What the first 100 days will mean to MY family

A few years ago, when the contract between the Air Traffic Controllers and the FAA was coming to a close, the Federal Aviation Administration decided to completely disregard the Air Traffic Controller's Union. They refused to come to a bargaining agreement; made the old bargaining agreement null and void; came up with their own set of rules not agreed to by the controller's Union; and cut pay and benefits across the board. What we have now is a mass exodus of controllers who are retiring because it's a terrible, hostile working environment (all the controller's who were hired after the 1981 strike are now due for retirement); a potential incoming workforce that is saying "thanks but no thanks" to the job offer which includes moving their entire family across country to work for less than they would get paid at Walmart; and an existing workforce that is bitter and unappreciated.

Firefighters and police were not the only heroes of 9/11. Air traffic controllers brought more planes down from the sky in a shorter period of time than has ever been done before. We will never know if there was more of a threat out there that did not have a chance to come to fruition - and we won't know this because of the skill and grace under pressure that our controllers displayed on that day. The Bush Administration's answer to them was to give them the finger. They were stripped of pay and dignity, treated like 10-year olds who couldn't be allowed to leave the building for lunch. I can't even list the ridiculous working conditions they have been subjected to here, because you probably don't have time to read the list. If you want more, you can read the FAA Follies blog.

Obama has promised to force the Federal Aviation Administration to go back to the table and make a ratifiable contract with the Air Traffic Controllers. We're not even asking for the $25,000 + that our family has lost in the last few years. We're not asking for the time back when my husband was forced into overtime, or not allowed leave to take our usual family vacations. We're just asking the FAA to play fair. Finally, a president who'll make them do it.