National Association of Air Traffic Specialists

Aviation Safety is Our Business

NAATS HEADQUARTERS EMAIL UPDATE

By all accounts the 2000 NAATS National Membership Meeting last week was a success. We had approximately 135 members in attendance and all were anxious to participate. 

The three invited FAA management speakers all declined to attend so we used the time to talk about the many issues confronting our union. Of particular interest was the pay negotiations status and direction the NAATS Negotiating Team has taken. 

The membership was briefed, in detail, on the history of the negotiations as well as our current status. We then discussed our team goal of "comparability". As previously discussed the entire issue centers on a 2152 series GS-12 controller making roughly the same in either the NATCA or the NAATS environment. The membership was unanimous in its support of the contract team and our determination to accept nothing less than comparability.

The NAATS Board of Directors business meeting was held prior to the national meeting and a significant decision was made to allocate resources to ensure a fair agreement is reached by whatever means necessary. I applaud the Board for its insight and courage in taking this step.

We meet with the management team and the mediators on December 12. We're fully prepared to reach agreement once the management team decides to treat us as air traffic controllers. Until that time we'll continue to explore and develop our other options. 

Many other matters were discussed at the meetings last week. A report on these will be included in the next NAATS Quarterly Bulletin.

Happy Thanksgiving to all,

Wally Pike

Walter W. Pike, President

This page was last updated on 19 November, 2000