The fishwrap New York Times just can’t help themselves. They will run with any idea that the Good Idea Fairy smacks them with. This time they opine that TSA workers should go on strike in order to teach Trump a lesson.

T. S.A. workers should use last year’s teachers’ strikes as a model. They were called not by the leadership of the teachers’ unions but by the rank and file. It was a new kind of labor activism, starting at the bottom and depending heavily on community support. By sticking together and creating their own communication system, the teachers succeeded in sending a powerful message of solidarity and strength.

~Snip

The moral foundation for a strike is unquestionably firm. The federal government has broken its contract with its employees — locking some of them out of their workplaces and expecting others to work for the mere promise of eventual pay. An even more profound principle is also at stake, namely the ban on slavery and involuntary servitude embodied in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Slavery, involuntary servitude, and a moral foundation for a strike? Are. You. Kidding. Me??!!

The absurdity of their premise is tinfoil derp eleventy with a side of rutabaga thrown in.

Look, the federal employees who aren’t receiving paychecks right now are hurting. I totally get that. I know several personally. They are frustrated with the shutdown. Many recognize that yes, as I pointed out yesterday, the Democrats are JUST AS RESPONSIBLE for the continuing shut down as Trump is. However, what my friends are NOT doing is pretending to be sick. What they are NOT doing is planning a strike. They are still working. And by golly they should be commended for that.

What Barbara Ehrenreich and Gary Stevenson barely mention is that a strike by TSA workers is completely and utterly illegal. 

An individual may not accept or hold a position in the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia if he participates in a strike, or asserts the right to strike, against the Government of the United States, or is a member of an organization of employees of the Government of the United States or of individuals employed by the government of the District of Columbia that he knows asserts the right to strike against the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia.

All federal employees take an oath declaring, “I am not participating in any strike against the Government of the United States or any agency thereof, and I will not so participate while an employee of the Government of the United States or any agency thereof.”

Whoops. So that’s not going to work. Except that Barbara and Gary really really want a strike to happen.

A 7.6% absence rate isn’t “soaring” in my book. But the media just LOVES to over exaggerate don’t they?

Folks on social media don’t understand the ramifications of urging TSA to strike either.

I thought the 13th amendment ended involuntary servitude? The The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 was designed to prevent strikes not to force employees to work without pay – This is a disgraceful way to treat our hardworking federal employees. #tsa #EndTheShutdown #TrumpIsADisgrace

— Oldworldink (@oldworldink) January 15, 2019

I would strike/walkout if I could.

I support TSA workers striking.

I also support a #nationalstrike2019

This #mitchshutdown needs to end now. https://t.co/PxoXZ3nOOG

— Rebel Rebel (@Palooke76) January 15, 2019

Don’t get me started on Congress critter Rashida Tlaib’s bullshit.  However, this guy sort of gets it.

I would be concerned about those things also. This is a fairly dicey time to be flying. TSA workers are all members of a union, which could go on strike any day now, or the numbers of "call outs" could just keep going up. On-going problems at airports will be unpredictable. https://t.co/SK35B3cw24

— James R. Bruner (@JAMES_R_BRUNER) January 15, 2019

Yes, if there is a strike, there will be problems at the airports. How much of a problem? Who knows. However, even if a strike occurs, there are contingency plans in place.

Calls for a strike are wrong on every level.

First of all, as pointed out above, a strike by TSA workers would be illegal.

Secondly, if the TSA goes on strike, then Trump can pull a Reagan and fire them. Which means they will never see a federal paycheck again.

Third, the TSA has been problematic from the start. How much genuine sympathy would striking TSA employees ACTUALLY get from travelers who’ve experienced the bad side of TSA security screenings? Less than they’d think.

Again, working while knowing a paycheck is not going to show up is definitely an untenable situation. I can’t imagine what folks are going through. However, a strike is not the way to bring the shut down to a halt. A much better idea is for all TSA employees to call up ALL of their elected representatives and tell them to quit playing games and get their ass back to the negotiating table with Trump.

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