[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 47 (Monday, March 19, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H2643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, as you have heard our 
colleagues coming down to the well and talking passionately on the 
anniversary of the Iraq war and the debate that will go later on in 
this week and a vote that will come on to the floor of the House, I 
think that this is what certainly the American people want to see; but 
tonight, Mr. Speaker, I also want to talk about something else.
  We in Congress must keep our eyes and ears open on all things that 
are happening around us; and today I want to talk about the tens of 
thousands of Federal Aviation Administration employees that are working 
without a contract.
  Most of these workers are represented by the National Air Traffic 
Controllers Association, Professional Airways System Specialist, and 
the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
  The FAA under the Bush administration has attacked the collective 
bargaining process. The FAA has not implemented a single negotiated and 
ratified contract with any of its contract unions. FAA employees need a 
fair collective bargaining process restored.
  Just as this House gave collective bargaining rights to TSA employees 
in the 9/11 bill, which was the right thing to do, we must do no less 
for the employees of the FAA. Let me be very clear on this point. Our 
air traffic controllers do not have a contract with the FAA.
  The FAA imposed work and pay rules on these individuals last 
September. There is no Federal law that recognizes imposed work and pay 
rules as a contract. Morale among FAA employees is extremely low. 
Retirements are far exceeding FAA's planning. Fatigue among those 
employees who remain is a major concern, and these are all direct 
effects of the unilaterally imposed work rules.
  In 2003, there were over 15,000 air traffic controllers. At the end 
of 2006, there were barely 14,000. Of the 14,000 working today, almost 
2,000 of them are trainees and not fully certified. At the same time, 
and by no means by coincidence, operational errors are on the rise at 
the FAA's busiest facilities, including Atlanta-Hartsfield and the 
Southern California TRAY-CON.
  Current FAA projections are that by the year 2010, which is only a 
few years away, 40 percent of the air traffic control workforce will 
have 4 years or less on the job.
  This House has a duty to these individuals to a fair process. That is 
all they are asking for, nothing more, nothing less.
  Mr. Speaker, a lot of people do not understand the job that air 
traffic controllers have, yet they have the control of the thousands 
and thousand of lives on a daily basis. Every single day that people 
fly, it is the air traffic controllers that are basically controlling 
the skies to make us safe.
  And being that we are talking about 9/11, think about what our air 
traffic controllers did on that day. They brought down thousands and 
thousands of planes without one incident. They saved so many lives, and 
yet here the administration is taking away the right for them to earn a 
decent pay.
  The pressure that is up in those towers is unbelievable. I have spent 
time there just to see what that job was like. They are not asking for 
more or less. All they are asking for is a contract.
  This House has a duty to make sure that those workers have what is 
due them.

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