NATCA Bookshelf

NIW Today | 45 ISSUE For the past nine years, legislators in both chambers of Congress have been trying to balance the federal budget in large part by making cuts to federal employees' pay and benefits. Such cuts have affected NATCA members. For the past three years, these attacks also have originated in the President's fiscal year budget proposal. At a time when the FAA is at a 30-year low for certified professional controllers (CPCs), with nearly 2,000 of the approximately 10,400 CPCs eligible to retire today, any reduction in retirement benefits will cause air traffic controllers to retire earlier than expected. A large wave of unanticipated retirements could cripple the NAS by exacerbating the current staffing crisis. MESSAGE FAA employees are essential to the safety and efficiency of the NAS and Congress should not target FAA employees in an attempt to balance the federal budget. The FAA is at a 30-year low for CPCs. Of the 10,423 CPCs in the system as of the end of Dec. 21, 2018 – one day before the 35-day government shutdown – 1,965 (18.9%) are eligible to retire immediately. If these retirement-eligible CPCs know that their annuity will be reduced significantly because Congress passes legislation to enact the Administration proposal to eliminate the Social Security annuity supplement, it will greatly incentivize retirement before that occurs. A large wave of unanticipated retirements could cripple the NAS by exacerbating the current staffing crisis. If this staffing crisis continues, the FAA will be hard-pressed to maintain current capacity, let alone modernize the system and expand it for new users, such as commercial space and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). BACKGROUND Beginning in the fall of 2010, the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (also called the "Simpson-Bowles Commission") recommended reducing the federal budget through significant cuts to federal employees' pay and benefits. The final report became the framework for other anti-federal employee actions. In the prior Congress, budget resolutions have been used to outline attacks on federal employees' pay and benefits. Likewise, the current Administration has been proposing similar attacks. In 2017, the Office of Management and Budget director sent a letter to all agency heads directing them to make major cuts in programs, and even directing them to consider ways to implement workforce reductions in order to make the government "lean, accountable, and more efficient." Since then, the proposed attacks have continued in Administration budget proposals and other policy initiatives. RECENT THREATS TO FEDERAL EMPLOYEES MAY 2018 EXECUTIVE ORDERS In May 2018, the President issues three Executive Orders (EOs) that negatively affect federal employees and their unions. These EOs would: (1) expedite the process for removing federal employees in performance-based adverse actions; (2) reduce the use of union official time government-wide; and (3) reduce the time it takes to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement and reduce the costs contained within them. Although these EOs have not yet affected any of NATCA's agreements – national or local – or our current practices and procedures, other federal employee unions were not as fortunate. As a result, a number of other federal employee unions filed a lawsuit in federal court to enjoin their implementation and invalidate the EOs. Regardless of the ultimate judicial resolution of that lawsuit, we are confident that the FAA and the Department of Transportation will continue to honor our CBAs in compliance with the law and OPM guidance. FULL BACKGROUND continued on next page

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