4,000 FAA Workers Furloughed
Friday, July 22, 2011
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Some 4,000 Federal Aviation
Administration employees – including nearly 900 in the metro Washington area
-- were furloughed Saturday. The current FAA reauthorization expired at midnight
on Friday, July 22 and was delayed by political maneuvering. “These employees do
everything from getting money out the door for airport construction
projects, to airport safety planning and NextGen research,” said FAA Administrator Randy
Babbitt, "We need them at work.” The sentiment was echoed by Bill Chouinard,
President of AFSCME 1653, which represents most of the local FAA employees. "Our
members just wants to do their jobs" added Carl Goldman, Executive Director,
AFSCME Council 26. "Those in
Congress responsible for this mess should get out of the way and let them work."
While there's no real disagreement in Congress over the
agency's basic financing needs, efforts to harmonize the House and Senate funding bills collapsed when
Republicans added controversial provisions to the proposed compromise, including
a measure that would make it harder for airline and railroad employees to
unionize.
(updated 7/24)