The partial government shutdown stretched to five weeks. This Friday is the second payday some federal employees did not receive a check. While a deal has tentatively been reached to reopen the government, it will still be days before those workers are compensated.
Speaking on NPR’s Morning Edition Friday, January 25, Jim Marinitti – a regional vice president with the air traffic controllers union – said the flying public was justified in worrying about the safety of taking to the skies.
“Every day that this shutdown continues, the layers of safety degrade more and more, and it is a concern,” Marinitti told NPR host Rachel Martin.
Delaney Gitt is jumping out of a car at the Boise Airport to catch a flight to Portland. She gets her bags out of the backseat and makes her way toward the terminal. Before checking in, she says she’s not worried about the safety of her flight. What’s on her mind is the plight of airport security workers and air traffic controllers.
“I know that they’re not being paid right now, which is super unfortunate and I hope we can find a way to compensate them for this time, but I’m hoping that they put their best foot forward and get me there safely,” Gitt says with a smile.
Another traveler, Vaughn Wells, says he flies all the time for work. He sees the predicament of federal workers as linked to passenger wellbeing.
“I think it’s really terrible, and I think it’s something that needs to be solved right away for our safety,” says Wells. His phone starts ringing and he runs into the terminal.
Hours after sharing their thoughts, the president would announce a tentative deal to reopen the government for three weeks. However, federal workers impacted by the shutdown won’t see their financial hardships disappear immediately.
Wearing bright purple polo shirts emblazoned with “ATC – air traffic controller,” a group of men and women who guide planes in and out of the skies over Boise stands outside the security checkpoint. They’re putting faces and names to the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history.
“Me being an air traffic controller is a big source of pride for me,” says Thomas West. “My dad did it for 30 years; he kind of got me into it.”
West is wearing one of those purple polo shirts. He’s the president of the local branch of the air traffic controllers union.
“We got our second pay stub that had $0.00 on it,” West says. “I’ve been doing this now for 10 years, have gone through a number of shutdowns. This is the first shutdown that I’ve been through personally that we went without a paycheck – let alone two paychecks – and now it’s been an entire month that we haven’t been paid.”
West is dedicated to his job and says he can’t imagine doing anything else. To accommodate the financial hit of the shutdown, he’s told his mortgage company the situation and they’ve delayed the payment. He’s also been able to put off his car payment. Still, West says the pressure of going without pay is taking a toll.
“The stress at home, we try and leave that at home, but it’s getting harder and harder every single day,” West says with a note of frustration. “When we come to work and your wife is asking you, ‘How are we going to pay for this?’ and your kids are going to ask you – you know, ‘I need this for school’ or ‘I need that for school’ and you’re wondering to yourself how you’re going to pay for that.”
Standing next to West is his fellow air traffic controller and the vice president of the union branch, Clay McCarty. Like his coworker, McCarty is feeling the squeeze.
“I’m in a little bit of a different situation than Thomas,” says McCarty. “I’m a father of three. One, my oldest son, is a special needs child, and my wife stays at home. You know, we had just purchased a wheelchair accessible van, in October, got it on Christmas Eve and we were unable to make our first payment on that.”
McCarty got in touch with his credit union and was able to defer the payment for a month.
The proposed bi-partisan agreement to reopen the government for three weeks will allow lawmakers time to negotiate issues surrounding border security. It will also guarantee the government is open long enough to ensure federal workers see a paycheck.
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