The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said that requiring 16,000 controllers to work without pay violates their constitutional rights and a federal wage law in a lawsuit in federal court in Washington D.C. “America wants its air traffic controllers to be laser-focused on landing planes safely and monitoring America’s runways, not distracted by financial issues and anxiety of financial instability,” the union said in the lawsuit. NATCA also moved for a court order requiring the government to restore air traffic controllers’ pay while the lawsuit is pending. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has funds to pay the workers despite the ongoing shutdown, the union said.
