Patco Revisited
The Wall Street Journal
February 6, 2006; Page A18
Speaking of lobbying, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association spent last week buttering up Congress -- and therein lies a cautionary and infuriating political tale. Not only is the federal union that Ronald Reagan fired in 1981 back to its old defiant ways, this time it's counting on elected officials to deliver on its demands.
For nearly six months, the Federal Aviation Administration and Natca (the union successor to the Reagan-busted Patco) have been wrangling over the union's new contract. With the airline industry under financial strain and the federal air traffic control system crying out for upgrades, the FAA is trying to put a stopper on one of the richest contracts in government history. The union won't budge, and this time it holds a lot more political cards.
Thanks for the union's new whip hand goes to the Clinton Administration, which in 1996 chose to reward labor for its election support with legislation that gave Natca the right to bargain over its wages and benefits. This was a remarkable grant of power; most federal unions have their pay set by the government. Natca quickly used its new power to take the Clinton FAA to the cleaners with a 1998 contract that broke new records for taxpayer-funded largesse. Could this be what Vice President Al Gore meant when he pledged in 1993 to "reinvent government?"
Controller compensation through 2005 increased by 75%, and today averages $166,000. The top 100 FAA controllers earn $197,000 a year, making them better paid than cabinet secretaries (and $35,000 a year richer than FAA Administrator Marion Blakey). These wage increases are double the rate of private industry, airline pilots and other FAA employees. They have also cost taxpayers an additional $1.86 billion since 1998.
Ms. Blakey is trying to modestly roll this back with a freeze on salaries, a more reasonable pay scale for future employees, and changes in archaic work rules. Yet the union is demanding an even larger contract that would result in a further $2.6 billion payout, not to mention a shorter work day.
These labor demands damage more than taxpayers. Much of the FAA's budget comes directly from airlines, which finance an FAA trust fund via taxes that are often passed along to passengers. But with a whopping 75% of the FAA's operating budget going to labor costs, little has been left to finance remedies to the air traffic system's notorious delays and cancellations, such as satellite-based tracking.
Which brings us to Natca and Congress. The 1996 bargaining deal included a stipulation that, if FAA-Natca negotiations ever reached a standstill, Congress could step in and make the final decision. The union is in no hurry for Congress to intervene, given that its lucrative contract stays in place so long as negotiations drag on. But if Congress fails to act within 60 days of receiving both offers in the wake of an impasse, the FAA's offer would prevail.
Not surprisingly, Natca is working both sides of the Congressional aisle to guarantee that it prevails instead. And also no surprise, its best ammunition in this lobbying campaign is the cascade of member dues flowing in since the pay increases. Natca now collects some $20.6 million a year from its members, up from $9 million in 1998. In other words, Natca's taxpayer-financed member dues are going toward lobbying Congress to produce a new contract that . . . further milks taxpayers.
The union has hired such influential Beltway players as the firm of former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie to woo GOP Members to the union's side. Natca President John Carr posted Web updates last year bragging that Mr. Gillespie and others were "churning our issues on the Hill."
Last week was the union's official "Lobby Week" in Washington, where it no doubt called on some of the 25 House Transportation Committee Republicans (out of a total of 41) who have received its campaign donations in recent election cycles. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats led by Barack Obama of Illinois last week introduced legislation that would not only require the FAA to jump through all sorts of new mediation hoops, it would eliminate the FAA's right to impose a contract after 60 days of Congressional inaction.
One reason for the 1981 air-controller strike was Ronald Reagan's refusal to allow the union to bargain over pay, and the current episode shows the wisdom of that decision. Americans deserve a government that is efficient, flexible and whose employees are paid at levels that at least approximate life in the real world. The real solution here is to privatize the entire air traffic system. But if Congress lacks the courage to attempt that, it should at least face down a union that is holding taxpayers and airline passengers hostage to its excessive demands. |
