For TSA employees across the country, missing a paycheck is no longer a surprise. This is the second time in six months that federal workers have faced the financial strain of a government shutdown — and this time, the effects are already rippling through some of the nation’s busiest airports.
“Officers are really at their wits’ end,” said Aaron Barker, president of AFGE TSA Local 554 in Atlanta. “If I can be frank, they are pissed off and frustrated with how our congressional members are handling this situation, which has nothing to do with TSA.”
As the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security continues, roughly 50,000 TSA workers have been working without pay. Union representatives said screeners have taken second jobs with DoorDash, Uber and Lyft to supplement their incomes. Others are facing eviction notices and have temporarily slept in their cars.
Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of AFGE Council 100 in Dallas, said the desperation has become almost darkly comic. He recalled joking with a colleague about a Taco Bell sign advertising that they pay workers daily.
“I was joking to somebody, and they said, ‘Well, I might have to go make some burritos,’” Jones said.
DHS said unscheduled absences have more than doubled since the shutdown began, and more than 300 TSA workers have left the agency entirely.
The consequences are now visible at airports. Lines at Kennedy International Airport in New York have stretched to two hours. At William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, more than 53% of the TSA workforce called out on at least one day, prompting workers from Dallas to be relocated there to fill the gaps.
“Officers are having to make very tough decisions,” Barker said. “If that includes not coming to work because they don’t have the means, that means that there are going to be fewer officers reporting to work. That means that the wait times are going to go up. I mean, that’s just how that works.”
Jones echoed the bind that many workers face.
“They may not have money for childcare. If you got to come up for money for your car payment, mortgage payment, rent payments — most of these places don’t take IOUs,” he said.
Some airports have stepped in to help. Denver International Airport has asked travelers to donate $10 and $20 grocery and gas gift cards to screeners. Seattle-Tacoma International and Harry Reid International in Las Vegas have opened food pantries for workers. Burlington International Airport is also soliciting donations.
For travelers, the timing could hardly be worse. Spring break travel is underway, and passenger volumes are expected to climb in the coming weeks. A deal to end the shutdown has yet to materialize on Capitol Hill.
Barker said he found it unconscionable that workers were being caught in a political standoff unrelated to their jobs.
“It’s terrible that TSA officers are being used as pawns, held hostage for something that’s not a partisan issue,” he told MS NOW. “We should not have to go through a shutdown every year. We elect you to go to Congress to make sure that the country is running safe. … Do the job just as you are expecting us to do the job.”
Arielle Hixson is an Emmy-nominated reporter for MS NOW.