FAA History Lesson -- June 17 (08)

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Jun 17, 1981: PATCO rejected a Reagan Administration contract proposal as inadequate and broke off informal talks with representatives of FAA. The informal talks, conducted irregularly since the break in formal talks on Apr 28, were held under the aegis of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. (See Jun 18, 1981, and Jun 22, 1981.) “

In case you missed it in last week’s Congressional hearing, the FAA made NATCA an offer to settle their current contract dispute. All indications are that it will be rejected out of hand as nothing more than what it was -- a stunt so that the FAA could testify it was trying to rectify the situation. Make no mistake. The situation is intolerable and something will have to change.

Unless you were in the aviation industry in 1981, you probably don’t remember the build up to the PATCO strike in 1981. Most American woke up on August 3, 1981 and suddenly it was in the news. As you can see from the entries above and below, the strike didn’t “just happen.” There was a long lead up period and it was inevitable that something would happen. Let’s try to learn something so we don’t repeat this particular bit of history.

”Jun 18, 1981: The U.S. District Court rejected a PATCO motion to vacate the injunction restraining the union from engaging in illegal job actions or strikes (see Jun 21, 1978). PATCO moved to have the injunction lifted on the grounds that it had been superceded by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which gave the Federal Labor Relations Authority original jurisdiction in Federal labor-management disputes. (See May 23, 1981, and Jun 17, 1981.) “

”Jun 22, 1981: Department of Transportation and PATCO representatives reached agreement on a tentative new contract after a marathon bargaining session, thus averting a threatened nationwide strike by PATCO-affiliated controllers that had been scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., Monday, Jun 22.

Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis and PATCO President Robert Poli had gone back to the bargaining table Friday evening, Jun 19, at the behest of Representative James J. Howard (D-N.J.), chairman of the House Public Works Committee. The resumption of talks may also have been prompted by a letter to Poli from 36 U.S. Senators, stating that a strike by PATCO "will do nothing to further your goals of increased pay and changes in working conditions." The bargaining sessions, which took place at the offices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and were joined in by Federal mediator Kenneth Moffett, lasted more than 25 hours, with the last session running past 3 a.m., Monday. The agreement contained four key provisions, which the Reagan Administration agreed to recommend to Congress:

* A "responsibility" differential that would give controllers 42 hours pay for each normal 40hour week worked.

* An increase in the night differential from 10 to 15 percent of base pay.

* The exclusion of overtime, night differential, and Sunday and holiday pay from the limitations of the Federal pay cap.

* A retraining allowance equivalent to 14 weeks of base pay for controllers who became medically disqualified after five consecutive years of service at the journeyman level or above and who were ineligible for retirment or disability compensation.

The first-year cost of the total package, which included a cost-of-living raise of 4.8 percent due Federal civil service employees in October, came to approximately $40 million or, on the average, $4,000 per controller per year. PATCO had been seeking a package that would have cost the government, initially, in excess of $700 million per year. (See Jun 17, 1981, and Jul 2, 1981.) “

On a side note, today completes one full year of “FAA History Lessons” here at Get the Flick. There are many more lessons to write about. I hope you have enjoyed and learned from the ones so far.

Don Brown
June 17, 2008