Article

2019-01-16 Government

Judge denies 'essential' federal workers' request to be paid during the shutdown

[ABC] A federal judge on Tuesday denied requests from unions representing air traffic controllers and other employees required to work through the government shutdown that they either be paid or have the option to skip work while missing paychecks.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled to keep the status quo, saying that an order allowing employees considered essential to skip work would be "chaotic" in a best-case scenario and "catastrophic" at worst.

Lawyers representing the National Air Traffic Controllers Association had sued the Trump administration to get their controllers, thousands of whom continue to work and just missed a paycheck, be paid while working during the shutdown in order for them to remain "laser-focused" on their job guiding more than 40,000 flights through the nation's airspace every day.

Lawyers for the labor unions, including National Treasury Employees Union, argued withholding pay while forcing labor is unconstitutional and violated U.S. labor laws.

Leon said only Congress can appropriate the funds to pay federal workers and would not force the Treasury Department to allocate funds to the furloughed employees.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-01-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11140 views ] Top

#1 Besoeker, if you're the author of the headline and responsible for the image, I demand you apologize to the workers who are still working without pay and still have bills to pay, families to feed. If you don't then I call you out for being a bully who enjoys kicking people when they are down.

Posted by AlmostAnonymous5839 2019-01-16 01:45|| 2019-01-16 01:45|| Front Page Top

#2 The headline posted herein is the headline run by ABC verbatim. The graphic was my personal opinion of these sordid events. I have not worked in many years. When I needed work, I didn't hire a lawyer. I got off of my ass and found it! I would hope that others do likewise.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-01-16 02:08|| 2019-01-16 02:08|| Front Page Top

#3 Blame ABC’s editors, AlmostAnonymous5839. And if any of your congressional representatives are Democrats, let them know it’s time for them to compromise with President Trump. It is they who are at fault for the situation that is making your current circumstances so difficult — especially that group frolicking in Puerto Rico instead of working to find a solution in Washington, DC.

What did federal workers do during the Obama shutdwon in October, 2013?

Posted by trailing wife 2019-01-16 02:15|| 2019-01-16 02:15|| Front Page Top

#4 Personally I think it's wise to get the federal employees and sinecurists to understand the feeling of expecting a paycheck/pay-cheque and it not being there.

After all the government has done so much to make that happen to sooo many workers.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2019-01-16 02:28|| 2019-01-16 02:28|| Front Page Top

#5 The graphic probably crushed some sensibilities TW. I had initially intended to post Fred's 'pigs at the trough' which I routinely use for gov't workers and pols, but substituted another a bit more caustic. My bad, I took the replacement down.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-01-16 02:32|| 2019-01-16 02:32|| Front Page Top

#6 Air traffic controllers have a tough, demanding job with lots of responsibility. Did the judge also rule that landlords may not collect rent from them, banks not ask fopr mortgages being paid?

Sorry, no pay, no work.

Posted by European Conservative 2019-01-16 06:50|| 2019-01-16 06:50|| Front Page Top

#7 Sorry, no pay, no work.
Posted by European Conservative

But, but, but I cannot be terminated thus I must always be paid! Can you not see the corollary ?

Posted by Besoeker 2019-01-16 06:56|| 2019-01-16 06:56|| Front Page Top

#8 If they don't work they CAN be terminated, right?
How long are they supposed to work without pay? Months?
Sorry no. Either pay them or allow them not to work. They have to feed a family.

Posted by European Conservative 2019-01-16 07:08|| 2019-01-16 07:08|| Front Page Top

#9 Bottom line, they will eventually be paid. It is actually against Federal law to NOT compensate. If they stay home and do nothing, they will also get paid. If they come to work w/o pay, provide them with 'COMP TIME' (compensatory time off) at some future date.

If they do not want 'COMP TIME' permit them to sell back the days off, or add the days off in cash to their annual bonus.

Permit the withdrawal of funds (without penalty) from their Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) account.

Surely a workable solution, a win-win can be found somewhere.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-01-16 07:18|| 2019-01-16 07:18|| Front Page Top

#10 " If they stay home and do nothing, they will also get paid."

