Federal employees are feeling the effect of the government shutdown in their wallets – and they’re having to make tough decisions about how to provide for themselves and their families.
With the typical AFGE member bringing home about $1,800 biweekly after deductions for health insurance, taxes, and mandatory pension contributions, most employees are living paycheck to paycheck and are unsure how they’re going to make their house and car payments, pay for groceries, and even afford to travel to work as the shutdown drags on.
“Gas stations don’t take IOUs,” AFGE Council 100 Secretary-Treasurer Johnny Jones from the Transportation Security Administration told Business Insider. “I talked to a couple employees, and they said, ‘this is my last fill-up and I won't have any money,’ because they don’t have credit cards. They’re literally like, this is the last tank of gas I’m going to have until I get paid again.”
Most employees received only a partial check this month for work performed before the shutdown and have now missed an entire paycheck – with no end in sight to the shutdown.
“We need a paycheck. We don’t need a rain check. We need a paycheck,” AFGE Local 1127 Regional Vice President Angela Grana from the La Plata Airport in Durango, Colo., told ABC affiliate KMGH in Denver.
“People are saying, ‘Well, when I get off work, I’m going to do Uber or DoorDash or Lyft or something like that because I need to put food on the table and I got a kid at home,’” AFGE Local 899 Treasurer Neal Gosman representing TSA workers in Minnesota told Reuters.
Some airport authorities have begun organizing food drives and soliciting gift cards for transportation security officers who are struggling to make ends meet – while employees are also looking out for each other.
AFGE Local 558 Vice President Mickey Alston told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that one of her colleagues at the Palm Beach International Airport recently bought diapers for a coworker who was struggling to pay for food, bills and baby supplies.
“We come to work every day whether we’re getting paid or not because we like what we’re doing. We’re sworn in to do a job and that’s what we’re doing,” Alston said. “I do have a concern as far as how are the workers going to get to work. Because that’s the issue, it’s not that we don’t want to come to work, it’s how we’re going to get to work if we don’t have the gas money to put gas in our cars to get to the place we need to be to protect the American people.”
And it’s not just TSA employees who are feeling the pinch. At every agency from one end of the country to the other, federal employees are going without pay due to the funding stalemate on Capitol Hill.
“I can’t pay my mortgage. I haven’t paid October yet and I have to prioritize my bills. It’s terrifying.,” AFGE Local 2391 President Aliyah Levin from the Department of Labor told NBC affiliate KPNX in Phoenix, Ariz.
For many employees, this is the first government shutdown they are facing and aren’t sure how to navigate all the uncertainties.
“The feedback I get is from the newer employees. So issues such as, ‘How am I going to pay for childcare? I’m not getting a check, and I’m furloughed, I’m here at home. I can watch my children while I’m furloughed and here at home, but I’ll lose my place,’” AFGE Local 3381 President Brian Garthwaite from the Food and Drug Administration told NBC affiliate KTTC in Rochester, Minn.
AFGE Local 4156 member Tierra Carter isn’t getting paid but is reporting for work as usual at a Social Security Administration call center in Tampa, Fla. She told National Public Radio that she’s been forced to take out loans and seek a hardship withdrawal from her 401(k).
“I kind of feel like I’m in a pool and I’m trying to swim to the top, but every time I get to the middle, I’m getting knocked back down,” she said.
SSA has been denying workers requests to work from home or take time off to deal with personal needs – even as some struggle to afford their commute to work – and instead is placing workers in absent without leave status, which can lead to discipline or termination, AFGE Council 220 President Jessica LaPointe told Government Executive.
“We are seeing the agency deny requests for leave that run afoul of our [union] contract and negotiated agreements as a direct result of this shutdown posture,” she said.
Shutdown stress is getting to many employees. In Salt Lake City, Utah, AFGE 2199 Vice President Teresa Salazar said the current work environment at the Veterans Affairs medical center is unstable and emotionally taxing.
“This is my passion. I love working for the VA,” Salazar told NBC affiliate KSL. “But right now, it's a scary, scary, scary unstable environment where everybody is basically living on fear and intimidation, and pins and needles day to day.”
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