We finally have a resolution of sorts with FAA reauthorization.  The White House finally removed their rabid objection to ANY protection from privatization after they got their butts handed to them on the cloture vote in the Senate.  Marion Blakey sent another letter to the Senate assuring them that she will not privatize or further contract out the Air Traffic Control system (this includes flight service and PASS functions) for the remainder of this fiscal year.  I have not seen the letter.  There were some problems with the "until" date (whether her guarantee was good until september 30th or October 1st reference this years funding) but with this letter in hand our allies allowed passage of the bill on Friday.

So what does this mean?  On the one hand, in the current political climate, fighting the administration to a standstill and getting this sort of assurance out of it can only be seen as a tremendous victory.  On the other hand,  the will of both houses of Congress and the majority of the American people has been disregarded due to both constitutional and rule inappropriate gerrymandering of the legislative branch by the White House and a small number of senior legislators.  Along the way we have strengthened ties and made some powerful new friends who are willing to buck slavish ideology when it comes to this country's air traffic.  We have literally impressed the hell out of friend and foe alike with the power of our activism and ability to get factual information out.  And we have also earned some new and powerful enemies who will likely take out their frustration of defeat on us in other ways.  And lets not forget that this deal is only good for the rest of this year and nothing leads me to believe we will not have this fight again next year.

To put in to perspective what all those faxes, calls emails and press events has accomplished you need to consider two things.  First, the country is not governed by the will of the people.  Second,  the country is governed by the will of the people who participate in the process of governance.  Merely objecting to or supporting a piece of legislation will do nothing to effect it's defeat or passage, unless you relay your feelings to your elected representatives and encourage like-minded individuals to do the same.  Individually and collectively we have done just that in spades.  We foiled, at least for now, a determined and deliberate effort of extremely powerful individuals and groups who wished to cause us great harm in the name of ideology and profit only.  The grassroots efforts combined with our efforts in DC have truly won the day.

The disregard of rule and law by our adversaries has had the added benefit of truly upsetting some of the legislators who would not normally be our allies.  They don't like the idea that one of the branches of our checks and balances system has been bypassed.  As we prepare for the battle next year, the arrogance and manipulation shown in this process will be both a continued threat and a rallying point.

I could write a novella on what has transpired in this and it's implications but for now I'll leave it at this.  Thank you so much for all you have done to help your Union, your profession, our system of government, and quite frankly yourself in the past few months.  Here is a press release from John Carr on FAA reauthorization;

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Doug Church

Nov. 21, 2003 202.220.9802

(cell) 301.346.8245

LONG BATTLE ON FAA BILL ENDS IN VICTORY AGAINST PRIVATIZATION

WASHINGTON – The following statement was released this evening by National Air Traffic Controllers Association President John Carr on Senate passage of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill:

“The American flying public can breathe a sigh of relief for now. Congress has declared that selling out air traffic control to the lowest bidder will not be tolerated. From day one this has been about safety and safety has finally won. Now it’s up to all of us concerned about the safety of our skies to make sure that the Administration sticks to its promise not to privatize. Actions speak louder than words and rest assured that we will be watching.

“It’s been a long, remarkable road since July. We thank the tens of thousands of people who called their members of Congress. As a result of this public outcry, the House took the extraordinary step of recommitting a conference report and the Senate failed to get the votes they needed to move it forward. As a matter of fact, a Republican-controlled Congress told the White House that privatization is unacceptable and something needed to be worked out. Congress knew that the flying public was not going to tolerate privatization.”

“We’ve come a long way since that dark day in July when privatization seemed inevitable. We thank members, particularly Senators Lautenberg and Reid and Representatives Oberstar, Hoyer and DeFazio and the Republican members who stood strong under enormous pressure, and did what was right for the flying public. And for those who opposed efforts to ensure that the world’s safest and most efficient air traffic control system is not sold to the lowest bidder, we can only hope that they have now seen that safety should never take a backseat to political ideology.

“A sigh of relief can be heard throughout our nation’s skies. Now, we need to work together to make sure that promises made are promises kept. We’ll be watching, and, in the words of Governor Schwarzenegger, ‘We’ll be back.’”

In other legislative news,  the provisions that protected current overtime pay eligibility have been removed from legislation.  At least as far as the air traffic bargaining unit goes, we have protections in our contract as to overtime pay and eligibility.  Unfortunately  our contract has been routinely ignored by the current FAA administration and needless to say we are way above the salary level that would make us eligible for overtime pay in the new Bush/DOL revisions.  I will put out more information in the future on the possible impact to us as that picture becomes clearer.