Originally Posted by
chollie
1981.
Refresh my memory - how many federal employee strikes have there been since Reagan fired the striking controllers in 1981?
Zero! 
This shutdown didn't just suddenly happen without warning. I would expect TSA management to keep its employees informed, just as my own (civilian) management always kept us informed when a layoff cycle was likely imminent. Among other bits of advice, we were always cautioned that it might not be the best time to make a major purchase that could be easily postponed - out of an abundance of caution. You didn't want to get laid off; you
really didn't want to get laid off right after you signed the papers on a vacation cabin or a boat.
I was a furloughed fed back in 2013. There were a couple of other close calls during the last administration. We spent days deciding upon our recommended essential functions and the resulting employees who were essential. (My agency had two primary mission essential functions in the National Continuity Plan, so it was pretty obvious who was who.) We made sure we had each other's personal emails and phone numbers so that we managers could stay in contact with our folks to inform them and. most important, to counsel tham and otherwise take care of them. The advice you noted above was in our list of advice as well.