There has been a lot of discussion (mostly negative) about the "privatization bill" that came out on February 2nd, and I understand the uneasiness about what this may or may not look like, however I think it would be smart for us to not pick a side until we've fully read and understand the bill. BTW, here's the bill if you haven't read it.
http://transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/airr_act_text.pdf
I was surprised to see some of our political champions stand against this bill until I dug a little deeper, and now see that they have their own self interests and constituents to look out for.
For instance, Representative Peter DiFazio who opposes the bill for a couple reasons, the representation for commuter airlines and the mixed environment between the FAA and the new ATC corp with the regulation of safety. However he did offer the following...
…and this will be a question for Mr. Rinaldi. First, I gotta congratulate you. You drive a tough bargain…and… I have never seen such good labor protections in any piece of legislation that has any chance of passing a Republican Congress. So, congratulations! Good work for your members. In fact, it’s so good, I hear the Freedom Caucus is opposed to the bill because they don’t like the labor protections.
You can see the whole 3 hour & 48 minute hearing here ... http://transportation.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=399732 DeFazio's comments start at the 3:34 mark.
This August we are having our Bi-annual Convention in San Diego and that will be the time to us to use our voice and let our leaderships know what direction we want our Union to go. I guarantee you that there will be amendments and resolutions to change the direction of where our leadership is currently going.
Locally we will have our Pre-Convention meeting sometime in early August to go over all the proposed resolutions and amendments and you will have that opportunity to let your voice be heard on whether you support or not support what our leadership is doing. Every member will have the opportunity to have their voice be heard.
As for now, I am asking you not to attach your name to any petition whether it's an email or on Facebook (especially the U.S. Air traffic Controllers against Privatization), it show everyone (management, non-members, airline industry) how divisive we are on this subject...it's like we're airing our dirty laundry.
In Solidarity
ZSE NATCA