1-877-FAIRFAA....Air Traffic Controller concerns on Washington Journal

[libnnc]

www.fairfaa.com

John Carr, NATCA president, is talking on C-Span about important issues right now. ATCers don't need to strike, 1 in 4 will be RETIRING by the end of 2007! There's no incentive for controllers to stay in the system. The FAA won't negotiate a new contract. In Bangor, Maine 9 out of 19 controllers will retire by the end of THIS YEAR.

[libnnc]

1. Dammit this is important!

The FAA is encouraging a climate of fear and intimidation. Do we want the cheapest air traffic contol system that money can buy?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. The Repubs will just privatize it, import people from India on H1-B visas.

[benburch]

3. And the first major air crashes will occur within weeks. nt

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. Why import them?

They will just beam the radar info over to India.

[dogday]

9. Wow, I was thinking they would bring

in the military to run it.... Now that is a scary thought.....

[ecstatic]

4. omg did you guys hear what Carr said to elderly caller

who said he worked as a ATCer for the CAA?!

"...back when dinosaurs roamed the earth..."

:rofl:

[libnnc]

5. Bang! Zing! Pow!

That's our "Johnny da Bull"

:toast:

[benburch]

7. What did he say?

I'm not a TV watcher.

[napi21]

8. I watched it this morning! Really slammed the "B" who's head of

FAA! I think we all should contact our Reps & Sens to tell them to force the FAA back to the table on this! If Congress does nothing, the FAA rules will automaticaly go into efFect!

This lady wants the Controllers to work for $8.47 (I think) an hr, even after they're certified!

[libnnc]

10. basically what this proposed contract imposes

is a "pay band freeze" and loss of nearly all incentive benefits.

For example, my partner worked her butt off to get to a higher level facility (going through all the bureaucratic paperwork bs and is still in the training phase) with the assumption that she would get a raise once she "checks out" (becomes proficient in both tower and radar traffic control at said larger facility). Now with this proposed contract, if congress does not compel the FAA to go back to the bargaining table, my partner's pay is "frozen". No more pay raises for the rest of her career. She's got about 9 more years until she retires. Not only that but one of the MANY concessions that NATCA offered the FAA was an elimination in pay incentives like Sunday pay, night differential and the bonuses for working at very busy, and/or large facilities (i.e. Chicago/O'Hare).

This contract proposal by the FAA, erases any incentive for the 1 in 4 controllers who are eligible to retire (by late '07) to stay on with the agency.

Hear that giant sucking sound? It's the sound of a highly experienced, and professional workforce heading for the exits.

www.fairfaa.com
1-877-FAIR-FAA

[napi21]

11. Yes, I heard Carr say that. Also there was a caller who went through

a 4 year college degree program to be a Controller, and even though the course was originally set up by the FAA, the graduates are just being ignored in favor of cheaper HS/GED grads.

My son is a mech for a large commercial airline, and several of his friends are controllers. It's a very difficult job, and mentally distressing, even at normal times. I can only guess the FAA is responding to Shrub's orders to privatize EVERYTHING!

I'm going to contact my Rep and both Sens on this, and I hope everyone else will too.

This is yet another reason for me to question if the US has any chance at all of surviving ShrubCo!!!!