PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Three and a half weeks into the partial federal government shutdown, the air traffic controllers union is going to court to get paychecks for its members.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association filed the suit Friday, alleging labor and Constitutional violations.
Local president Michael Dalmaso tells KDKA Radio, air traffic controllers are required to report to work even during shutdowns.
“We will defiantly receive our back pay for the work that we have done, eventually sometime but there’s thousands of other federal employees that are sitting at home and they don’t know for sure if they’ll ever get paid.”
Dalmaso says air safety will not be compromised, even though members missed their first paychecks Friday.
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“The morale in my building is dropping all the time. So it is getting more and more difficult and more and more frustrating to be caught up in this,” said Dalmaso
Dalmaso adds there is already a short-staffing problem at the Pittsburgh control tower and members are not calling off sick to protest the shutdown.
Employees were issued pay stubs last week, but no checks.
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