The union representing air traffic controllers rejected the FAA’s call last month for federal mediation to help the agency reach a new labor agreement with controllers, labeling it a “publicity stunt.” A 1998 contract expired on September 30, and the FAA suggests that little progress has been made since it and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association began negotiations on July 13. According to a NATCA spokesman last month, negotiations were continuing. “We are not even close to an impasse,” he told AIN. “A federal mediator is not needed. We have been making substantial progress,” although, he conceded, not on pay and work hours.