PASS, Union Coalition, Support Legislation to Protect Administrative Law Judges

This week, PASS joined with the Federal Workers Alliance in sending a letter to House leaders in support of the bipartisan ALJ Competitive Service Restoration Act.

In 2018, the Trump administration issued an executive order (EO) that removed federal administrative law judges (ALJs) from the competitive service, in addition to turning over to political appointees the previously nonpartisan ALJ hiring and vetting process conducted by the Office of Personnel Management.

Read the letter

Read more ...

PASS Welcomes New Government Affairs Director

PASS is pleased to announce the appointment of Jana Denning to serve as the union’s Director of Government Affairs.

Denning brings 23 years of experience in advocacy and government affairs for the aerospace industry to the union. She served as Director of Government Affairs at Lockheed Martin and Leidos, focusing on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic modernization programs, unmanned aerial systems and regulatory issues. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Denning was Senior Professional Staff on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee at the U.S. House of Representatives. There she worked on legislation to reauthorize the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board as well as other safety and regulatory issues.

Read more ...

PASS, Coalition Call for Federal Employee Pay Raise

Today, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), AFL-CIO, joined a coalition of federal employee groups in asking congressional appropriators to include a 3.2 percent pay raise for federal workers for fiscal year 2022.

The Federal-Postal Coalition, an alliance of more than 30 organizations that collectively represent more than five million federal and postal workers, retirees and their dependents, sent letters to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Subcommittees on Financial Services and General Government. “We respectfully request that you appropriate a 3.2 percent average pay increase for federal workers via a 2.2 percent across-the-board increase, and a 1.0 percent average increase to locality pay rates in 2022, as would be provided by the FAIR Act, H.R. 392,” wrote the coalition. The federal employee pay raise is included in both chambers’ FY2022 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill. (Read the letters:  House    Senate)

Read more ...

PASS Celebrates Federal Employees

After an unprecedented year that has impacted every segment of society, PASS wants to recognize the extraordinary federal employees it represents at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense during Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW). These dedicated men and women remained on the job, many of them virtually, to serve the American public and to keep the nation’s air traffic control system running smoothly even as travel was down because of the pandemic. “The workforce we represent is highly skilled, experienced and dedicated to the job of keeping our skies safe,” said PASS National President Mike Perrone. “They never missed a beat as the country went on lockdown in March of 2020,” he continued. “And because of their efforts, essential personnel, equipment—and now vaccines—reached their destinations in order to take care of those impacted by the pandemic."

Read more ...

PASS Supporting Nonprofit That Supports Feds

PASS is pleased to announce that it is sponsoring the marquee event of the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund (FEEA): the Feds in Motion 35 Challenge, kicking off May 2. FEEA is the only nonprofit that is dedicated to assisting federal workers. Since 1986, FEEA has supported more than 55,000 families from nearly every federal department and agency with emergency hardship loans, disaster relief grants, scholarships and childcare subsidies. PASS has previously sponsored FEEA's 5k race that kicks off Public Service Recognition Week (May 2–8, 2021). Because of the pandemic, FEEA is changing it up by issuing a challenge for federal employees to log 35 miles (biking, walking, running, swimming) in 35 days to celebrate FEEA's 35th anniversary. All proceeds from registration go to support FEEA's many programs. Let's get federal employees moving!

Air Traffic Control Privatization and the Pandemic

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), AFL-CIO, has long opposed any attempts to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system. After years of pushing back on legislation introduced in Congress and attempts by the previous president to privatize the system, a five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was signed into law in October 2018 without any privatization language.
 
During the pandemic, air travel around the world plummeted and how other nations dealt with their privatized air traffic control systems speaks volumes about why PASS has always maintained that air traffic control is an inherently governmental function. PASS member Pat Delaney serves as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) representative from the International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Associations (IFATSEA), of which PASS is a member. In the following article, he examines the consequences of outsourcing air traffic control.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Air Navigation Service Providers

The covid-19 pandemic has reached the one-year milestone. The pandemic has wreaked unforeseen havoc on the world’s economies. Who would have thought we would be told to say home from work and school with only essential businesses open—all others closed. The roadways in the United States became barren as well as the skies. The U.S. airline industry slowed to a level not seen since September 11, 2001: only this time it would last for months. The world-wide airline industry has been hit the hardest. The demand for air travel was crippled by the public’s fear of the infectious disease and being trapped in an aircraft for hours. Countries imposing travel restrictions also reduced the demand for international flights.

Read more ...

1000 characters left