A Regional Airline First Officer reports having pay deducted after calling in fatigued.

Narrative

In response to the FAA Administrator's request for to hear from pilots pressured to fly when sick or tired; I am a First Officer at a Regional Carrier. I called in fatigued a couple months ago and the company deducted a whole day worth of pay off my paycheck after I had already completed some flying that day. I feel that it is a punishment to deduct pay from a pilot when he calls in fatigued. I have a ton of sick time in my sick bank. The safety issue is that calling in fatigued now becomes a financial decision. It was also suggested to me that the fact that I called in fatigued 3 times in a short period of time would weigh heavily on me when the day comes that I make a mistake and am evaluated by management. My request to management to get my pay back from the fatigue call was denied twice. I can say with confidence that it is a FACT that pilots are less likely to call in fatigued at my airline because of the fear of losing part of their salary and because management will record it as an occurrence against you.