El Paso Air Traffic Controllers Get Pizza From Canada ACTs
Air traffic controllers in Canada wanted to do something nice for American controllers affected by the current government shutdown. The current U.S. government shutdown is the longest in our country's history and many federal workers have been working without pay since December 22nd. Many workers are struggling to make ends meet and on Friday the National Air Traffic Controllers Association sued the U.S. government. According to Business Insider, the NATCA is suing the government for "unlawfully depriving" their workers of their wages. There have been cases where workers are unable to pay for their medical expenses, and one worker had to miss her grandmother's funeral due to not being able to pay the travel costs.
Air traffic controllers north of the border were looking for a way to send their support to counterparts in the United States and found a tasty way to do it. The Canadian Air Traffic Controller Association in Edmonton bought pizzas for the controllers in Anchorage, Alaska and the idea began to spread. Canadian air traffic controllers in Moncton and Gander decided to buy pizzas for their counterparts in New York as well.
Even right here in El Paso, we're seeing the kindness of the Candian people through some delicious pizza. Air traffic controllers at the Fort McMurray International Airport decided they wanted to send pizzas out and chose the El Paso International Airport controllers as the recipient. Fort McMurray chose El Paso because both cities are oil towns. An El Paso air traffic controller wrote on social media about the El Paso controllers receiving some pizza pies from their Canadian counterparts:
Today the Air Traffic Controllers here at El Paso had the pleasure to received a gift from our neighbors Canada Air Traffic Controller some pizza. Thanks for my brothers and sisters from the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association- CATCA for sending us all this food to us at El Paso ATCT. Thank you for your solidarity with your neighborhood US National Air Traffic Control Association- NATCA.
While the government shutdown is adding stress and a lot of worry for many federal workers, it's good to see people coming together to help those in need.