“Dangerous Game” Warns AFA-CWA’s Sara Nelson

With the current government shutdown dragging into its third week, AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson called out legislators last week at a press conference outside the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) headquarters in Washington, D.C. In her statement, she referred to the current impasse as a “dangerous game” and called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to end the shutdown.

Tens of thousands of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees are furloughed. Workers who perform essential operations, like Air Traffic Controllers and TSA Officers, are working without pay—and without the support of other workers who normally help keep passengers safe, like safety inspectors.

Prior to the shutdown, AFA-CWA joined dozens of airline industry labor and safety organizations in signing a letter to Senate and House leaders detailing the myriad impacts of a shutdown, writing, “Shutdowns are extremely detrimental to the passengers and shippers, as well as the aviation community, because they force the FAA to, among other things, suspend air traffic controller and technician hiring and training, delay the implementation of safety initiatives, postpone maintenance and repair work to critical air traffic equipment, suspend air carrier pilot check rides, delay airworthy inspections for aircraft, defer the analysis of voluntary safety reporting, and suspend work on modernization programs.”

Click here to read the full letter to Senate and House leadership.

---

This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.