Unions rest hopes on FAA reauthorization
The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO hopes to accomplish several policy goals in the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Bill, H.R. 915, now before Congress.
At the top of its agenda is negotiating a new contract for air traffic controllers after the Bush administration broke off talks and imposed work and pay rules in 2006.
The bad blood contributed to the departure of 5,000 controllers, only 700 of whom have been replaced, and led to a severe staffing crisis.
Another priority is clarifying that FedEx mechanics and truck drivers are not classified as aviation workers in order to remain union-free. Aviation workers are covered under the Railway Labor Act, which makes it more difficult for unions to organize than under the National Labor Relations Act. Workers under the RLA must organize nationally, while the NLRA allows workers to organize on a local level.
UPS ground employees, by contrast, are covered by the NLRA while its airline pilots are covered by the RLA.
H.R. 915 includes a provision that would ensure that all express carriers are covered under the RLA for their aviation workers and the NLRA for their ground employees.
Transportation unions also want flight deck doors to be required on all-cargo aircraft to reduce what they say are safety and security risks to crews. All-cargo aircraft regularly carry additional non-crew personnel, such as couriers and animal handlers, and limited ground security procedures increase the possibility for an intruder to gain access to a cargo plane and hijack it, they say.
The AFL-CIO is also pressing for:
' Increased inspection and standards for foreign repair stations that service U.S. aircraft, including background security checks on workers, drug and alcohol testing, unscheduled inspections and oversight of repair work to bring them in line with domestic facilities.
' Reform of flight and duty time to address what it considers a problem with fatigue.
' Codification of rules on foreign control and ownership of U.S. airlines to close what it considers loopholes that could allow a foreign owner with a minority interest to exert control over operations. The rules are an attempt to forestall ongoing open skies negotiations between the European Union and the United States.
' Requiring the FAA to certify all new navigation technology deployed as part of modernizing air traffic control systems even if systems are owned by private companies.
' Requiring the FAA to develop a runway safety plan and alerting system to reduce the risk of runway incursions.
' Increased funding for airport maintenance and improvements such as runway, taxiway and terminal expansions.
Hazardous material transportation laws are also up for renewal and the Transportation Trades Department wants safety rules tightened.
In the aviation sector, unions seek to extend the prohibition of bulk shipments of lithium batteries in the cargo hold of passenger aircraft to cargo aircraft. The batteries have been suspected of causing several air cargo fires. They are also calling for rules ensuring crewmember notification and better labeling of bulk shipments of lithium ion batteries used in cell phones and laptops.
A key rule change impacting freight carriers would require first responders to have access to up-to-date electronic shipping information as a back-up system because paper shipping documents and placards identifying the cargo contents can be damaged or missing.
To reduce the risk of chemical accidents, railroad unions want trains with such loads to have at least one certified engineer and one certified conductor and for Congress to ensure that waivers to the current 30 mph speed restrictions for movement of poisonous by inhalation materials in non-signaled territory are not arbitrarily granted. Rules should also be established governing configuration of trains containing hazmat cars so that such cars are not placed close to locomotives or at the rear of the train, worker representatives say. And they want every tank car hauling hazmat to be inspected by qualified and well-trained workers certified by the Federal Railroad Administration.
Unions also are demanding better training programs for workers who deal with hazmat shipments.
In loo of higher fares
You've got to love the audacity of Ryanair.
Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary said the budget airline is considering putting coin slots on the door and charging passengers to use the toilet on its aircraft.
Remember, Ryanair is the company that introduced the idea of charging passengers for checked bags. If the charge sticks, O'Leary suggested he could reduce fares. It's likely the executive is playing for free advertising.
'If you are given a choice between wetting your knickers or not wetting your knickers, you will pay whatever fee they make you pay, and Mr. O'Leary knows this well,' one Welsh air traveler told the Associated Press. 'Frankly, I'm surprised he's talking about letting us have a wee for a pound, not more!'
U.S. grant to support new Mexico airport
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency recently awarded a $630,000 grant to OIB Aeropuerto to promote the construction of a new airport in Northwest Mexico.
The grant will be used to develop a 'roadmap' for a greenfield international passenger and cargo airport in Ensenada, USTDA said.
The Mexican government granted OIB Aeropuerto a 30-year concession in 2007 to construct, administer and operate the airport. The airport will replace Ensenada's small general aviation airport (El Cipres), which is surrounded by the city and cannot be expanded further, and to serve as a secondary airport to Tijuana, located 80 kilometers to the north.
Last year, USTDA provided more than $2 million in support of priority infrastructure projects that further the objectives of Mexico's 2007-2012 National Infrastructure Program (NIP), including three other airport development grants that were awarded in February 2008.
USTDA's interest is in creating opportunities for the export of U.S. manufactured goods and services.
The new Ensenada airport will eventually serve as a cargo and logistics hub for Northwest Mexico in support of the NIP objective to increase the country's air cargo capacity by 50 percent. The airport will have access to intermodal links to seaports and surface transportation modes, including road and rail, USTDA said.
