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

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Air traffic controllers at Fresno Yosemite International Airport missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday.

Jerry O’Gorman is the Union President of Fresno’s Air Traffic Control Union and says this week marks the first time workers received a blank paycheck since the government shutdown began 28 days ago.

“Two weeks ago, the average coworker here lost 20% of their pay,” he noted. “Our paystubs actually were given to us 0.00. So, today’s the first real impactful day for the shutdown for us.”

 He says one challenge lies in making sure the team stays motivated.

“It’s an incredible amount of stress on us. We have a really high-stakes, high-stress job already,” O’Gorman explained. “It’s hard for me to talk to my co-workers and encourage them because, again, we’re not here volunteering for that out of the kindness of our hearts. We need to take care of our families.” 

Amidst so much uncertainty, their commitment to keeping the skies safe remains steadfast.

“We have some highly skilled men and women across this country that operate the safest, most complex system in the world. We’ll continue to show up and do our jobs,” he said. “The hope is at any given moment, let’s end the shutdown. The rules were created with us as the pawns, and it’s, it doesn’t have to happen this way.”

That’s something two community members at FAT shared with YourCentralValley.com.

“Putting myself in their shoes, what would I do? What a difficult situation for them to consider, not just for themselves, but for their family, for their bills that they got to pay,” said Edgar Guzman, a traveler at FAT. “I can understand the frustration that people would want, want not wanting to show up, but also the people who do show up because they have no other choice. We feel for them.”

“It’s like anybody else, you know, sometimes we don’t get paid. We, you know, sometimes we miss a check. It has something to do with administration, but we continue to do our job. And I see the dedication that they have,” said Ruben Reyna, another FAT flier. 

O’Gorman says during the last government shutdown in 2019, air traffic controllers received three blank paychecks.