Late last week, PASS took a case to arbitration at the FAA Southwest Regional Office in an attempt to protect the pay of employee in the ATO bargaining unit. Unbeknownst to the employee, the problems began when he took a position as an instructor at the Academy in Oklahoma City. Because his salary was well over the H band maximum, his promotion to the instructor position amounted to a raise of only about $150 a year. He had served three years as an instructor when the FAA declined a second tour and he was placed back at a facility in the Southwest region. However, the agency placed his salary at the band maximum, which amounted to about a 12 percent pay cut from what he was making when he left for the Academy. During the hearing, the agency took the position that accepting a promotion to an instructor position amounts to a voluntary demotion under Article 124, Section 8F, of the previous ATO contract (now Section 7F) if the employee ever comes back to the bargaining unit. PASS vigorously opposes this interpretation. In the union’s view, this amounted to a temporary promotion, which means the employee’s salary should be set as if he had never left the bargaining unit. A decision by the arbitrator is expected by late summer.
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