This week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on H.R. 2881, The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007. As you know, this bill contains a number of provisions important to PASS including:

• Providing for a fair collective bargaining process for all FAA employees, represented by PASS, NATCA and AFSCME
• Requiring that foreign repair stations be inspected twice a year by an FAA inspector
• Ensuring that there are an appropriate number of FAA systems specialists

We ask you to contact your Representative today with one simple and urgent message - VOTE YES ON H.R. 2881.

Please take a moment to personalize and send the message below asking your Representative to VOTE YES ON H.R. 2881. In just a few minutes, you can fill out a short form asking for your members’ support. You can also contact your Representative by calling the House switchboard at 202-225-3121 and they can connect you to their office.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to ask you to support the men and woman who protect this country's aviation system by voting in the affirmative for H.R. 2881, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Act of 2007.

H.R. 2881 is a pivotal piece of legislation as it includes language that corrects the unfair collective bargaining process at the FAA. During mark up of the bill by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Aviation Subcommittee Chair Jerry Costello introduced an amendment aimed at protecting the rights of FAA employees to a fair collective bargaining process. The amendment passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. If enacted, H.R. 2881 would prevent the FAA from unilaterally imposing working conditions on its employees and encourage fair collective bargaining between the FAA and its unions.

The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS), National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), who together represent over 30,000 FAA employees, are in full support of H.R. 2881. The employees represented by these three groups desire only a fair process for resolving collective bargaining impasses. H.R. 2881 would allow for this and prevent the continuation of many of the labor relations problems currently afflicting the FAA. For instance, consider the following: - Four out of five PASS negotiations have been at impasse for over three years. In PASS's technicianal unit, the FAA's proposed agreement was rejected by 98 percent of the employees, but the agency has refused to return to the bargaining table. - The FAA has imposed new work rules on nearly all of NATCA's bargaining units without the consent of the union or ratification by any of the covered employees. - AFSCME and the FAA reached agreement in January 2001 when the chief negotiators for both parties indicated acceptance by signing off on an agreement and FAA employees ratified the agreement. However, the FAA has refused to implement this contract despite the agreement between parties.

In addition to providing for a fair collective bargaining process, enactment of H.R. 2881 would benefit aviation safety in several other areas. For example, H.R. 2881 addresses the very serious issue of FAA oversight of work performed at foreign repair stations by requiring that these stations be inspected twice a year by an FAA inspector. Currently, even though the industry is increasingly outsourcing more work to foreign repair stations in areas such as China and El Salvador, many of these stations are only visited once every two years by an FAA inspector.

H.R. 2881 also takes important steps toward ensuring that there are an appropriate number of FAA systems specialists in place. These individuals are responsible for maintenance, installation and certification of the air traffic control system and are fundamental to the future of FAA modernization. By directing the Comptroller General to conduct a study of systems specialist training and the National Academy of Sciences to examine the methods used to determine staffing levels of this workforce, H.R. 2881 seeks to address the issue of low technical staffing and the corresponding impacts to safe and efficient air travel. Without a doubt, the current state of the systems specialist workforce must be studied in order to make sure the FAA is adequately staffed and that the workforce is appropriately trained.

The employees of the FAA need your support of H.R. 2881 in order to continue protecting this country's reputation as having the safest aviation system in the world.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
September 18, 2007