The decision by the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 “high-volume” markets beginning Friday morning isn’t just a reaction to the now longest partial government shutdown ever.

The FAA says it’s taking these drastic steps because it needs to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain. It also knows that air traffic controllers are starting to call out sick more often, creating this strain.

And air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Officers aren’t the only ones, though they may be the most well-known examples of federal employees working without pay during this partial shutdown. There are hundreds of thousands of others at the Social Security Administration, at the IRS, at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and dozens of other agencies who are in the same boat.

The decision to use sick leave or what some have referred to as a “sick out” is one way federal employees can pressure lawmakers into ending the shutdown.

A Federal News Network “pulse poll” taken over a 36-hour period earlier this week shows two-thirds of the 730 respondents say they believe more of their co-workers will call out sick more often if the lapse in appropriations continues deeper into November.

Federal News Network conducted an online poll from Nov. 4-6 of self-selected federal employees who said they are working during the partial government shutdown.

Aside from the few well-publicized strategic uses of sick leave like at the FAA or among TSOs, respondents say they have not necessarily noticed more federal employees calling out sick during the first month of the shutdown.

“As an excepted worker who must come in five days a week, I can’t take up a gig job like furloughed workers. I don’t think it’s a ‘sick out’ to protest, I think it’s people taking off to do part time jobs to start earning some money,” wrote one respondent.

Others say their time off has been to address the stress and anxiety of the current situation.

“My credit card balance is the highest it’s been since 2020. About to ask mom for a loan – USAA has them, but it’s a hard hit on your credit. I have a side hustle, but I have no time for it since I have to work every day. Been taking a lot of sick leave as mental health days,” wrote one respondent.

Joseph McCartin, a professor at Georgetown University and the executive director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, argued during the 2019 shutdown in American Prospect that a spontaneous sick out of federal workers in response to the 35-day partial shutdown may be warranted.

“Sick outs have long played an important role in the history of public sector labor relations. Because most state governments, like the federal government, prohibit strikes, public workers of all sorts have repeatedly turned in the past to sickouts when no other means of protest was available,” McCartin wrote. “They became so common in the inflation-ravaged 1970s, when public workers saw their pay outstripped by the skyrocketing cost of living, that they acquired creative names: Policemen called them the ‘blue flu,’ fire fighters the ‘red rash’ and teachers ‘chalk-dust fever.’”

The pressure on federal employees, especially those working without pay, is reaching a crescendo in many regards.

More than half of the respondents say they are “very concerned” about their personal finances, while another 23% say they are “somewhat concerned.”

“Everything is a stress. How do I pay my mortgage, buy food, pay for my car note and insurance, and not to mention gas to get to work? Then how long will it take to get out of this hole? I’ve almost depleted my savings. I don’t want to keep taking my credit unions 0% interest paycheck loan. I’m tired of being a political pawn,” wrote one respondent.

Another said, “Day-to-day expenses are more difficult to manage. I am also in the process of obtaining a cash out [refinance] for other purposes but carrying higher than usual credit card balances and less than usual emergency funds may negatively impact the rate I receive.”

Of the 406 comments respondents offered about what financial hardships or belt tightening they are experiencing, the most common were reducing or changing their discretionary spending (12% of the respondents) and 11% said they are just trying to pay their bills and nothing else.

“We have not bought anything we don’t absolutely need and made minimum payments on bills. We have been cooking meals that are easier to spread out for many days- a lot of soup with beans and rice,” wrote one respondent.

Another said, “My emergency funds are running out and may have to get a loan to pay my bills.”

Other respondents said they were worried about not just what’s happening today, but how the post-shutdown environment will impact them too.

“As workloads increase, stress increases, but costs and expenditures continue. There have been cost increases to employees since the return to work, now as more people resign or leave, those duties and extra work is put on others but the people that get the extra work aren’t paid for the extra work. Paying bills is harder. My situation is a bit different. I just graduated with my Ph.D. And the government shutdown, furloughs, RIFS, etc. I am waiting to see what my student loans will be and that is pending a court injunction. I will have to find a second job or a better paying job just to cover everything,” said one respondent.

Several respondents said they have planned for these types of emergencies or are lucky enough that they have a spouse or partner in the private sector.

“I am fortunately still getting paid so just anxiety at this point in time but have put off purchasing items and getting repairs in case I am told I won’t be getting a paycheck or order to have money stockpiled,” wrote one respondent.

Another respondent wrote, “I am financially stable with a non-fed working spouse, a long time side gig, and successful personal finances. I could handle a shutdown for years if I had to, but I hate seeing my fellow workers struggle.”

The post If the shutdown continues, more feds expecting ‘sick outs’ first appeared on Federal News Network.