FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

SEC. 253. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. Chapter 401, as amended by section 252 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following: “§ 40122. Federal Aviation Administration personnel management system “(a) In General.— “(1) Consultation and negotiation.— In developing and making changes to the personnel management system initially implemented by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration on April 1, 1996, the Administrator shall negotiate with the exclusive bargaining representatives of employees of the Administration certified under section 7111 of title 5 and consult with other employees of the Administration. “(2) Mediation.— If the Administrator does not reach an agreement under paragraph (1) with the exclusive bargaining representatives, the services of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service shall be used to attempt to reach such agreement. If the services of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service do not lead to an agreement, the Administrator’s proposed change to the personnel management system shall not take effect until 60 days have elapsed after the Administrator has transmitted the proposed change, along with the objections of the exclusive bargaining representatives to the change, and the reasons for such objections, to Congress. “(3) Cost savings and productivity goals.— The Administration and the exclusive bargaining representatives of the employees shall use every reasonable effort to find cost savings and to increase productivity within each of the affected bargaining units. “(4) Annual budget discussions.— The Administration and the exclusive bargaining representatives of the employees shall meet annually for the purpose of finding additional cost savings within the Administration’s annual budget as it applies to each of the affected bargaining units and throughout the agency. “(b) Expert Evaluation.— On the date that is 3 years after the personnel management system is implemented, the Administration shall employ outside experts to provide an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the system within 3 months after such date. For this purpose, the Administrator may utilize the services 110 STAT. 3238of experts and consultants under section 3109 of title 5 without regard to the limitation imposed by the last sentence of section 3109(b) of such title, and may contract on a sole source basis, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary. “(c) Pay Restriction.— No officer or employee of the Administration may receive an annual rate of basic pay in excess of the annual rate of basic pay payable to the Administrator. “(d) Ethics.— The Administration shall be subject to Executive Order No. 12674 and regulations and opinions promulgated by the Office of Government Ethics, including those set forth in section 2635 of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations. “(e) Employee Protections.— Until July 1, 1999, basic wages (including locality pay) and operational differential pay provided employees of the Administration shall not be involuntarily adversely affected by reason of the enactment of this section, except for unacceptable performance or by reason of a reduction in force or reorganization or by agreement between the Administration and the affected employees’ exclusive bargaining representative. “(f) Labor-Management Agreements.— Except as otherwise provided by this title, all labor-management agreements covering employees of the Administration that are in effect on the effective date of the Air Traffic Management System Performance Improvement Act of 1996 shall remain in effect until their normal expiration date, unless the Administrator and the exclusive bargaining representative agree to the contrary”.