'Rules were created with us as pawns': Fresno air traffic controllers miss first full paycheck

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Air postulation controllers astatine Fresno Yosemite International Airport missed their archetypal afloat paycheck connected Tuesday.

Jerry O'Gorman is the Union President of Fresno's Air Traffic Control Union and says this week marks the archetypal clip workers received a blank paycheck since the authorities shutdown began 28 days ago.

"Two weeks ago, the mean coworker present mislaid 20% of their pay," helium noted. "Our paystubs really were fixed to america 0.00. So, today's the archetypal existent impactful time for the shutdown for us."

 He says one situation lies successful making definite the squad stays motivated.

"It's an unthinkable magnitude of accent connected us. We person a truly high-stakes, high-stress occupation already," O'Gorman explained. "It's hard for maine to speech to my co-workers and promote them because, again, we're not present volunteering for that retired of the kindness of our hearts. We request to instrumentality attraction of our families." 

Amidst truthful overmuch uncertainty, their committedness to keeping the skies harmless remains steadfast.

"We person immoderate highly skilled men and women crossed this country that run the safest, astir analyzable strategy successful the world. We'll proceed to amusement up and bash our jobs," helium said. "The anticipation is astatine immoderate fixed moment, let's extremity the shutdown. The rules were created with america arsenic the pawns, and it's, it doesn't person to hap this way."

That's thing 2 assemblage members astatine FAT shared with YourCentralValley.com.

"Putting myself successful their shoes, what would I do? What a hard concern for them to consider, not conscionable for themselves, but for their family, for their bills that they got to pay," said Edgar Guzman, a traveler astatine FAT. "I tin recognize the vexation that radical would want, privation not wanting to amusement up, but besides the radical who bash amusement up due to the fact that they person nary different choice. We consciousness for them."

"It's similar anybody else, you know, sometimes we don't get paid. We, you know, sometimes we miss a check. It has thing to bash with administration, but we proceed to bash our job. And I spot the dedication that they have," said Ruben Reyna, different FAT flier. 

O'Gorman says during the past authorities shutdown successful 2019, aerial postulation controllers received 3 blank paychecks.