Celebrating Federal Employees
Since 1985, Congress has designated the first full week of May as Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) to show appreciation for the men and women who make up the nation’s civil service. PSRW has always been an opportunity for the country to acknowledge the important work PASS members and all federal employees do every day to keep our nation running.
To be sure, these are challenging times for the federal workforce yet employees show up every day to work on behalf of their fellow Americans. “Rising to meet a challenge head on is what federal employees do best,” said PASS National President Dave Spero. “The employees we represent at the Federal Aviation Administration deserve to be celebrated for the stellar government service they provide.”
These dedicated safety professionals work for the aviation industry and the American flying public every day. Whether they are maintaining and installing air traffic control equipment, conducting inspections on the factory floor at aircraft manufacturers, creating flight procedures for pilots, ensuring planes are registered, or providing the administrative, technical and environmental support needed to accomplish these tasks, federal employees are working on behalf of travelers and pilots; flight attendants and ramp workers; aircraft dispatchers and gate agents; aircraft mechanics and TSA officers. Being part of a complex aviation safety ecosystem operating 24/7/365 is a calling for the employees PASS represents and they are dedicated to its continued safe operation.
“Not just in aviation—public servants are all around us,” continued President Spero. “They educate our children, protect our streets and homes, deliver our mail, fight wildfires, process taxes, inspect our food and medication and provide health care services. Military and civilian federal employees defend our country every day.” Approximately 60 percent of the employees PASS represents are military veterans who chose to continue that service by joining the FAA.
Even during a government shutdown, America’s federal employees continue to serve—they swore an oath to do so: “I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and … I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.” We owe two million federal workers a debt of gratitude, this week and every week.