Amending Title 49, United States Code

AMENDING TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE

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Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5449, introduced by the Gentleman from Ohio, Mr. LaTourette, which would ensure fair treatment of air traffic controllers, by allowing their contract dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be resolved by the procedures that govern collective bargaining for pay at other federal agencies.

While I appreciate that the Gentleman from Ohio has taken these steps to ensure that air traffic controllers are given a fair shake in this contract dispute with the FAA, I am disappointed that the Republican Leadership has forced this vote under Suspension of the Rules, which requires two-thirds of the House to vote for passage--a threshold much higher than the majority vote required under regular order. Members of this Body have co-sponsored legislation similar to Mr. LaTourette's and this substantial, bipartisan majority should be given a chance to work its will.

On April 6, the FAA declared an impasse in its negotiations with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and sent the dispute up to Congress under a provision that FAA argues gives it the right to unilaterally impose its contract terms if Congress does not act within 60 days.

FAA's interpretation of the law gives it an inherent, unfair advantage to impose its contract terms on its employees. Such a one-sided process has been an impediment to good faith negotiations that could lead to a voluntary contract. Under H.R. 5449, the parties would return to the bargaining table and, if a settlement could not be reached, the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) would have jurisdiction to resolve the dispute, including the power to impose binding arbitration on the parties.

Other federal agencies that have collective bargaining for wages must use the FSIP procedures and, as recently as 2002, the NTEU, on behalf of the Security and Exchange Commission employees it represents, went before the FSIP to settle several issues regarding pay.

The FAA has gone to great lengths to try to persuade the general public that the highly-skilled air traffic controller workforce is overpaid. I can recall no other instance in which a federal agency has gone so far in disparaging its workforce. Air traffic controllers deserve better. They are responsible for the 24/7 operation of the most robust and complex air traffic control system in the world. In 2005, for example, they moved more than 700 million airline passengers. Each day, the federal controller workforce safely and efficiently manages approximately 130,000 take-offs and landings in a system whose passenger volume is expected to grow to one billion by 2015. Our lives, and those of our constituents are in their hands, and I believe that they deserve their current pay.

Under the FAA's proposal, many controllers are being asked to take a reduction in their take home pay. FAA is proposing to limit or eliminate differential pay for controllers at some of the Nation's busiest airports, such as New York's JFK and Chicago's O'Hare airport. The average federal controller at one of these facilities could see a pay reduction of more than $10,000 per year.

Moreover, the FAA has misrepresented the facts regarding the controllers' compensation package. First, the FAA states that the current average controller pay is $173,000. This is misleading because approximately 40 percent of the controllers' compensation is in the form of federal health and retirement benefits that all government employees and Members of Congress receive. In addition, the FAA argues that the controllers have received an average 75 percent increase in salaries since 1998. However, this statement blatantly ignores the fact that nearly 60 percent of these increases are attributable to government-wide pay raises. Most of the remainder comes from a reclassification to recognize the responsibility of controlling traffic in busy facilities.

I am also concerned that if the FAA is permitted to unilaterally impose this contract there will be a mass exodus of highly-skilled, senior controllers that are eligible to retire. This exodus could cause severe understaffing at our Nation's towers, negatively impacting the safety as well as the efficiency of our air traffic control system. It is therefore imperative that we send the parties back to the negotiating table to hammer out a voluntary agreement to avoid any disruptions to air traffic control operations.

Accordingly, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5449, and restore fairness in the bargaining process between the FAA and its labor unions.

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