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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHouston Airport Terminal Still Closed Due to TSA Worker Absences
By Alan Levin
January 16, 2019, 10:35 AM EST
Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport has closed portions of one terminal again as a result of higher absentee rates among airport security screeners, who have been forced to work without pay during the partial government shutdown.
The security checkpoint and public areas where passengers get boarding passes in Houstons Terminal B was shut Wednesday for the fourth day in a row, the airport said on its twitter feed. No flights were effected because passengers could access Terminal B gates through other airport entrances ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-16/houston-airport-terminal-still-closed-due-to-tsa-worker-absences
struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)By Press Release - January 16, 2019
As the partial government shutdown enters day 26, federal workers around the country are facing the reality of missed paychecks and the impact that will have on their lives. More than 50,000 Transportation Security Officers including those at Texarkana Regional Airport have been going to work every day without being paid for that work.
I dont know when Ill get my next paycheck, and its causing a lot of financial stress for me and my family, said a local TSA worker. My bills dont stop just because the government is shut down.
Every day Im getting calls from my members about their extreme financial hardships and need for a paycheck. Some of them have already quit and many are considering quitting the federal workforce because of this shutdown, said American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council President Hydrick Thomas. The loss of officers, while were already shorthanded, will create a massive security risk for American travelers since we dont have enough trainees in the pipeline or the ability to process new hires. Our TSOs already do an amazing job without the proper staffing levels, but if this keeps up there are problems that will arise least of which would be increased wait times for travelers.
This is a public safety issue for our members and the American traveling public at large, said Cherry Hooten, president of AFGE Local 917. When the women and men who come to work every day to safeguard our airports are distracted, wondering how they are going to pay their bills because they dont know when theyll get their next check, lives are being put at risk. Not just in the airport, but across the country ...
https://txktoday.com/featured-2/tsa-union-members-at-texarkana-airport-call-for-end-to-government-shutdown/
struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)Sarah Meehan
The Baltimore Sun
Workers at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport plan to rally Wednesday afternoon to call for an end to the government shutdown, which has left Transportation Security Administration officials among the thousands of federal employees working without pay.
BWI subcontractors including cleaners, dispatchers, mechanics, and maintenance workers were scheduled to rally in support of better working conditions and in solidarity with TSA employees. TSA agents are among 800,000 furloughed federal workers affected by the partial shutdown ...
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-bwi-rally-20190116-story.html
dlk
(11,425 posts)After all, it is flu season... It would probably only take two or three days to end this travesty of a shutdown and workers having to work without paychecks.
struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)January 16, 2019 at 7:08 am
... Theyre actually patting us on the back, telling us thank you for coming to work even though they know we arent getting paid. <[They also say> theyre praying for us and that theyre praying that this ends soon, said American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1040 President Rudy Garcia ...
https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/01/16/tsa-dfw-rally-government-shutdown-airline-safety/
struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)By City News Service
Published 5 hours ago
A group of Transportation Security Administration officers will gather at Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday to discuss the impact of the continuing partial federal government shutdown on the safety of travelers.
The 1 p.m. gathering is being organized by the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents TSA officers, who are working without pay during the shutdown.
The union has been calling on people to call their legislators to demand an end to the government shutdown, saying the lack of a paycheck for TSA officers means "a struggle to put gas in their cars to get to work, missed childcare payments, home payments, car payments and more" ...
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/TSA-Officers-to-Gather-at-LAX-to-Discuss-Safety-Impacts-of-Government-Shutdown-504420581.html
struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)By Dann Cuellar
Updated 40 mins ago
... Tyrone Sharper is one of the many TSA screeners wondering how to make it through. He has a wife and 7-month-old child.
"It sets us back and we have to figure out a way to pretty much pay those bills," Sharper said.
In addition to having to juggle the bills, Sharper and his wife had a bad feeling early on there could be a shutdown and they wouldn't be getting paid.
He says the hardest part is getting up at 2:30 a.m. to be at be at the airport to begin his shift at 4 a.m. and knowing he's not going to get a paycheck ...
https://6abc.com/politics/tsa-screener-with-7-month-old-its-getting-harder-each-day/5084067/