I'm a 'non-essential' worker

ron_thatcher.top.jpgRon Thatcher, here with his family in Libby, Mont., works for the U.S. Forest Service. By Jessica Dickler, staff writer


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Ron Thatcher may not get paid next week because he's "non-essential."

Thatcher is one of 800,000 federal workers who could be collateral damage in the budget battle between Congress and the White House. If the two can't find a compromise by Friday, the federal government will shut down and leave employees without pay.

Most, like Thatcher, will be considered "non-essential" and told to stay home. Those who are deemed "essential" to the protection of human life and property -- get to come to work, but still don't get paid.

"We're just the workers, we're the first to go if a furlough hits," said Thatcher, 56. "It's frustrating when we can't do the job we need to do."

Thatcher works for the U.S. Forest Service, and he doesn't consider his duties as non-essential. "It definitely has a negative connotation to it," said the Libby, Mont., resident. "I've worked with the Forest Service over 30 years and I'm damn proud to be a Forest Service employee."

Most Forest Service workers manage a wide range of responsibilities. Primarily they maintain and preserve our national forests, all 193 million acres, which means protecting wildlife, water resources and preventing forest fires. As emergency responders, they were the ones called when Challenger exploded, after Hurricane Katrina hit and in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11.

In Kootenai National Forest, where Thatcher works, forest service workers also protect the Canadian-U.S. border. "We're the eyes," he said.

But Thatcher is, by title, an engineer. His day-to-day responsibilities include inspecting bridge installations and overseeing road reconstruction projects, not to mention the logging and mining that sustains the economy in Libby.

Any disruption to those industries could have a serious negative impact on Libby, which has a population of 13,426 and an unemployment rate already over 19%.

In addition, a shutdown comes at the worst possible time for workers in Montana, where most forest service projects are just getting started. Many of the federal employees there only work between April and October and are paid for just 13 pay periods.

Thatcher is fortunate to work for the full year with an annual income of about $40,000, but money is tight.

His wife runs a cleaning business in town and they have two children, one a junior in high school and one a freshman in college at the University of Montana, where the tuition bill is about $18,000 a year.

"It is definitely going to hurt my family and being able to pay the bills that I have," Thatcher said. "I'm going to hope and pray that Congress understands what this decision really does to economically depressed areas such as the town that I live in."

Employees who work through a shutdown get back pay as soon as lawmakers reach a budget deal. The same is not true for non-essential employees, like Thatcher, who are furloughed.

For them, Congress has to take an extra step to authorize back pay. That's something lawmakers have done in the past, but there is no guarantee they will this time. After all, the last shutdown was 15 years ago. To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.