Rep. Derwinski and three co-sponsors (Reps. Tom Corcoran of Illinois, Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Gene Taylor of Missouri) introduced HR 5038 on Nov. 19, 1981. The bill came three months after President Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization members on Aug. 5 for ignoring his order to end their two-day-old strike.
HR 5038 was referred to the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee which held hearings on it in March 1982. The bill died in committee.
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Besides the pay differential, the bill exempted the covered employees from limitations on premium pay for federal employees and authorized a pay differential for air traffic controllers who became certified (even if it wasn't required).
It authorized premium pay for providing on-the-job training to other air traffic controllers and for 30 minutes of each eight-hour day that the controller worked without a meal break.
The bill also protected from deduction the pensions of retired members of the federal civil service and uniformed services who were employed temporarily during special recruitment efforts. It authorized the FAA to pay air traffic controllers in training for working more than 40 hours per week.
