Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

from the prestigious firm of Covington & Burling,
dickered over money. Although some union members
argued in favor of an across-the-board raise for
everyone, McNally refused to turn his back on the
concept of pay for performance and years of work by
the Reclassification Committee.
“There are a lot of controllers in the system today
who believe that a controller is a controller
is a controller. No matter how hard you
work, no matter how difficult the job you
do, we should all make the same amount of
money,” McNally says. “I don’t believe that.
I believe there are logical steps of progression
and of difficulty that should separate
the different levels of work we do, and commensurate
with that should be pay. I also believe
there are different parts of the country
that have higher costs of living that should be
recognized in order to drive people to those
parts of the country. I don’t have the magical
answer. But I know reclassification and CIP is
a start in that direction.” *
Many endorse McNally’s beliefs, including
Haines, Forrey and John Leyden, who
fought a similar battle with his PATCO brethren
in the 1970s.
“I always was a believer, and paid a heavy political
price for it, that a controller is not a controller
is a controller,” he says. When those who worked at
15
Nov.
The appropriations bill funding the Transportation Department for fiscal
1996 becomes law. Two sections of the bill mandate that the agency institute
new personnel and procurement systems. To help the FAA imple-
smaller facilities debated him on the issue, Leyden
told them to transfer to Chicago or New York, where
they could earn more money. “No one ever took me
up on my offer,” he says, because they “didn’t want to
go to the pressure cooker.”
Further talks about money between NATCA
a n d the FAA culminated one morning
in early July at a hotel in
Montréal. Seated in a glasswalled
meeting room off the
lobby, McNally and Herman
countered back and forth
while Krasner and Garvey
watched in silence. Herman
offered $140 million in new
money for pay raises. Saying
they couldn’t accept it, the
two union officials left the
room for a break.
“I never in my life believed
that someone would
offer me $140 million and
we would tell them to take
a walk,” Krasner said while
strolling toward the lobby. They wandered
into the gift shop, where Krasner bought a Cuban
cigar, before returning to the meeting. Herman
asked about the cigar as Krasner set it on the table.
“That’s for when the fat lady sings,” he explained.
Chapter 5: The Art of the Deal
169
NATCA’s third contract: The 1998 agreement
was the first time a controllers’
union negotiated pay with its employer.
The new system tied wages to operational
complexity as well as traffic counts.
* CIP is a cost-of-living premium known as
Controller Incentive Pay, which is awarded to
some facilities based on their ranking in studies
conducted by Runzheimer International.
ment these reforms, the bill exempts agency employees from key workers
rights under Title 5 of the United States Code, effective April 1, 1996,
which would strip the union of its powers as a labor group.