If you are forced to work without pay, you are a slave.

[MineralMan]

24. When an employer tells you, "Sorry. I can't pay you this month,"

it's time to start looking for a new job. Businesses that can't make payroll will soon be bankrupt. The answer to that statement should always be, "Sorry, then I can't work for you. I work for my paycheck. If you don't pay me, I don't work for you. It's that simple."

As someone who has been working freelance for almost 50 years, I've heard that crap from people I've delivered my work product a number of times. It goes something like this: "Say, I'm still waiting for a check from one of my clients, so I can't pay you for that article I published." That's what they always say. I always say this:

"Look. You gave me an assignment. You liked my work. You published it. Pay me as we agreed. Now! If you don't, I will not only not produce work for you in the future, but I will also inform my network of others who write for a living and let them know to be careful about working for you."

I always got paid right away. There is no excuse for not paying someone for work they have done for you. No excuse at all. Workers contract with employers. They work. The employer pays. Failure to pay results in no further work. It is a very simple equation, but one that workers have to stick to. Every last freaking time.

The federal employees who are not getting checks for a previous pay period should simply not show up until they do. That's guaranteed to get people's attention. If all TSA workers walked off, along with the air traffic controllers, and every other federal employee who is not being paid for actual work, it would be the headline in every news outlet.

Pay up, Feds! Pay up, or we don't work. That's called a "Job Action." If threatened with being fired, you simply say, "Fired? From a job where I don't get paid? Really?" There are no replacement workers. Air traffic controllers require extensive training. TSA agents require training, too. If everyone walks, there's nobody to replace them and it all shuts down. That's the power of labor.