- Update on FAA Reauthorization: HR 658
As you’re well aware, the FAA Reauthorization has rapidly been moving toward passage over the past two weeks. Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted, passing 248 to 169 accepting the conference report. The Senate is scheduled to vote on Monday on whether to accept the report. This is the last step before sending the bill to President Obama for signing. The legislation authorizes $15.9 billion per year for federal aviation programs thru 2015 and includes much needed Next Gen financing. Below is a quick explanation about how we got here:
· For a year, the Democrats have stood with us to keep an unrelated matter out of the bill: the reversal of the NMB decision not to count workers who don’t vote in representation elections as “no votes.” As you remember, the FAA shut down in August 2011 because there were partisan differences on issues. The underlying issue was that Republicans would not take out the unrelated safety matter of union elections from the bill.
· TWU maintained the position that the election issue did not belong in the bill—or any other labor provision for that matter.
· Two weeks ago, we were informed that the Democrats had negotiated a “compromise” to pass the bill. This occurred without our input or consent. In fact, we’ve been told that no union, was involved in arriving at the “compromise”. The “compromise” did not reverse the yes/no ballot rule, but it changes the number of cards needed to trigger an election, alters the run-off election process, and mandates frequent and unnecessary government scrutiny of the National Mediation Board’s work.
· President Little stated that we “can live with” the changes, and he blasted the Congress for arriving at this “compromise” without allowing labor any input during the negotiation process. He requested that they go back and clarify some things, namely how these changes will impact elections in the case of an airline or rail merger. But, the conference report on the FAA Bill was agreed to by the conference committee without any clarification. And, the House voted Friday passing the conference report. Now, it awaits Senate approval.
Read the letter President Little sent to every Member of Congress by clicking here.
We’ve thought long and hard about the labor compromise and are lobbying to still maneuver changes that will fix and clarify the areas of concern. We’re working with House and Senate Leaders, Members and Staff to find some way to make these changes. As for now, we will push for passage of HR 658- The FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act. We cannot afford another shutdown of the FAA and we will not gamble with the provisions that are beneficial to our members that are included in the bill. Two provisions that are included in HR 658 that we have advocated on behalf of that are included; a higher scrutiny at repair stations including inspections, drug and alcohol testing and a mandate to complete the work that was begun under the 2000 Memorandum of understanding regarding OSHA coverage for flight attendants. Though the provisions don’t go as far as we would like, they serve as a building block for future endeavors.
Once the Senate votes, we’ll update you further.
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