Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

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Against the Wind
AATCC and the NATCA name was dropped.
The darkest cloud overshadowing the effort
was money. AFGE membership had plummeted
during the early 1980s, creating serious financial
difficulties. In his report, Kushner proposed a conservative
budget of $675,000 to continue organizing
the controllers in 1985. He conceded it would
take another twelve to fifteen months before AFGE
could expect enough money in dues from AATCC
to cover its costs. Kushner also worried about the
“shallow support” for the effort among AFGE’s
national vice presidents, given its financial constraints
and the challenges of organizing a different
Japphire
800 Independence Avenue: In its appeal against petitions for regional unions, the FAA argued that it ran the air traffic
control system from headquarters in Washington and, therefore, the new bargaining unit should be nationwide.
1984
2
Nov.
At an AATCC New England meeting, controllers elect Howie Barte from
Quonset TRACON in Rhode Island as their regional representative. Several
other regions also have reps by this time: Eastern, Joe D’Alessio, later
type of work force.
The movement at Washington Center, which
began a mere two years after the strike, had sparked
regional activity and coalesced into a promising
takeoff. But as AATCC ended 1984 on a tenuous
note, the flight toward a national union was in danger
of stalling.
Controllers Win a Round
A badly needed victory lifted spirits on February
28, 1985, when the FLRA approved the New
England petition. The ruling followed three days
of hearings the previous November, when the FAA
reiterated its objection to the proposed single-facility
unions in Atlantic City and Bradley-Windsor Locks
as well as the regional unit in New England.
The agency argued that it directed air traffic
operations and employee relations from its headquarters
at 800 Independence Avenue in Washington—not
from its nine regional offices. Therefore,
any union should be national in scope. The FAA also
maintained that automation specialists were part of
management and should not be included in any bargaining
unit.
FLRA Regional Director S. Jesse Reuben partially
agreed and dismissed petitions for the singlefacility
unions. But he allowed the New England unit
by noting that FAA regional directors “have broad au-
replaced by Joe O’Brien, both from New York TRACON; Great Lakes,
Fred Gilbert from Chicago Center; Northwest Mountain, Gary Molen
from Salt Lake Center.