I mean, last time there was a budget battle, the TSA agents and some Air Traffic controllers did a “Sick Out” and caused issues with air travel.
Now it is happening again with the TSA.
Why is the Department of (some) Justice letting them get away with this?
It is illegal for government employees to go on strike or engage in any job action.
Yet they do, and they aren’t being fired for it, nor are they being charged with a crime.
Why is that the case? Why aren’t they being charged? Why aren’t they losing their jobs with those sweet Federal benefits? Why do the TSA management allow their employees, our paid servants, to get away with this? ( I know why, that is a rhetorical question)…Why isn’t congress doing something about it, or Prezident Trump? Why are they getting away with it?
Enquiring minds and all that
Can you punish someone who refuses to work if they are not being paid?? Saying you will eventually pay them some day doesn’t pay the rent/mortgage payment , the electric bill or buy groceries. I would think forcing them to work and then not paying them when payday comes is potentially breaking some laws.
It seems to me that sick outs and strikes are only illegal if the govt is in fact paying them on payday and they still refuse to work. The Congress critters at least for now seem to want to let this play out . It is a much narrower shutdown compared to the past as Congress funded almost everything else Except Ice-TSA.
The majority of people ( esp Democrat faithful) are getting their entitlements. I think the military is mostly funded right now. With Spring Break starting there may be some more headaches and eventually the TSA people will ( and should ) simply stop showing up. Let the nation grind to a halt until Congress figures out what is the most important and acts.( The only real danger I see for TSA management is if people decide they aren’t really that helpful or important and just phase them out).
Those are the rules you agreed to when you took the job as a TSA employee.
Like most things, there is a give and take of good and bad.
If they don’t show up for work, then they should lose their job, with those great Federal employment benefits and (relatively) good pay.
The working through the budget issues is part of the game if you are that sort of “Essential” Federal Employee.
These folks are welcome to quit and find other employment of they don’t like the occasional temporary interruption in their otherwise steady (and fairly lucrative for the job) paychecks.
Pick one, work or quit.
While you seem to think that what you :feel: is important, it isn’t what federal law says, nor is it a part of the employment conditions for “essential” federal workers. Your Feelingses don’t matter.
No one forces them to choose Federal employment
I could give a long winded explanation but calling in sick, even if heavily suspected and unless proven otherwise of each individual, is not an organized work stoppage. It’s contractually legal.
That’s why.