Furloughed Civilian Employees Head Back to Work

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Furloughed civilian workers are back to work at Robins Air Force Base, but still aren’t sure if they’ll get paid for the days they missed.

Furloughed civilian employees, like Jeanette McElhaney, woke up Monday morning anxious to get back to work…she’s the Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987 branch.

She also has been sitting at home, furloughed, frustrated and missing out on checks….

“The furloughs are not only affecting the D.O.D employees, it’s affecting everybody, because if we’re not getting paid, if we’re not working, then we can’t spend in the community,” McElhaney said.

400,000 civilian employees were ordered by the Pentagon to return to work based on the Pentagon’s new interpretation of the ‘Pay Our Military’ Act.

Charlie Tripis is the executive vice president at 987. He’s trying to help employees deal with the impact of the shutdown.

“We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls from individuals who were called back, but don’t know when they’re actually getting paid or they’re on I.O.U. Status,” Tripis said.

He’s been in constant contact with top officials at Robins Air Force Base waiting to see if the employees will get paid for the days they were furloughed.

“But there in limbo as well at least that’s what’s being conveyed to me at this point,” Tripis said.

Jeanette is ready for something to get done, but isn’t giving up and thinks congress needs to understand how bad things really are.

“It’s only that they allow us to work, we don’t mind working for our pay, but they should also work for there’s,” she said.

The AFGE Local 9-8-7 branch is holding a rally at Congressman Austin Scotts’ Warner Robins Office this Thursday.

They want officials in Washington to understand how the furlough days have affected civilian base workers.

The address is 230 Margie Dr. Warner Robins, GA from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.