[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 6 (Thursday, January 26, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S228-S229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. 
        Lautenberg):
  S. 2201. A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to modify the 
mediation and implementation requirements of section 40122 regarding 
changes in the Federal Aviation Administration personnel management 
system, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation.
  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, in the hours after the terrorist attacks on
9/11, America's air traffic controllers rose to meet the tremendous 
challenges of that day.
  After halting all takeoffs, controllers began clearing the skies over 
America. Under unprecedented conditions, controllers guided 4,500 
planes carrying 350,000 passengers to safe landings. They also rerouted 
more than 1,100 of the 4,500 flights within the first 15 minutes of the 
landing order--about one every second--and cleared the skies over 
America within 2\1/2\ hours.
  That kind of performance was wholly dependent on the caliber and 
training of the world's finest air traffic controllers. And as I come 
to the floor of the Senate today, there are hundreds of pilots flying 
commercial airplanes under an air traffic controller's guidance. Each 
and every day, the lives of thousands of people are in the hands of 
each and every air traffic controller.
  Because what they do is vital to our safety, I became very concerned 
by a letter I received from Illinois air traffic controller Michael 
Hannigan last December. He wrote that ``the air traffic controllers, 
who work aircraft everyday, often six days a week, are not being 
allowed to negotiate in good faith with the Federal Aviation 
Administration.'' And he asked for me to help ``the hard working 
Federal employees that want the protections as a labor union that they 
should have a right to bargain for.''
  What was clear in Michael's plea was the sense that he and his 
colleagues felt that they were being treated unfairly. I looked into it 
and came to the conclusion that if we did not restore a fair 
negotiation procedure, it would threaten agency morale and 
effectiveness.
  The problem is this: lower courts have determined that the FAA 
Administrator currently has the extraordinary authority to impose wages 
and working conditions on her workers without arbitration. In order to 
do that, she merely has to declare an impasse in negotiations and if 
Congress does not set everything else aside and stop her from imposing 
her terms and conditions within 60 days, the Administrator can go ahead 
and act unilaterally. That authority denies air traffic controllers and 
all other FAA employees the opportunity to engage in and conclude 
negotiations in good faith.
  To diffuse the management-labor tension at the agency and bring the 
FAA together, I am introducing ``The FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute 
Resolution Act of 2006''. I am also proud to say that Senator Inouye, 
the co-chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation 
Committees; Senator Murray, the ranking member on the Transportation 
Appropriations Subcommittee; and Senator Lautenberg, a member on the 
Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Transportation, are joining me in 
this effort.
  The FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act replaces the FAA 
Administrator's arbitrary authority with neutral binding arbitration in 
the case of an impasse in labor-management negotiations. In 
arbitration, both labor and management would have to make concessions, 
and both would be able to accept the outcome as fair.
  We need this legislation now because the FAA Administrator is engaged 
in contract negotiations with the agency's two largest groups of 
workers--the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) and 
Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS). In both cases, 
negotiations have been contentious. And the FAA's workers fear that the 
Administrator is not intent on reaching fair, voluntary agreements 
given her previous negotiations. Indeed, the Administrator has already 
used her authority to impose wages and working conditions without 
arbitration or agreement on NATCA's 11 non-air traffic controller 
bargaining units, and she stands at impasse with four of PASS's five 
bargaining units.
  The Administrator has made three arguments in defense of her actions: 
1. the FAA needs the authority ``to operate more like a business''; 2. 
air traffic controller pay is ``inappropriate given the financial 
circumstances of the airline industry the system serves''; and 3. 
changing the law to send an impasse to binding arbitration would 
essentially ``change the rules of the game during halftime.''
  But the agency's employees point out that the agency is not a 
business driven to cut costs in pursuit of profit, it is a public 
agency with no margin for error. They also argue that the nation's air 
safety should not depend on how well or poorly the airlines are doing 
financially. And, if the rules are unfair, the employees argue they 
should be changed before negotiations conclude.
  Regardless of the merits of each side's positions, if the 
Administrator is able to impose her chosen conditions on air traffic 
controllers, it will have two negative effects on the agency: 1. it 
will lead to an erosion of talent at the agency with vital, retirement-
eligible air traffic controllers interpreting such agency action as an 
invitation to

[[Page S229]]

retire; and 2. it will make recruiting needed replacement employees 
that much more difficult.
  I recognize that negotiations between the Administrator and the air 
traffic controllers are difficult. However, it is in the best interest 
of the agency and public safety to have management and labor cooperate 
in contract negotiations and if that is impossible, then no one side 
should be able to impose its views on the other. Only neutral 
arbitration can produce a fair outcome that the entire organization can 
accept.
  More than 2,900 air traffic controllers will be eligible to retire 
this year, and 7,100 controllers could leave the agency within the next 
nine years. Meeting this management challenge will require cooperation 
between labor and management. Moreover, rising tension between the FAA 
Administrator and FAA employees threatens this vital agency's 
effectiveness at every level and, as a result, threatens the safety of 
passengers.
  Again, the legislation we are introducing today would encourage both 
sides in all FAA labor-management negotiations to reach a voluntary 
agreement and in the case of impasse, it would allow the FAA to move 
forward after binding arbitration, bring its workers together, and 
focus on other challenges because no one side will have had arbitrary 
authority.
  The FAA's employees are dedicated, hard working public servants 
responsible for helping ensure the safety of the flying public. It is 
stressful, important work. We must value that work and treat them 
fairly.
                                 ______