IAFF
STATEMENT ON FAA ADMINISTRATOR REGARDING NATCA NEGOTIATIONS
WASHINGTON, DC – The General President of the
International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO/CLC, Harold
Schaitberger, issued this statement today on the FAA Administrator regarding
the NATCA negotiations:
“Federal Aviation Administration leader Marion Blakey’s
attempt to pit one group of public safety workers against the other by
comparing the salaries of air traffic controllers to the nation's fire
fighters and police officers is offensive.
“It shows that Ms. Blakey has no understanding of the most
fundamental and critical pieces of public safety – that all agencies and
jurisdictions must work and stand together in protecting our citizens.
“It’s clear to us that her efforts to use rhetoric to divide
us are a remedial level union busting tactic. And all that her comments to
the media did was expose her weaknesses in an even basic understanding of
public safety protocol.
“Those comments raise the question of whether she is fit for
a position as a senior government official whose charge is to be our
nation's chief aviation safety official responsible for safeguarding the
flying public -- a position that requires a high degree of coordination and
cooperation of safety agencies, especially during these dangerous times.
“Let me be clear -- the members of the IAFF stand fully with
our nation's air traffic controllers. We, like all Americans, are greatly
appreciative of their role in safely guiding nearly 90,000 planes each day.
“The FAA Administrator should show more respect to the
workers who do the frontline work in protecting Americans both in our skies
and in our communities. I call on the FAA Administrator to halt this
divisive and counterproductive propaganda campaign.”
The IAFF, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the 15th
largest union among the 57 national unions that makeup the AFL-CIO,
representing more than 270,000 professional fire fighters and emergency
medical personnel – an 85 percent representation rate in the industry, one
of the highest in the AFL-CIO. More than 2,900 affiliates protect nearly
6,000 communities in Canada and in every congressional district in the U.S.
The IAFF is one of the most active lobbying organizations in Washington and
its Political Action Committee, FIREPAC, is in the Top 25 (1%) of all 4,000
registered PACs. The IAFF has experienced 35 consecutive years of membership
growth – putting it in the top five in membership growth in the AFL-CIO over
the past five years.
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