|
Let’s see now, where do I start? Suffice it to say that your Union, your profession and federal workers in general are under assault from numerous angles from multiple sources. I’ll summarize a few of the hit parade items for you here later, but it’s time for involvement in the process by not only our activists (the usual suspects as it were) but also by members who have, as of yet, been happy to stay on the sidelines. Ask your FacRep, your crew-rep or your regional Vice President how you can get involved. It’s no big deal if you don’t of course, but if you should wake up one morning (to work a forced split shift) with your pay and retirement cut, the collective bargaining agreement effectively neutered, staffing emasculated to the extent that it’s laughable, your equipment and procedures degraded to just this side of unsafe, while enjoying all of this with the Agency running roughshod over your working conditions I’d appreciate it if you didn’t complain to me. The time for doing something about it will have passed and your indignation will have, sadly, developed far too late.
In order to help get some people up to speed on the issues, John Tune will be hosting a one or two day event in April (dates to follow). This will be geared primarily to the aforementioned members who have not been regular activists. You need to know what’s going on and we need your help and your perspectives in fighting this all. Also, NATCA in Washington 2005 will be (pens at the ready) May 15-18. We are looking for a mix of new folks along with some seasoned hands this year to meet with Congress so talk to your leadership about attending; we’d love to have you. Speaking of usual suspects, please take note, that we have a nifty web-based application process about to be launched for NIW and this will be the only way to request to attend. All other forms of request including mail, fax and/or personal entreaty will be met by me with a surly and petulant disapproval that should rival anything the FAA is capable of.
Okay so back to the world of “it sucks to be us”. Real quick, here are a few highlights. The White House is still trying to implement personnel “reforms” within all agencies to mirror what has transpired with homeland security personnel. These include standardized pay rates with regional adjustments and merit (read as good ole boy) based raises. Capping pay bands so those in the high end of the band will receive lump sum only payments not countable for retirement or premium pay calculation, new disciplinary rules and a lessening of Union bargaining power (if any). The FAA has capped pay already for those in the core comp system and you really need to read the latest FAA Intercom to see just how intent they are to redefine all pay for us pesky employees represented by NATCA and PASS. The Agency is still pursuing the closure of many towers during the overnight hours as well as a non voluntary shuffling of personnel to other facilities in the misguided belief that this will bandage an already hemorrhaging staffing situation (they are already backing down on funding requests for some of the new hires they promised) Included in the grand plan are mixed RDO’s and split shifts at your expense to cover their shortsighted attention to staffing. A vast backing down from promises made to you, Congress, the users and the flying public in equipment modernization, system improvements, training etc. (a nixing of funding for airspace redesign in the Central Region may have a huge impact in the near future). The continued pursuit of contracting out or consolidating of whole facilities based on an unproven perception of cost savings without real regard to safety and let’s not forget the “new screw-job each day” odyssey that are brothers and sisters in Flight Service are currently enduring; a worrisome harbinger of the Agency’s “vision” for us.
I’m sad to say that it is not an exaggeration to point out that these events are just the tip of the iceberg. Those of you who, like me, have been in the Agency for more than a few years have seen our fair share of boneheaded plans arise only to disappear later on as the result of effective negotiating, bureaucratic incompetence or congressional intervention. But the current situation sees us with an at best divided congress, a hostile administration both in the White House and at FAA headquarters, a disregard for law, rule, regulation, the CBA and past practice and the usual avenues for last ditch resolution with the FSIP or FLRA diminished because they have been stacked with ideological cronies. In summary, I wouldn’t recommend trusting these situations will collapse under their own weight as in the past. This really does have the potential of brewing in to a perfect storm. We need all the help we can get.
I originally had 11 articles culled from various sources for this update. But in order to keep this reasonable I’ve trimmed it to one. Information on all that I’ve written here and more is out there if you care to find it.
The following article is the newest chapter in Congress’s reaction to the Presidents unannounced bomb (not even briefed to the Republican leadership) that he desires us all to be in an employment situation similar to Homeland Security. My take on it is that it will not be implemented this year or the next but then again that’s not the goal. From a tactical standpoint the President has put Congress, including his own leaders, on the defensive. In order to show some solidarity you have Republican leaders scrambling to say that this is premature and we ought to wait a bit to see how the reforms work at HSD and DOD (even though they know the idea is an awful one at any time … period). Strategically this works well in a couple of years when the Administration will come back reminding them their own comments, which did not reflect the foolishness of this course but only its premature nature, and subsequently pushing for passage of this agenda. It’s really a quite brilliant manipulation of his own party in a soulless sort of way.
Grant Anderson
GOVEXEC.COM: Senator urges go-slow approach to personnel reform By David McGlinchey A key Republican senator urged the Bush administration Thursday to wait for results from the new Homeland Security and Defense department personnel systems before spreading the reforms to the rest of the federal government. In late January, the Office of Management and Budget said it would seek to overhaul personnel rules in all federal agencies. Clay Johnson, OMB deputy director for management, acknowledged that the plan - which was included in the fiscal 2006 budget proposal - will require congressional approval. Federal personnel officials are implementing sweeping reforms at DHS and Defense that will abolish the General Schedule pay system, restrict union bargaining rights and implement stricter disciplinary rules. "We have a difference of opinion with the administration on whether this should be cascaded out" in the short term, said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, during a hearing Thursday of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia. Voinovich is chairman of that subcommittee and would have a great deal of influence on the expansion of civil service reform to the rest of the federal government. The hearing focused on the Homeland Security personnel system. "I'm going to try to stick to my guns," Voinovich said. During Thursday's hearing, several Homeland Security personnel officials described the new system as critical to national security. Voinovich told them that their experience with the revamped systems would most likely determine if the reforms were spread to other federal agencies. He made it clear that he supports the reforms, and he called on union leaders to help shape the process and support the transition. Union officials, however, were wary. Several labor leaders are sharply opposed to the DHS personnel reforms as they currently exist. The personnel systems at DHS and Defense were overhauled because of national security concerns and that rationale cannot be applied elsewhere, said National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley. "Those considerations do not apply to the rest of the government," Kelley said. The senior Democrat on the subcommittee, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, also called on the Bush administration to show patience in carrying the reforms to other parts of the federal workforce. "It is premature and shortsighted," he said, "to open the door to untried and untested regulations." |