As I understand it they are not allowed to stay home ("or have the option to skip work while missing paychecks")

Posted by European Conservative 2019-01-16 07:49|| 2019-01-16 07:49|| Front Page Top

#11 They should ask the union to loan them their wages?

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2019-01-16 09:51|| 2019-01-16 09:51|| Front Page Top

#12 What has the union got to do with it?
If the government says you have to work, it has to pay you.
Trump said the shutdown could go on for a long time. Are people supposed to work for months without pay?

Posted by European Conservative 2019-01-16 10:46|| 2019-01-16 10:46|| Front Page Top

#13 Lawyers for the labor unions, including National Treasury Employees Union, argued withholding pay while forcing labor is unconstitutional and violated U.S. labor laws.

Keep in mind who isn't getting income from the workers during the shutdown.

Posted by Mullah Richard 2019-01-16 10:54|| 2019-01-16 10:54|| Front Page Top

#14 My question was: Why should the unions advance the government's pay?

Posted by European Conservative 2019-01-16 11:00|| 2019-01-16 11:00|| Front Page Top

#15 Are people supposed to work for months without pay?

The piglets that covet a tit
Of the biggest she-porker, to wit:
Our government workers
(excepting you Burgers!),
Would rather be beggin'... than quit.

Posted by Graise Ebbaise4372 2019-01-16 11:06|| 2019-01-16 11:06|| Front Page Top

#16 They can take their labor elsewhere and sell it. Given that unemployment is down, that shouldn't be too much of a problem unless they do want a job but not work. The only people who can't quit their job are the uniformed services when it falls under desertion. BTW, Back in the 70s, Congress refused to pass the DoD authorization. The services went month to month with a continuing resolution. Mess Halls were opened to dependents as the resolutions dragged into the next months. The Donks controlled Congress then too. Punishment for following the Constitutional orders of the Executive for the Vietnam era.

The federal employees face the monkey with his hands on the candy and can't extract his hand from the bottle situation. The bennies are that good. They know it. They also know that in every other instances of this kind, they all got back pay.

Not that any department has ever delayed payments to contractors. Nah, never happened. /sarc off

Posted by Procopius2k 2019-01-16 11:39|| 2019-01-16 11:39|| Front Page Top

#17 Where would air traffic controllers "sell their labor"?

Posted by European Conservative 2019-01-16 11:54|| 2019-01-16 11:54|| Front Page Top

#18 Just as they told laid off coal miners - learn a new trade.

Posted by Procopius2k 2019-01-16 12:09|| 2019-01-16 12:09|| Front Page Top

#19 Ostensible hardship cases, at least, could probably sell their stories for considerably more than po-boy money.

Posted by Zenobia Floger6220 2019-01-16 12:17|| 2019-01-16 12:17|| Front Page Top

#20 Un-essential workers (all administrative and contract workers) are staying home and not being paid. Essential, like myself, still have to show up work or not get paid. Besoeker, we are not pigs in the trough! Essential workers are necessary for safety or security reasons. Please refrain from performing an anal-cranial inversion and find out some facts, learn and stop performing knee jerk pronouncements.
Too many of you are assuming that all federal employees are ticks on your butt and I for one am getting a little tired of that.

Posted by AlmostAnonymous5839 2019-01-16 12:27|| 2019-01-16 12:27|| Front Page Top

#21 OK then YOU'RE the government employee that isn't useless. Got it.

Posted by Hellfish 2019-01-16 12:38|| 2019-01-16 12:38|| Front Page Top

#22 Are mandarins pinching their pennies
And sharing Grand Slams down at Denny's?
The horror, the horror.
"I'm sore," roared a schnorrer,
"But thanks for these glorious bennies!"

Not personal, AlmostAnon, just playing with words and making light of the bigger mess.

Posted by Jusonter Spirong7259 2019-01-16 13:08|| 2019-01-16 13:08|| Front Page Top

#23 And if any of your congressional representatives are Democrats, let them know it’s time for them to compromise with President Trump.

I believe that writing about this matter to Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris would be akin to spitting in the wind. I do not believe that either one of them gives a fig what I say. I believe that Democrats in general have long since stopped trying to do things in the best interests of their constituents. They care only for power and as long as they have the msm covering their butts, they'll do as they please. This matter will not be resolved by letters from constituents.

