This week President Trump said he prefers the term “strike” to “shutdown.”
Hey, I prefer the term “Rolls Royce” to “Honda Odyssey.” But changing what I call my vehicle doesn’t change the reality of what I actually drive.
According to Webster’s, a strike is “a concerted refusal by employees to go on working in an attempt to force an employer to grant certain demands, as for higher wages, better working conditions, etc.”
In the case of the several thousand government employees whose paychecks have stopped for an indefinite length of time while their expenses occur on schedule, calling this a “strike” is a horrible disservice. The employees are not refusing to work.
Management (i.e. the executive and legislative branches of the federal government) have refused to let the employees go on working. (And correct me if I’m wrong, but I am under the impression that the members of said management are not dealing with any interruption of their pay or benefits.) The employees of the federal government are not on strike, they are being refused the opportunity to work.
But wait, “This really does have a higher purpose than next week’s pay.” There isn’t much higher purpose than providing necessities like food, rent, utilities, etc. for yourself and your family, and when the chance to make money is eliminated, even temporarily, it’s tough to worry about anything else.
Yes, we need border security, although I don’t personally believe a wall is necessary nor effective. Illegals coming to deprive you of income? We have elected officials who are already doing that quite successfully. Mr. President, please get these people back to work.
Vin Marquardt
New Hyde Park
