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Unions Ask Senate to Pass FAA Bill

By Admin

The Honorable Harry Reid

Senate Majority Leader

United States Senate

522 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC  20510

 

Dear Majority Leader Reid:

 

We are writing today to urge the Senate to pass a strong FAA Reauthorization bill that supports our aviation system, its private and public sector workers, and the millions of Americans who rely on safe and efficient air travel. 

 

As you know, the FAA has been operating on a series of short-term funding extensions for the last two years.  This delay has led to the neglect of critical safety and modernization initiatives, infrastructure investments, and worker rights issues for too long.  We are urging you to intervene and ensure this legislation is completed this year.

 

As a vital component of our national transportation network, the aviation system is critical to our economy.  It generates nearly $900 billion in economic activity annually and represents 9 percent of our GDP.  The FAA forecasts that by 2021 passenger traffic will increase 49 percent to 1.16 billion passengers annually.  In addition, the aviation system directly and indirectly employs millions of workers at a time when the unemployment rate is still rising and job security across the country is perilous at best.

 

The FAA must be well-positioned to sustain this system and handle its anticipated growth.  A strong FAA reauthorization bill brings the promise of major reforms: increased investment in our airports and infrastructure; modernization of the air traffic control system; implementation of vital safety reforms; a fairer system of collective bargaining at the FAA; protection of workers’ rights; and a reaffirmation of federal policy on the foreign control of U.S. air carriers. 

 

As our nation struggles through one of the most severe recessions in history, we cannot afford additional delays in completing this legislation.  Americans need jobs-creating initiatives like the investment provisions embodied in this bill.  While the FAA bill will not solve all of the aviation industry’s problems, it will set the stage for this critical segment of our economy to grow and for our workers to thrive.

 

For these reasons, we join together to ask for your assistance in bringing an FAA bill to the floor so that a final bill can be reconciled and sent to the President’s desk this year.

  

Thank you for considering our views regarding this important transportation legislation.

 

Sincerely,

 

Patricia Friend, International President

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

 

John Prater, President

Air Line Pilots Association

 

Greg Junemann, President

International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers

 

Terence O’Sullivan, President

Laborers’ International Union of North America

 

Michael Goodwin, President

Office and Professional Employees International Union

 

Gerald McEntee, President

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

 

Robert Roach, General Vice President

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

 

Vincent Giblin, General President

International Union of Operating Engineers

 

Paul Rinaldi, President

National Air Traffic Controllers Association

 

Tom Brantley, President

Professional Aviation Safety Specialist

 

Edward Wytkind, President

Transportation Trades Dept., AFL-CIO

 

James Little, President

Transport Workers Union of America

 

cc:        The Honorable John D. Rockefeller

            The Honorable Max Baucus

            The Honorable Byron L. Dorgan

 

Attached Document or FileThis letter on TTD letterhead