Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

Course on cooperation: NATCA and the FAA underwent recurrent
training on Quality Through Partnership. This class included four re-
members believed the program diluted their power
as a labor organization.
But, over time, people saw benefits to STP
and it eventually caught the attention of high-ranking
managers at headquarters. The experiment migrated
to New York TRACON and by 1991 evolved
into Quality Through Partnership, which McNally
directed as the union’s national QTP coordinator.
Under the program, groups of managers and union
members had to agree on issues before they could be
implemented. Decisions were binding; neither side
1992
Oct.
NATCA archives
gional vice presidents, from left: Michael Putzier, Central; Jim Poole,
Great Lakes; Rich Phillips, Southwest; and Joe Fruscella, Eastern.
could appeal to the FLRA.
The agency created a training video to introduce
QTP and committed substantial money for sessions
at all of its facilities. Acceptance came slowly for
some—and not at all for others—who were uncomfortable
with this “new” way of thinking. Referring to
QTP as “drinking the Kool-Aid,” participants on both
sides felt it undermined their authority.
“I always viewed the agency as the enemy, not
a friend. I didn’t see the collaborative thing working,”
says Bill Otto, a controller at St. Louis TRACON who
NATCA’s recently formed Reclassification Committee, chaired by Eastern
Region Vice President Tim Haines, meets for the first time to discuss ways
to change the classification system for air traffic facilities. The union hires
Chapter 5: The Art of the Deal
141
Dick Swauger, a former PATCO member, and consultant Joe Kilgallon to
work on the project. Both men were involved in PATCO’s reclassification
effort in the mid-1970s, which resulted in higher pay for busy facilities.