NATCA Bookshelf

NATCA LEGISLATIVE TEAM How NATCA Influences Aviation Policy • LOBBYING IN CONGRESS Lobbying is first and foremost about education. Due to the technical nature of many of NATCA's key issues, NATCA's legislative and political team educates elected officials and their staffs on complex safety issues and helps shape policy solutions. In general, aviation safety is a non-partisan issue, so NATCA collaborates with elected officials on both sides of the aisle. • ADVOCACY IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND ADMINISTRATION While legislation plays a large role in aviation policy, the White House and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are also essential to the process. NATCA maintains strong relationships with staff members in the White House and works closely with the DOT. In recent years, NATCA's relationship with the DOT has been strong, as the two organizations have largely the same vision of aviation policy. • POLITICAL PROGRAM Working with NATCA leadership, the Government Affairs department oversees the Union's political program, which seeks to establish and strengthen our relationships with congressional leaders in both the House and Senate to ensure NATCA's issues are heard and addressed by both Democrats and Republicans. • INDUSTRY OUTREACH NATCA works closely with the leadership and government affairs departments in many aviation industry associations and organizations such as the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), Airlines for America (A4A), National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), Association of Flight Aendants (AFA), and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). As a result, NATCA and the aviation industry are able to collectively lobby Congress on mutual issues. NATCA also collaborates with other industry stakeholders through participation on the FAA Management Advisory Council, the NextGen Advisory Council, and various other boards of executives. • LABOR OUTREACH NATCA is a direct affiliate with the AFL-CIO and works with other AFL-CIO union affiliates to promote our shared objectives. NATCA meets weekly with other union legislative directors to find common goals and formulate common strategies. NATCA is also a key member of several coalitions and taskforces that focus on various topics such as federal employees and budget issues. • RESEARCH As the union representing aviation safety professionals, NATCA is the leading subject maer expert on many aviation issues. Through congressional testimony and white papers, NATCA disseminates the Union's expert opinion to Congress and the public at large. Examples of recent research include a white paper about sequestration and its effects on the NAS and the economy, and a staffing survey to analyze staffing nationwide. • GRASSROOTS OUTREACH NATCA's legislative and political team mobilizes a strong coalition of grassroots activists across the country. NATCA members are an essential part of the Union's political and legislative strategy because, as constituents and subject maer experts, NATCA members can build strong relationships with their elected officials and educate them on NATCA's top priorities. NATCAvists are able to personalize the Union's issues in a compelling manner that informs members of Congress on how their constituents are directly affected by their policy decisions. NATCA's member involvement is one of the key ingredients to the Union's overall legislative and political strategy. Facility Legislative Representative Each facility should have a member activist designated as the facility legislative representative. Should a facility choose not to have a designated facility legislative representative, those duties will fall to the FacRep. Facility legislative representatives are the primary legislative contacts within individual facilities. They ensure that their local membership acts upon congressional information requests and/or grassroots initiatives. They also lead political activity and education within their local's membership, engage with members of Congress and their staffs, build relationships for the benefit of NATCA, and keep their membership informed of legislative activity. The facility legislative representative is also responsible for keeping a solid line of communication from the local level up to their state coordinator. Member Activist The member activist is the most important member of NATCA's legislative team! When every NATCA member participates, NATCA's voice is heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. n i w . n a t c a . n e t MAY 18-20, 2015 n i w . n a t c a . n e t 9

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