Unfunded federal workers are quickly approaching their second "no pay" payday. That may be the breaking point for a growing number of screeners and other federal workers. In my daily activities I'm seeing an increasing number of federal workers reaching out to my organization for what help we can offer which is limited. I'm trying to keep a feel of the mood with the group I'm around and so far the grumbling is fairly muted, however, I can sense tension mounting.

Probably a fair statement. I take public transit to the airport probably a bit more often than your average FTer and living in Houston I can tell you that the vast majority of people taking the bus to the airport are TSA, ABM (who are contracted to push wheelchairs and other duties around the airport), and the various OTG food service folks. They're not passengers. I was taking the bus to IAH last month and I did a double take when a guy with 2 Rinowa bags hopped on the bus

Anyway as to the impact I flew out of HOU on Saturday and while the regular line looked a bit longer than usual, there was nothing crazy. In Pre the logjam was at the ID checker, not the xray belt.

I normally just carry one.

and, yes, I was on both the 102 to/from IAH last month as well as the 88/50 Hobby.

^

WaPo headline this morning:

Very favorable responses, many of which are calling for the TSA and ATC to join with the IRS.

While I would not support an illegal walk out if TSA rank and file walked off the job nation wide I think a resolution to this issue would be found quickly. The simple act of bringing the nations commercial aviation passenger service to a near halt would force the hands of the various players to act.

Sadly it seems to me that such action might be needed to break this impasse.

That is exactly the purpose of a strike / slow down / work-to-rule or whatever one wants to call it.

The more people who know how to be heard and have the means to do so are inconvenienced, the more pressure they can bring.

I agree but there are safety in numbers. A nationwide walkout would accomplished a move to resolve this issue and possibly protect those employees who risked their jobs. If ATC joined that would shut it down for sure.

Folks,

There is a very fine line between what is appropriate for the Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate forum and what belongs in OMNI/PR, and it has just been crossed again.

Please confine your future comments to the TSA slowdown / sickout and travel security. Discussion of the reasons for the US government partial shutdown and the politics behind it belong in Omniland.

Another post has just been deleted.

All political posts will be summarily deleted. Repeat offenders will be subject to discipline without further notice.

Thank you for understanding,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

I think that many fear they could be fired if they walked off the job. I say that's nonsense because the government, which claims TSA is vitally necessary to protect air travel, can't fire them - if they do so, that puts the lie to their claims about TSA being the last (or first depending on who one reads) line of defense against terrorism in the skies.

The government absolutely can fire them. If the government didn't, then police officers and firefighters would start getting ideas.

Is anyone going to argue that TSA workers are more important or irreplaceable than ATC?

TSA screeners and roughly 750,000 other federal employees, which includes ATC, are coming up on their second missed payday. Things are going to get tight for a growing segment of these workers and some of them may feel a need to take some kind of action that might lead to them getting a paycheck. Even if I don't like what TSA does I can still place myself in their shoes. In my younger years missing a couple of paychecks would have caused big problems so I understand how some of these people feel. I think a fair question would be, how much longer do we expect these people to report for work without getting paid? I'd be looking for alternatives was it me.

edit to add:

Will TSA and/or other federal employees stage a stop work action? Who knows, but if they do it's clear they could have punitive action taken against them. But, would that happen in this situation? I'm not so sure it would.

Not sure why you quoted my message. Your reply didn’t address it at all.

The government is NOT going to fire 75,000 individuals; it's just not going to happen especially as the nation has come to realize the amount of suffering the shutdown is causing individuals and families.

Except it wouldn't be 75k workers, it would more along the lines of 30k, maybe 40k if they really amp up the organization. The government would have the option to fire every single one of them, as long as they could prove the individual was participating as part of an organized walk out/slow down/stoppage. There are many people that would ignore such pleas/organization - much more than I think the people calling for a "strike/work stoppage" realize. There is ample precedent for the firing of those individuals that take part, and I do not get the sense that the sitting administration is in any mood to tolerate such an event very well. There are temporary options available to the Executive branch, and I am not so certain that a strike will bode well for the Union in a legal sense (if they are a part of the organizing and or striking).