Originally Posted by
Boggie Dog
I'm not sure anyone here is calling for a work stoppage other than saying they could understand the reasoning for such action. I've tried seeing myself in the shoes of the impacted government employees and fully understand the difficulties many are facing.
If 30,000 TSA screeners walked off the job security screenings around the country would be severely impacted and I'm guessing more workers would follow. There is no way that this many employees could be replaced in a manner fast enough to not have a long lasting impact on commercial passenger aviation so I'm not sure any serious punitive action would be taken. But guessing what could happen and taking that step are two different things.
I've read a couple of articles - wish I had saved the links - about what would ultimately happen if a strike or stoppage occurred in connection with this shutdown. While the law that precludes strikes doesn't offer any exceptions, a couple of legal commentators thought that the courts
could see this situation as justifiable and perhaps find the law overly broad particularly when the Court of Federal Claims already found the government violated the Fair Labor Standards Act in the 2013 shutdown (with regard to covered employees forced to work without pay). But the only way to know for certain would be for a group to do it, and then have the case wind its way through the courts - not an easy thing to do, nor quick.
A joint statement was issued yesterday by the unions for ATC, pilots, and FAs. It touches on more than just the TSA absences, as it takes a more systemic view (which is what we need to be doing IMHO), but thought I'd post it here for starters.
https://www.afacwa.org/air_traffic_c...ue_to_shutdown
Due to the shutdown, air traffic controllers, transportation security officers, safety inspectors, air marshals, federal law enforcement officers, FBI agents, and many other critical workers have been working without pay for over a month. Staffing in our air traffic control facilities is already at a 30-year low and controllers are only able to maintain the system’s efficiency and capacity by working overtime, including 10-hour days and 6-day workweeks at many of our nation’s busiest facilities. Due to the shutdown, the FAA has frozen hiring and shuttered its training academy, so there is no plan in effect to fill the FAA’s critical staffing need. Even if the FAA were hiring, it takes two to four years to become fully facility certified and achieve Certified Professional Controller (CPC) status. Almost 20% of CPCs are eligible to retire today.
Safety inspectors and federal cyber security staff are not back on the job at pre-shutdown levels, and those not on furlough are working without pay. Last Saturday, TSA management announced that a growing number of officers cannot come to work due to the financial toll of the shutdown. In addition, we are not confident that system-wide analyses of safety reporting data, which is used to identify and implement corrective actions in order to reduce risks and prevent accidents is 100 percent operational due to reduced FAA resources.