affairs staff will contin ue our meetings on the Hill to address the detrimental effects of a
government shutdown to the NAS.
SEQUESTRATION UPDATE : A sequester compromise seems unlikely before the end
of the fiscal year. Sequestration has been used as a tool to reduce the federa l budget,
and in 2013, the measure drastically cut the FAA budget and caused furloughs at the
FAA. NATCA is continuing to work with members of Congress and their respective staffs
on this issue and reminding them of the affect it had on the aviation system in 2013, and
making clear that if sequestration cuts are implemented, the cuts will be larger than in
2013. We will keep you updated on these important issues.
FAA REAUTHORIZATION: The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I)
Committee has continue d working on the FAA bill during August recess, but the
Committee's attention is now focused on both the Highway bill and an extension of the
FAA Authorization. We expect the FAA extension to last until early 2016, which would
hopefully allow time for a bi ll to pass both chambers and be conferenced before heading
to the President. At this time, the House T&I Committee has pushed off introducing their
FAA Reauthorization bill until October or early November. NATCA government affairs
staff will be meeting wit h House and Senate committee staffs to discuss NATCA
priorities for the inevitable extension. Government Affairs continues to work with the
committee staff on this issue and will provide updates as we know them.
COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
VOTE NATCA! Co mmunications Dept. Helps Union's Continued Get - Out - The - Vote
Effort for AFN Employees
Over the past several weeks, NATCA has given the 1,300 employees of the new
AFN (FAA Office of Finance and Management) bargaining unit many good reasons to
vote for the Union in this election to decide who will represent them.
Some of the best reasons come from NATCA members in Region X bargaining
units who chose NATCA in past elections. A couple of them sent emails to AFN
employees this week, explaining why they voted N ATCA.
"Airways Facilities engineers decided to seek exclusive representation from
NATCA in 1995 because we believed NATCA could best address and fight for our
issues," wrote NATCA Engineers Northwest Mountain Representative Curt Howe. "In
October 1995, NAT CA brought the engineers to Washington, D.C., to discuss an
organizing strategy. From June to October 1997, NATCA and engineer volunteers from
all nine regional offices executed a national organizing campaign. On November 10,
1997, engineers voted YES NATC A by over an 80 percent margin."
Many AFN employees have already returned their ballots or pledged to vote for
NATCA; the rest have a couple of more weeks to decide before their ballots are due to
the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) on Sept. 23.
To read our full coverage of the AFN election in the most recent issue of the
NATCA Insider, please click here.
Photo gallery from meet and greet events over the past few weeks, please click
here .
Check out our new video here .
