts imposed on us at the FAA’s pleasure.

Every PASS member must contact their members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor the “Federal Aviation Administration Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006” (S. 2201/H.R. 4755). This important legislation would prevent an administrator from simply imposing his/her will on employees and force the FAA to negotiate in good faith–and PASS believes FAA employees are entitled to participate in fair contract negotiations with the agency. The legislation is designed to correct the problems in current law that allows the agency to impose contracts on employees rather than negotiate agreements by creating a three-step process for negotiations that is fair to both labor and management. Under the legislation, if the two parties are unable to reach an agreement and Congress chooses not to act on the impasse, the agency and the union would both present their proposals to binding arbitration.

If you have not yet contacted your members of Congress, please take a moment to do so by visiting the PASS website at www.passcontractalert.org. (The website also has talking points and other useful materials, as well as updates on the legislation.) In just a few minutes, you can fill out a short form asking your members to cosponsor the legislation. If you do not have access to the Internet, contact the national office at 202-293-7277 to obtain a copy of a sample letter that you can personalize and submit to your members of Congress. If you have already contacted your members of Congress but they are still not a cosponsor of S.2201 or H.R. 4755, then please follow up with a phone call or personal visit.

Technical Operations (formerly AF) Unit

As explained in my last update, PASS’s ratification process consists of several phases: the preliminary phase, where PASS officials informally communicate with members about the terms of and express opinions about the tentative agreement; the briefing phase, where PASS officials and negotiating team members travel around the country providing face-to-face briefings to as many groups of members as possible to explain the terms of the tentative agreement in more detail and answer questions; and the balloting phase, where PASS mails a ratification ballot to every PASS member in the affected bargaining unit.

PASS is now entering the briefing phase and will be conducting briefings around the country in upcoming weeks. If you are a contract administration representative or chapter president, your regional vice president will be contacting you shortly to notify you of the briefing that you are scheduled to attend. All contract administration representatives and chapter presidents are expected to attend a briefing to get a firsthand explanation of the terms of the tentative agreement and answers to any questions. It is vital that all contract administration representatives and chapter presidents are briefed so that they can help PASS educate the membership on this crucial ratification vote.

As of today, briefings are planned for the following locations and dates:

Location — Date

Baltimore, MD — May 24
Atlanta, GA — May 25
Chicago, IL — May 31
Anchorage, AK — June 2
Oklahoma City, OK — June 6
Fort Worth, TX — June 7
Las Vegas, NV — June 10
Seattle, WA — June 12
Honolulu, HI — June 14

Although the agency has granted official time for attending these types of briefings in the past, it has rejected PASS’s request and refused to allow any official time in conjunction with this ratification process. Consequently, contract administration representatives and chapter presidents attending the briefings will need to be on an RDO or annual leave. Please make your request for annual leave as soon as possible so that the agency has no legitimate reason to deny the request. Any leave request that is denied should be immediately forwarded to the PASS national office for potential action.

Upon completion of the briefings that PASS decides are necessary for educating our field leadership about the contract terms and the consequences of ratifying or not ratifying the tentative agreement, PASS will send ballots out to members of the affected unit. However, let me assure every member that regardless of FAA pressure to complete the ratification process quicker than normal, PASS will take the time needed to be certain that members have the information and answers that they need to cast an educated vote.

Much of our ability to complete the process remains dependent on the agency’s willingness to cooperate and not interfere with the process. I still believe that the process can be completed under the same basic schedule that was used in connection with the ratification of the 2000 agreement, which took approximately four months to complete.

Confidential management sources have again provided PASS with information regarding agency briefings to managers about the ratification process. According to John Zalenchak, Tech Ops/PASS negotiation team lead, if the tentative agreement is not ratified, the agency would be prepared to “tweak” the provisions that the members are opposed to, but would be unwilling to discuss anything that was not previously TAU’d (tentatively agreed upon).

I am not certain if Mr. Zalenchak is getting this information from the agency’s labor relations staff or if he is developing his own theories, but the agency’s position is not supported by law. As I mentioned in my previous update, if the majority of members vote “Yes” (to accept the terms), the agreement would become effective following agency head review or 30 days after the vote. If a majority of members vote “No” (to reject the terms), the parties would return to the bargaining table and begin negotiations again. There is no legal support for the agency’s erroneous position that negotiations following a failed ratification would be limited to the tentatively agreed upon provisions.

In fact, the agency’s position is in direct conflict with the very notion of ratification. Essentially, the agency is saying that a “No” vote would mean the parties are then restricted to negotiating only what was rejected by the membership! This may make sense to an agency that has abandoned collective bargaining and is relying strictly on reaching impasse and imposing new contracts on employees, but in the real world (outside of Washington, D.C.), it makes no sense at all.

As I mentioned earlier, the only guaranteed way to stop the FAA from imposing new contracts on PASS members is to get help from Congress. It is essential for every PASS member to contact their members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor the “Federal Aviation Administration Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006” (S. 2201/H.R. 4755). This legislation is aimed at correcting the problems in the current law that allows the agency to impose contracts on employees rather than negotiate agreements. If you have not yet contacted your members of Congress, please take a moment to do so by visiting the PASS website at www.passcontractalert.org. (The website also has talking points and other useful materials, as well as updates on the legislation.) In just a few minutes, you can fill out a short form asking your members to cosponsor the legislation. If you do not have access to the Internet, contact the national office at 202-293-7277 to obtain a copy of a sample letter that you can personalize and submit to your members of Congress.

If you have already contacted your members of Congress but they are still not a cosponsor of S.2201 or H.R. 4755, you need to follow up with a phone call or personal visit. Hearing from constituents is the best way to ensure congressional support for this critical legislation–and the best way to protect your rights.

Finally, I want to remind every member that your elected officers are strongly encouraging members to vote “No” on this ratification. I cannot stress strongly enough that this is not an agreement that PASS supports and I believe it is critical that every member vote when they receive a ballot, and that the vote they cast is “No!”

Also, remember that until PASS members successfully ratify a new collective bargaining agreement, the current agreement remains in effect. Any attempts by FAA management to change the terms of the agreement without ratification by PASS members will be addressed through appropriate legal action as soon as PASS is made aware of such a change! Please notify your regional vice president or the PASS national office if you believe a change has been made.