CWA Radio Ads Press Anti-Union Lawmakers to Pass FAA Funds

CWA launched radio ads this week targeting two U.S. House freshmen Republicans who are holding Federal Aviation Administration funding hostage unless their anti-union demands are met.

Congressmen Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) and Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) are among key Republicans who are blocking passage of a long-term FAA Reauthorization bill, once again putting the critical agency at risk of being shut down.

At issue is an unrelated National Mediation Board rule that ensures that airline union elections are subject to the same democratic rules as all U.S. elections. Adopted in 2010, the rule simply says that only votes actually cast will be counted. Previously, employees who didn't vote were counted as "No" votes.

"That is a standard different from every other form of democratic election in our nation, and not one single member of Congress could have been elected if used in their own races in 2010," CWA said in a statement.

The ads, running in Minnesota's 8th and Wisconsin's 7th congressional districts, highlight both Cravaack's and Duffy's roles in "weighing down this important bill with an unrelated, controversial provision." The ads conclude by asking voters to, "Tell him enough! Quit playing games with our jobs, our infrastructure, and our future."

If no new long-term or temporary funding is approved by Jan. 31, the FAA faces another shutdown. Last summer, 4,000 FAA employees and tens of thousands of airport construction workers were sent home for two weeks until Congress passed temporary funding. That marked the 21st stop-gap funding measure since the agency's last real budget was approved in 2007.

CWA, AFA-CWA and other unions are pushing for Congress to finally pass a long-term budget, which is essential in order for critical airport and aviation construction and safety projects to go forward.

Click here to hear the ads.