Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization
PATCO........The Proud Professionals
An Independent Labor Union, Certified by the NLRB.
Don't be fooled by imposters...look for the PATCO ® Trademark.... the symbol of authenticity
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Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization PATCO........The Proud Professionals An Independent Labor Union, Certified by the NLRB. Don't be fooled by imposters...look for the PATCO ® Trademark.... the symbol of authenticity
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"Our struggle must not go unheeded, but rather,
it should be allowed to have as much publicity as possible for the sake of
future generations of Labor. We are an important facet of American history,
and our story needs to be preserved, no matter if we are seen as right or
wrong"
Written by a fired PATCO Controller January 1985
From AVweb
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Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization PATCO For Immediate Release July 6, 2007 PATCO President Rejects FAA Offer After nearly twenty six (26) years of blacklisting and age discrimination by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the President of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) has rejected a job offer as an Air Traffic Controller due to pay disparity, the new discriminatory practice of the Agency. The FAA offered Ron Taylor re-employment as an Air Traffic Controller to his former facility in West Palm Beach Florida, effective July 8, 2007, at a substantially lower salary, equal to approximately one-third the salary of his FAA counterparts with 12 years of experience. Mr. Taylor states in his letter to the FAA; “Since you have ignored my numerous requests and refused to offer any assistance in this matter, I must reject the FAA’s current offer of employment at West Palm Beach Tower “without prejudice” based on the inadequate, sub-standard, and discriminatory salary that the Agency has offered to me”. It is very apparent that the FAA has a serious shortage of qualified Air Traffic Controllers and the need for talent is now, however the agency is still a self serving, autocratic employer. They have flaunted the law with the PATCO Controllers for the past fourteen years, dropped the salaries to an embarrassing sub-standard level, and refuse to offer them any assistance when requested. It’s outrageous that the FAA has been allowed to continually mismanage the air traffic control system on the backs of those who provide the service to keep the skies safe. Who pays for the Agency’s incompetence? The flying public, the American taxpayer and the working professional all pay.
From AV Web January 22, 2007 PATCO Says Contract Towers Understaffed, Too By
Russ Niles, Contributing Editor
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Ron
Taylor has been out of work in his chosen field for almost 26 years, but
that doesn't mean he's going to take the first offer that comes along.
Taylor, the president of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers
Organization (PATCO) whose members were fired en masse by President Ronald
Reagan in 1981 when they went ahead with strike action, says he's been
offered a job as an air traffic controller by the FAA in his old facility
at West Palm Beach, Fla., but he's not taking it. In a news release,
Taylor said he's not about to work for the FAA's new starting wage, which
was imposed as part of the enforced settlement of a labor contract with
the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) last year. He
said he was offered about a third of what an experienced controller would
make, and he's not about to accept the "inadequate, substandard and
discriminatory salary that the Agency has offered to me." According to FAA
spokeswoman Laura Brown, there are plenty of people anxious to take
Taylor's spot. "We've been having no trouble attracting people who want
these jobs," Brown told AVweb. She said she's not sure where Taylor
would have entered the system, but given his lengthy absence from the
console she surmised that at the very least he would need to recertify.
Even if that meant going to the controllers' academy to start over, Brown
insists it's still not a bad deal. Fresh recruits get about $2,500 a month
while they're training and the salary goes up quickly after that. "After
one year, they're making $50,000 and after five years they're making
$94,000," she said. Taylor is apparently leaving the door open for the FAA
to sweeten his deal. He made sure his rejection letter to the FAA was
written "without prejudice," meaning he doesn't think this particular tiff
should get in the way of his being offered and accepting a better offer.
Professional
Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) President Ron Taylor says the
controversy over staffing levels at FAA towers is overshadowing an even
bigger problem at the 233 contract towers the agency oversees. Taylor has
asked Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Fla., to call for a congressional investigation of
what he says is chronic understaffing at the contract towers, which
typically serve small-to-medium non-hub airports. "In many cases, and at
different times, these towers are staffed by only one controller, with no
back up within the facility for any type of emergency,” Taylor claimed in a
letter to Mahoney. "Staffing at these contract towers needs to be increased
to ensure that the margin of safety is not compromised.” While the debate
over staffing at the FAA-operated towers centers mainly on the maintenance
of mandated staffing levels, Taylor claims that contract towers already have
less than half the number of functional controllers on staff than comparably
sized federal towers. "A typical FAA federal facility that runs 100,000
operations a year has on average 10 working controllers, while on average,
the contract towers operate with only four." Taylor also notes that,
according to an FAA assessment, contract towers have a better safety record
than government towers, but he doesn’t address that apparent incongruity in
his letter. The FAA was unavailable for comment over the weekend.
