FAA: Air Traffic Contract Talks Not Over
Posted on: Friday, 31 March 2006, 15:00 CST
By LESLIE MILLER
WASHINGTON - The air traffic controllers' union said Friday that contract talks with the Federal Aviation Administration have ended, but the agency said they have not.
"Contract talks are over," said National Air Traffic Controllers Association spokesman Doug Church. "Neither side in the negotiating room at the table has declared impasse," countered FAA spokesman Greg Martin.
Martin said the FAA's negotiators had agreed to meet again with the union negotiators on Tuesday. He suggested that NATCA President John Carr was out of touch with his negotiators.
Either way, there is no agreement on a new pact.
The talks began in July, at the end of a five-year contract that expired Sept. 30, 2003, but was extended for two years with minor changes.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said controllers make far more money than other public servants, control scheduling and hold back modernization projects.
Carr has said the FAA is hostile to controllers, who are concerned about the system's safety and efficiency because of the agency's reluctance to deal with modernization problems.
Though the specter of the 1981 controllers' strike looms over the upcoming negotiations, both Carr and Blakey have said they can't imagine a strike.
"We do not expect them to strike," said Martin.
A wave of controller retirements is expected in the next decade as most of the current air traffic controllers are replacements for controllers who were fired by President Reagan in 1981 for striking the government illegally.
Under federal law, Congress would have 60 days to intercede if an impasse is declared. If lawmakers failed to act, then FAA would impose its last, best contract offer.
The union announced Friday it would launch an advertising campaign to urge Congress to pass a law that would prevent the FAA from imposing its offer.
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On the Net:
Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov
National Air Traffic Controllers Association: http://www.natca.org
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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