Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

Follow the Money
During the early 1990s, a grievance
filed by Cleveland Center facility rep
Pat Forrey involving Sunday premium
pay led to a settlement of more than $20
million, the largest with the FAA to date.
The issue involved controllers who
arrived for work at 11:45 p.m. Sunday for
a midnight shift. The agency maintained
that the controllers chose to start work
early for their Monday shift under flexible
scheduling rules and did not deserve the
extra pay. However, the Comptroller General,
the head of the General Accounting
Office, concluded that the flexible schedule
issue was irrelevant. The employees
worked part of Sunday and, according to
the union’s contract, were entitled to the
differential, which amounted to about
$650,000.
As the case evolved, NATCA’s
grievance expanded to include controllers
who’d been denied the premium pay for
taking annual and sick leave on Sundays.
The $19.5 million settlement covered
nearly seven years dating to November
1986 (Congress later passed a law prohibiting
the extra pay).
When the FAA’s hefty check arrived
at union headquarters, it was en-
dorsed to Executive Vice President Joseph
Bellino rather than to NATCA. The check
also posed another issue: It was well
above federal deposit insurance limits.
Bellino and comptroller Frances Alsop
agreed they’d have to parcel the money
out in different bank accounts across the
country until NATCA calculated how
much each controller should receive.
Demonstrating his characteristic
sense of humor, Bellino created fictitious
names for the accounts: Grand Cayman
Local 1, Grand Cayman Local 2,
etc. An auditor who stumbled across the
wealthy Caribbean “local” immediately
approached Bellino.
“Are there controllers in the Grand
Cayman Islands?” he asked suspiciously.
Unable to resist, Bellino deadpanned:
“No, I don’t think there are. But
we’ve got a local there.”
The auditor appeared confused.
“Well, we’ve got some $19.5 million in
these Grand Cayman locals.”
“It’s a pretty rich local,” Bellino
acknowledged.
“What do you mean? Where did it
come from?”
“I don’t know.”
Chapter 5: The Art of the Deal
NATCA archives
Up his sleeve: When NATCA won a back pay settlement
and banked the money before disbursing it to
controllers, Joseph Bellino unnerved an auditor by
creating a fictitious local in the Cayman Islands.
The auditor persisted. “Who’s in
this local?”
“Barry Krasner is the VP. I’m
the president. He’s the president of the
union. I’m the president of the local. John
Thornton is the secretary-treasurer. We
have one member and that’s Will Faville.”
“Where’d you get this money?”
“I don’t know. Does it matter?”
The auditor was not amused and
insisted that Bellino transfer the money
out of the accounts as soon as possible.
NATCA planned to do just that, of
course, and mailed the entire $19.5 million
to controllers a few months later.
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