I gotta say, it is absolutely exhausting seeing people on here and in positions of power in NATCA argue about "strategy" and what avenues are and aren't available to NATCA to improve our lives. As if everything that we can and cannot do is dictated by the agency, the administration, and the rules they set forth; as if NATCA has no sovereignty in the situation.
I hopefully have an awakening for all of you that think that way: WE have the power. When it comes down to it, WE are the ones that make this shit work. Planes don't leave the ground unless WE say so. Congress doesn't get to fly home unless WE say so. Cargo doesn't move unless WE say so.
Could you even imagine if we didn't have stooge after stooge after stooge sitting on the throne of this association? If we instead had someone in the vein of a Harold Daggett (Longshoremen), Shawn Fain (UAW), or Sean O'Brien (Teamsters)? How quickly would a TRUE labor leader notify the agency that they are instructing all BUEs to operate strictly by the letter of the .65, use sick leave if they are incapacitated, and to do so until advised otherwise?
We always like to lean on the idea that management's declarations amount to "the beatings will continue until morale improves." Guess what? We're the ones with the stick, motherfucker, they're the ones that should be scared.
They want you working 50+ hours a week? Fuck you, pay me. They want these sequences safe, orderly, AND expeditious? Fuck you, pay me. They want to give out sick leave letters for getting sick, using NyQuil, and taking two days off? Fuck you, pay me.
That isn't a strike. That isn't a work stoppage. That isn't anywhere near an illegal labor action by a federal workforce. That gets results.
Grow a spine, you feckless fucking cowards.
