Imposed Work Rules

To Achieve the Most, Cultivate the Best

Reiterating the Need for Cooperative Design and Implementation of Work Rules

ISSUE

The Federal Aviation Administration unilaterally imposed work and pay rules on 11 bargaining units represented by NATCA on July 10, 2005.  Employees in these units include engineers, drug abatement inspectors, computer specialists, financial service professionals, occupational health specialists, flight test pilots, technical specialists, and administrative employees. Approximately 1,800 employees are affected. 

NATCA POSITION

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association believes the FAA did not complete bargaining and maliciously ignored requests by the Union to continue negotiations for the 11 bargaining units.  The FAA's submission to Congress was incomplete, inaccurate and premature. NATCA does not believe this subject was properly put before Congress and strongly urges that Congress mandate that the FAA complete negotiations as required by Title 5United States Code Chapter 71 and return the work and pay rules to the status quo ante until negotiations are concluded.  The agency’s illegal implementation has significant impact on employees, including the loss of pay and the reduction of retirement benefits for current employees, despite the agency’s claims that this would not happen.

BACKGROUND

The FAA and NATCA agreed upon the vast majority of the collective bargaining agreements but did not reach a settlement on a compensation system.  After agreement was not reached through mediation by the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS), in July 2003, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association formally requested the assistance of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) to resolve collective bargaining impasses between NATCA and the FAA for the 11 bargaining units.  In response, the FAA filed a statement with the FSIP asserting the Panel did not have jurisdiction. After further submissions by both parties, the FSIP, on January 9, 2004, issued a letter in which it stated that it was uncertain whether it had jurisdiction to resolve the impasse and declined to act until the "determinations as to Congress' intent in enacting statutory provisions (are) addressed in an appropriate forum."  NATCA filed a lawsuit January 30, 2004, requesting a federal court to provide that determination and require the FSIP to resolve the impasse. The lawsuit urged the court to rule that the FSIP does indeed have the jurisdiction and authority to act.  However, shortly after the suit was filed, the FAA circumvented the law and the collective bargaining progress by sending some of the impasse issues to Congress.  In the spring of 2005, after much time had passed, NATCA informed the FAA that the parties were no longer at impasse and that we were willing to go back to the bargaining table and negotiate a full and complete agreement.  Both the passage of time and the change in circumstances revealed that the parties were no longer at impasse over the pay system.  FAA ignored NATCA’s repeated requests to return to bargaining and on July 10, 2005, the FAA unilaterally imposed work rules and a new pay system upon the 11 NATCA bargaining units.

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