Aviation Safety at Risk if Government Shutdown Resumes

At a press conference at National Airport in Washington, D.C., this week, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens and AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson joined labor union allies to call on Congress and the White House to avoid another federal government shutdown in order to keep workers and the flying public safe.

"At CWA, we understand that some of the most important work we can do together is to fight for workplace safety," Steffens said. "Many of our members saw firsthand during the last shutdown how dangerous it is to furlough aviation safety officers and to withhold their paychecks. It was an extremely scary situation. It is wrong to use workers and their families and the flying public as a pawn in a political game. We are ready to do whatever it takes to stop this from happening again – to keep our members and the flying public safe."

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens (front) and AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson joined labor union allies to call on Congress and the White House to avoid another federal government shutdown in order to keep workers and the flying public safe.

Nelson also testified on Wednesday before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation on the impact of the 35-day federal government shutdown and what we need to do to stop further damage.

"Safety and security is non-negotiable," Nelson told Congress. "It is critical that Washington stop the threat of a day 36 and take steps to ensure this never happens again. We've all seen that aviation relies on many areas of government to keeping flying safe. We call on all lawmakers to ensure government workers are never locked out again."

As the possibility of another shutdown looms, AFA-CWA members are holding pickets and leafleting at airports across the country this week to draw attention to the importance of keeping the government open and are calling for mass protests at airports if the shutdown resumes on February 16. Click here to sign up to receive updates about the protests.

AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation on the impact of the 35-day federal government shutdown and what we need to do to stop further damage.