FAA set to shut down at midnight over workers' union rights

It looks like House Republicans really are going to shut down the FAA in their push to deprive workers of union rights. If Republicans get their way, workers who don't vote in union representation elections will be counted as having voted no. And as a result of their insistence and Senate Democrats standing firm against them, the FAA appears set to shut down at midnight tonight, though air traffic controllers will stay on duty:

If there is no extension, initially the largest furlough would involve nearly 1,000 workers at FAA headquarters in Washington, transportation officials said. Another 647 workers at FAA's technology and research center in Atlantic City, N.J., and 124 workers at the agency's training center in Oklahoma City would also be furloughed. Smaller numbers of other workers across the country would also be affected.

Airlines will also stop collecting taxes on tickets they sell.

FAA employee unions are pointing out possible safety concerns, while Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is pointing to loss of construction funding and other economic costs. Residents of Florida, the home state of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair John Mica, should be aware that a shutdown could cost their state $88 million in construction funding.

All this in pursuit of a flatly antidemocratic standard for union representation elections.