Anyone in this suite? Wondering because state labor laws are generally a 1,000-3,000 fine for EACH time pay was not provided on agreed upon terms. Government Must Pay Damages to 25,000 Feds Who Worked During 2013 Shutdown
Government Shutdown
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JustSomeGuy
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I’ve called, I’ve emailed, I’ve written, I’ve leafletted, I still come to work. Each day I come to work, my morale is lower than the day before. I’ve lost complete faith/hope that either party even cares. More than that, I think both parties enjoy making us suffer, to an extant. Republicans can say, “look what the Dems are doing to federal employees!” and the Dems say the same about the Reps. I love my job and I’m proud to be a controller. It takes so much work, as you all know. And the responsibility is great. If there were no air traffic controllers, this country would come to a halt. To be treated like a pawn for leverage makes me feel like we don’t matter at all. Cardi B made the news about the shutdown more than any of us did. Safety will never be compromised but man if this doesn’t suck. I hope we all have paychecks next week. And I hope there is some sort of legislation passed so that this never happens again.
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PushingTin
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This. I feel this away almost exactly. Which is why when I see the uber partisan posts its discouraging. Neither of them give a shit about us. I think this burst a lot of ppls bubble that ATC is "special" somehow. Clearly its not to the government... and NATCA imo has done a weak job in the media. Yes theyve made appearances and hit their talking points... but not moved the needle even a little bit. It exposes how little "power" they have for better or worse, and legit makes me ppl wonder why they're paying PAC money? Is a waste.
Peter Gibbons
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Ya this is why I've never donated to the PAC and never will. Money in politics is a big part of the problem and obviously "the money gets us face time" arguement is bullshit. Your face time isn't doing jack shit to get me a paycheck. Throwing a thousand bucks at a dude who campaigns on 500 dollar plus a plate fundraiser dinners and spends half his week making phone calls to donors instead of writing legislation for say..... A fucking budget isn't doing anything for us.
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Slowly getting that way myself...
Maintainvfr
Forum Sage
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You know that they still make all the decisions regarding our benefits though right? Even if it's not according to our optimal schedule? Like yeah, this sucks, but don't try to use this to justify sitting back and letting everyone else make sacrifices on your behalf.
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I see what you did there...
You can do anything once!
Google “Ronald Reagan PATCO”
squawkIFR
Trusted Contributor
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too soon?
My apologies- Not getting paid for a month has diminished made my ability to sense sarcasm!
squawkIFR
Trusted Contributor
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While we're on the subject. Might I recommend Dave Ramsey's 'Total Money Makeover'?
Peter Gibbons
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No personal attacks
Again, you think your piddly little bit of bribe money is gonna come into play there, yet they can't even get us paid on time (the most basic of benefits-timely pay)? The politicians don't care about us peasants, if it's politically expedient or benificial to them to do something they'll do it, if not their gonna fuck us like they are doing now. Your PAC donations may as well be monopoly money for all they care.
I'm so tired of people who stand up at union events and in conversations like this act like martyrs for donating to the PAC. It doesn't make you a hero, it makes you a sucker playing into a shitty system.
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PushingTin
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Burn those NATCA sacred cows ??? then drop the mic!
(P.S. then watch for nasty emails from the NEB in 3...2....1...)
Maintainvfr
Forum Sage
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Alright I'll bite. The first thing I'll say is that it's not so simple of a decision as paying us on time being the most basic of benefits. For us yes that is the basic line of what we want. For them it's way more of a complex situation. They answer to a large base of constituents and donors and a large party. Opening the government to them has more nuances as they have the job of trying to please everyone.
I think the shutdown is stupid, but it's not as simple as something specifically about paying air traffic controllers came across their desk and they all said no fuck those guys. By the same token, our piddly bribe money or whatever you want to call it in your next post is not really that small across the board. It's a pretty large amount of money that each party ends up receiving if they help us. If you want to make a difference, it's easier to do in a group. You're at least able to agree on that, I'm sure. You might think none of it makes a difference but if you think the consistent activism plays no part in all of the air time controllers have been getting on the news then you're being foolish. When bills come around that they can either influence language for or against us, this helps them lean in our favor.
You can make all the attacks against contributors or the system if you want, but this is helping you. It's like when people leave the union but get to enjoy the benefits of the contract. Others are shouldering the burden on your behalf.
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I contribute to the PAC until privatization enters the conversation. I don’t want my dollars going to promoting privatization. If they were lobbying to make ATC and other essential services immune from this crap while still being FAA/gov I’d increase my contribution significantly.
Last year or 2 years ago or whatever the day the privatization bill died I started contributing again. But while that was on the table I didn’t contribute.
Last year or 2 years ago or whatever the day the privatization bill died I started contributing again. But while that was on the table I didn’t contribute.