Every night I sit and watch the msm deliver sob stories about these poor federal workers but they say not one word about the victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens, not to mention the deaths of people addicted to illegal narcotics. I'm sorry about people not getting paid but can't help thinking this is a temporary thing for them. For the mother of a child victimized by a drunken illegal alien in a car crash, it's permanent.

And what about workers in the private sector, on the lower rungs of the ladder, who are displaced by illegal aliens? Any word on that from ABC?

Posted by Abu Uluque 2019-01-16 13:35|| 2019-01-16 13:35|| Front Page Top

#24 And 8 years of the private sector's suffering being mocked by the government with Funemployment, whilst they took more out of our paychecks for the Funemployed to stay Funemployed.

Now we get to deal with our Common Corp entry level employees.

And what in the ehll is a non-essential employee? Been throwing people off the boat so everyone else has enough to drink since mid 2008 and been harangued or laughed down after doing so.

So there is a bit of animosity out here in the private sector, especially when the insincere use sobs and tears to attempt to unleash yet another wave of unskilled, uneducated, wellfare and paid under the table cases into a reeling workforce and population.

There are banks who are fronting money to gov employees working without pay, knowing the paycheck will eventually arrive and the front re-payed.

In fact, I just realized the only people around home not pissed off are the trash bum junkies. Guess they still get their wellfare checks then?

What we should all be pissed about is when the tiny lords threatened all of us who do work with a delayed tax return. Last I saw, IRS still takes money so they are open. So the tiny lords either threatened us with financial violence, or consider that aspect of the government obliged to return the money they took from us speculating and earning interest, to not be essential.

Posted by swksvolFF 2019-01-16 21:34|| 2019-01-16 21:34|| Front Page Top

#25 Not downing on you AA5839, glad you are one of the good ones, congratulations on making yourself essential at work, sorry you gotta hit the rainy day fund for a bit (hope you have one; everyone Dave Ramsey is required familiarity).

The new line is, towns around National Parks are going broke! bullcrap. Sick of it.

Posted by swksvolFF 2019-01-16 21:40|| 2019-01-16 21:40|| Front Page Top

#26 As a local Gubbamint Employee/Cog in a top 10 City:
In 2008 when the City budget (and Fed economy) took a shit, we took a mandatory furlough of a week, then 10 days. We weren't paid for that, but we STFU (we shut up, because - we got jobs)
We had no raises for 10 years, eventually the furloughs were restored - 2015. (we shut up, because - we got jobs)
The Fed furloughed employees oughtta figure out: People don't care - they worry day-to-day about their jobs. Quit whining

Posted by Frank G 2019-01-16 21:52|| 2019-01-16 21:52|| Front Page Top

#27 Goodness! That is a rant, swksvolFF. I seem to recall that the nonsense of the Obama years kept you from expanding your business as demand would have otherwise encouraged.

Posted by trailing wife 2019-01-16 21:58|| 2019-01-16 21:58|| Front Page Top

#28 I know some people are hurting and despite that, I find it hard to have alot of sympathy. I work in the oil field so having my job disappear when least expected is part of the deal. Dealing with 10% pay cuts that turn into 30% pay cut is also. And I don't get to go home every night to tuck in my kid or kiss my wife. I'm gone 3-5 weeks at a time. And it sure seems lately that the amount of compensation we get for that being gone from our families keeps getting smaller and smaller. Yeah I could get another job...entry level geology pays so well;) ($30k/yr) Right now there's -3- people in the world with my job. So I think I'll just stick it out here and suck up the bad parts.

Posted by Silentbrick 2019-01-16 22:30|| 2019-01-16 22:30|| Front Page Top

#29 Screw you AA5839. You are a pig.at the trough. Screw you and all your so-called essential workers. We need none of you fuckers!

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2019-01-16 23:52|| 2019-01-16 23:52|| Front Page Top

02:05 Grom the Affective
02:04 Grom the Affective
01:26 49 Pan
00:22 EMS Artifact
00:16 Skidmark