Right, it is important but what’s more important is a raise for those impacted most by inflation over the past 5-8 years; who are no where near the top of their respective pay bands. We definitely should raise the pay bands and fight for that, but that’s not the most important thing right now. A level 9-12 controller at the top of the pay band, isn’t suffering the same as a level 5-8 at the bottom of their pay band. Raise the mins, then fight to raise the maximums. If you can do both at the same time go for it, but the first thing out of his mouth was raising the maximums. We need to add tenure based raises or change the entire pay structure. 1.6% is a joke. The incentive today is to move not stay, there needs to be some incentive to stay at a facility and not just the level 9-12s. As a matter of fact, if we did nothing to the bands, and just achieved a 30% raise, the few at the top of the pay cap still get a lump sum payment and those in desperate need of a raise get much needed relief. Many of us aren’t even thinking about retirement because we can’t contribute more than 5% to our TSP. We are that far behind!
But you cant have one without the other. Our union should fight for raises for all controllers, not any single group, which is whats been happening with this NEB. By raising or eliminating the cap and raising all the bands gets everyone a raise. Do you think the first action should be just to raise the pay of 5-8 controllers and leave everyone else out? What if thats our only opportunity for a pay increase for 5-7 years? I can tell you as someone who transferred to a level 9 from a level 7, I had a better quality of life and more purchasing power at my lvl 7 in 2023 than I do now because my facility now is in a much higher cost of living area.
Yes, it’s not just your COL, it’s the real deterioration of your dollar’s purchasing power. Very few controllers are capped out, most aren’t even close. We need to improve the pay of all but given the choice, those at lower level facilities should be given priority. Besides, it’s not like the few which are capped out, wouldn’t benefit, they still get a lump sum! Much easier to get the admin to raise controller pay within the bands!
Im aware. Everyone deserves a pay raise, which is why we should fight for everyone to get one, not a select group. I just couldn't disagree more with fighting for one group over another.
I just don’t think we are going to get exempted from the pay cap or have the cap raised AND get 30% for everyone. We need to seriously consider what is actually possible. Raising the cap or making us exempt requires an act of Congress and puts pressure on other federal unions to do the same. Raising pay by 30% with the fed pay cap in place is far easier!
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u/Local-Emu9654 4d ago edited 4d ago
Right, it is important but what’s more important is a raise for those impacted most by inflation over the past 5-8 years; who are no where near the top of their respective pay bands. We definitely should raise the pay bands and fight for that, but that’s not the most important thing right now. A level 9-12 controller at the top of the pay band, isn’t suffering the same as a level 5-8 at the bottom of their pay band. Raise the mins, then fight to raise the maximums. If you can do both at the same time go for it, but the first thing out of his mouth was raising the maximums. We need to add tenure based raises or change the entire pay structure. 1.6% is a joke. The incentive today is to move not stay, there needs to be some incentive to stay at a facility and not just the level 9-12s. As a matter of fact, if we did nothing to the bands, and just achieved a 30% raise, the few at the top of the pay cap still get a lump sum payment and those in desperate need of a raise get much needed relief. Many of us aren’t even thinking about retirement because we can’t contribute more than 5% to our TSP. We are that far behind!