[QUOTE=Turbosina;3877630

No matter your political stance...as pilots who depend on professional controllers every minute we're out on the line, how any of us could support such an action is utterly beyond my comprehension.[/QUOTE]

It is obvious what your political stance is.

 

Gender discussion moved here...

Gender Identity Discussion

 

I'm still missing the whole point of this thread. An email from OPM was sent out to all federal employees on the 28th. The FAQs were subsequently sent out based on questions that had been asked by the agencies. None of this applies to ATC, but this also isn't abnormal, either. I get emails from UAL and the union all the time that have absolutely no relevance to me.

If this is a discussion whether federal employees should be returning to the office or stop just riding the pine waiting for an uncle sugar retirement, I must have glanced over those points.

 

There’s no point to it. Many people on APC would benefit greatly by logging off APC for a few days and just staying off the internet. Some people just can’t help themselves but dabble into politics and other needless conversations. They need to get off APC and get a life, especially on their off days.

 

Fair question. Put yourself in the position of a controller. You've been overworked and stressed for years. You know the system is one error away from a tragedy such as happened this week. Yet you come into work every day (or night), doing your best to keep the skies safe.

Then a link in the accident chain breaks. One of your fellow controllers -- a union brother -- is on duty in an understaffed tower. He witnesses a fireball above the Potomac. Exactly what you've been dreading had just happened.

You hope, in the immediate aftermath of this tragedy, that your elected leadership will step up to the plate and vow to fix the understaffing issue. That you will hear warm words of condolence and support. But instead, you get a mass email -- the second such email in just a few days -- encouraging you to seek employment in a "higher productivity job in the private sector."

How do you think you'd feel? Appreciated? Understood? Would you feel that your elected leadership has your back?

Or would you feel disgusted and disillusioned at the way you're being treated?

I know how I'd feel.

Is this really how we, as a country, want to treat some of the most talented and hard working folks in our government? Is this fair? Is it empathetic? Will it lead to greater safety? We as pilots depend on these men and women to do their jobs correctly -- without them, our livelihoods would not be possible. Controllers deserve our respect and gratitude. They do not deserve to be treated as disposable human drones, which is how that email approaches them.

That's the point.

 

He doesn't know what that is.

 

It doesn’t sound like you have worked for the federal government or supervised people that have done so. There are a lot of hardworking people who punch above their weight on the payscale. There are also a lot of people who do far less, are nearly impossible to fire, and generally are just weights to keep their chairs on the floor. Let’s not pretend that this memo was something it wasn’t. It’s very clear who it pertains to. This downsizing happens every few years in all branches of government. Nothing new.

 

Journalists generally give the full job title in the first instance, then give a shortened version thereafter. Secretary of Defense John Doe simply becomes "Secretary Doe" each time they mention him later. "President" becomes "Mister", and they did that with Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush and every president before that I can remember.

 

sure i do, as i thoroughly explained before the thread got moved.

 

You act like and adult/professionl and do your job. I got a furlough notice the day before Thanksgiving. Did I melt into a puddle of mush and rush to the internet to score woe is me points? No, I worked as a professional until my last day. Normal humans should be able to deal with life.