Federal Daily - August 17, 2009

FAA and NATCA Reach Mediated Labor Proposal

With the help of mediators, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its largest union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), have reached agreement on a three-year proposed contract that will be sent to members for ratification. In a joint press release, NATCA and FAA said the deal included rulings by an independent arbitration team on a handful of issues not resolved by the mediation. In all, negotiators were able to resolve more than 100 of the issues in dispute. The agreement provides employees with greater flexibility in their work schedules, childcare support, a new grievance review process, and a variety of other gains. At the same time, it affords FAA the flexibility to more effectively redeploy labor to congested airports using controller incentive pay. The agreement also restores a pay standard that benefits new hires as well as veterans nearing retirement. The associated costs will be phased in over the three years of the contract, the announcement said. Members of NATCA will have 45 days to ratify the many agreed-upon issues in the proposed agreement. The five issues decided by arbitrators, including compensation, are not subject to ratification by members. “This tentative agreement marks a turning point in the relationship between the FAA and its air traffic controller and traffic management employees,” said Patrick Forrey, president of NATCA. “We look forward to working with the FAA and the aviation industry and community in a collaborative process to develop and implement the much-needed next generation aviation system.” To see more, go to: www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=10716.

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AFGE Praises Bid to Reestablish Labor-Management Forum

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President John Gage applauded a draft of an executive order, revealed by The Washington Post, which would restore labor-management forums that encourage collaboration between federal employees and agency management. The proposed National Council on Federal Labor Relations is expected to follow the pattern of the National Partnership Council which operated successfully under President Clinton, but which was dissolved by President George W. Bush early in his first term. President Obama is expected to issue a formal executive order establishing the council soon, Gage said. “Labor-management relationships were proven successes during the Clinton administration’s partnership era,” Gage said in an Aug. 12 statement. “We see the labor-management forums, as described in the draft executive order, as an incredibly useful tool in restoring the dignity and service of the federal workforce.” Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry would serve as council chairman and other members would include the Office of Management and Budget deputy director for management, as well as representatives from seven employee organizations. “Our members are mission driven and their expertise will be invaluable in transforming the federal government’s ability to better deliver services to the American people,” Gage said. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=1037.

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Border Agency Fires Back at Critic

A watchdog group’s allegations that the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) has mismanaged its mission of flood control and water management in the Southwest are inaccurate, and are based on old reports and out-of-date data, according to the agency. USIBWC defended its record in an Aug. 13 letter to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which last week singled out USIBWC as an example of a federal agency in need of oversight. Not so, according to the letter from USIBWC Public Affairs Officer Sally Spener. The PEER claim that two international storage dams operated by USIBWC were rated unsafe is not true, Spener said. The letter notes that neither of the two dams is rated as unsafe under guidelines established by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and that recent studies of both dams concluded that they appeared to be well maintained. PEER also alleged that flooding in 2008 along the border near Nogales, Ariz., was the result of a poorly maintained USIBWC-built flood channel. But USIBWC said that although there was significant flooding in Nogales, Ariz., and its cross-border twin, Nogales, Sonora, it is unfair to blame the agency for lack of maintenance of the flood control channel—known as the Nogales Wash—which has been the responsibility of Nogales, Ariz., since 1949. Spener asked that PEER correct or retract the allegations. “Failure to do so seriously jeopardizes your organization’s credibility as a government watchdog,” the letter said. To see more, go to: www.ibwc.gov/home.html/.

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Postal Workers Respond to GOP Critics

In response to a series of criticisms by the House Republican Conference (HRC), U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee unions said the allegations were unfair and were actually a “series of half-truths and down-right falsehoods.” Most of the HRC criticisms centered on the finances of the fiscally troubled USPS, and its “uncontrollable debt.” USPS has a current debt of $10.3 billion, but much of that was generated by a law imposed during the prior administration that required the Postal Service to pre-fund future retiree health benefit costs, said an Aug. 12 National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) statement. Up until 2005, USPS carried no debt, NALC said, and, although the Postal Service does expect to lose $7 billion this year, those losses are being driven by the pre-funding requirements and a recession that has dried up mail volume. The HRC noted that the Postal Service has lower customer service ratings than FedEx and UPS, but those rankings failed to account for the core of the Postal Service’s delivery business—letter mail, magazines and regular parcels, the union pointed out. In addition, NALC said, the December 2008 issue of Consumer Reports magazine found that the Postal Service matched the private companies in terms of quality of express mail service at much more reasonable prices. “Sadly, misinformation about the Postal Service is being used in the most dishonest way to discredit the government’s ability to provide high quality services in an affordable way,” the NALC statement said. American Postal Workers Union (APWU) William Burrus agreed. “The HRC’s ‘analysis’ of the USPS does not reflect the dedication and hard work of 650,000 postal employees, including those represented by collective bargaining agreements,” Burrus said. “We reject the efforts of the House Republican Conference to denigrate our service.” To see more, go to: www.nalc.org/nalc-hrc2.pdf or http://apwu.org/news/burrus/2009/update10-2009-090813.htm.

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