Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a video message from its Management Board to employees\u2014including the approximately 11,000 FAA employees PASS represents\u2014telling them that they will need to return to the office a set number of days per pay period beginning October 9. This was a clear violation of the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that PASS has with the agency.<\/p>\n
The union was misled early last week when a senior labor relations official informed PASS that a notice would be forwarded to unions prior to an announcement to employees. \u201cThis would have allowed us the opportunity to clarify to upper management that this message conflicts with our CBAs and to bargain if necessary over the matter,\u201d said PASS National President Dave Spero. Instead, the message was sent directly to employees, bypassing the unions who represent them. PASS finds it disingenuous that management stated in the video that FAA leadership is committed \u201cto work closely and thoughtfully with all of you [employees] and our labor partners during this process.\u201d That didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI spoke to Acting FAA Administrator Polly Trottenberg after we found out that the message had gone to employees with a token heads up given to us just minutes before,\u201d continued Spero. \u201cI told her in no uncertain terms that this action was in clear violation of our contracts.\u201d PASS did not, and was not, given the opportunity to discuss, collaborate or influence the decision to \u201crevise\u201d telework agreements.<\/p>\n