NASA workers and contractors in the Houston area, along with proprietors of businesses they patronize, greeted the prospect of an end to the government shutdown Wednesday with a mixture of relief and apprehension. <\/p>\n
Employees welcomed the opportunity to return to work but said they were worried they might be furloughed again because the budget agreement only runs until Jan. 15. <\/p>\n
It's bittersweet, said Bridget Broussard-Guidry, president of the local union representing workers at the Johnson Space Center. In the short term it's OK; in the long term there is still the possibility that on Jan. 15 we will be facing the same thing all over again. <\/p>\n
The agreement includes back pay for furloughed federal workers but contains no assurances of payment to workers furloughed by federal contractors. <\/p>\n
I'm a contractor, said Liz Lawler, 58, of Clear Lake. I have no idea if I will get paid for this time off. <\/p>\n
Lawler was furloughed from her job as a personnel troubleshooter for REDE Critique NSS, a contractor for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, after Congress was unable to reach an agreement to fund the government two weeks ago. <\/p>\n
The Johnson Space Center furloughed 3,200 workers and NASA contractors furloughed an undetermined number of their 12,000 employees in the Houston area. <\/p>\n
NASA furloughed 97 percent of its 18,250 employees nationwide Oct. 1, a fraction of the 800,000 federal workers sent home. <\/p>\n
Merchants near the Johnson Space Center said the return of federal employees would make a dramatic difference. <\/p>\n
Of course I'm happy, Nidal Ayoub, owner of the Mediterranean Chef on NASA 1 Boulevard, said about the likelihood of NASA workers returning to their jobs. NASA workers made up about 80 percent of his lunch business. <\/p>\n
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Originally posted here:<\/p>\n
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