Cash For ATC Clunkers

Nothing says I love you like a little green, at least when the government is involved.

Yesterday, the arbitrators who officiated the bargaining process between air traffic controllers and the FAA released their judgement, and the result is…drum roll, please…wait for it…wait for it…a mixed bag.

Update 1)

Pay.
Everybody gets a 3% annual increase for the next three years. The administrator cannot stop this. The director of the ATO cannot stop this. The FAA cannot make it contingent upon you being error free. The FAA cannot make it contingent upon your rating. The FAA cannot make it contingent upon inflation. BOY, BUT WOULD THEY LOVE TO! If the FAA had their way, you would be getting nothing. In fact, most of you would see a pay cut due to reduced traffic counts since 9/11.

Result: the FAA will hate you more than ever.

Update 2)
More pay.
Everybody gets locality pay, which is a government computation and cannot be reduced or eliminated by the FAA. BOY, BUT WOULD THEY LOVE TO!

Result: no change to the contempt the FAA holds you in.

Update 3)
Even more pay.
No back pay was awarded, thus the arbitrators validated the pay freezes of the past 3 years. Controllers will not be able to gain sympathy, given this economy, that a three-year contract with guaranteed raises totaling around 12% is a bad deal. This is a blow to the union, who believed that a President Obama-approved arbitration panel would both make up for lost wages and guarantee future raises. The union got only the latter. This, more than anything else, led to three bitter years of relations between controllers and the FAA.

Result: case closed. The pay freezes were sustained. Controllers will remain bitter.

Update 4)
Sayonara, Pat.
Pat Forrey, according to my sources, took it upon himself - as the president of NATCA - to present the union’s position as regards pay. I think controllers posses great talents, but working airplanes and negotiating with the ANGELS OF SATAN are two different skills. Pat was voted out of office and will not participate in the next negotiation, which takes place in a mere three years. But what really irked me was that Pat signed on to a joint statement yesterday that spoke in glorious tones how NATCA and the FAA have entered a new era of cooperation and mutual respect. Give me a freaking break.

Result: Next negotiation 2012. Election year. Uncertainty abounds.

Update 5)
Inflation - The Joker in the deck.
The 2010 retiree COLA is projected to be zero because it is based on inflation, which for now doesn’t exist. The 2010 presidential pay raise for all government employees will likely be nominal for the same reason. Therefore, 3% is a good raise. For 2010. But what if, say, Congress starts spending money like it grows on trees and the Fed has to print up a bunch of greenbacks, and - presto - hyper-inflation? More than anything, that 3% raise in 2012 looks scary. If inflation roars back with a vengeance, and Obama gives federal employees a Carter-esque raise, controllers are excluded and will lose big. But, hey, not to worry. Everything’s fine. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Result: Roll the dice.