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)