March 30 (UPI) — Some employees of the Transportation Security Administration started getting back pay that they’re owed for the partial government shutdown Monday, easing long lines at airports.
“Most TSA employees received a retroactive paycheck today that included at least two full paychecks covering pay periods 4 and 5 today,” Department of Homeland Security Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Lauren Bis told USA Today on Monday. “A small population might see a slight delay due to a variety of reasons, including financial institution processing times or issues with their direct deposit. We are working aggressively with USDA’s National Finance Center to complete processing for the half paycheck they are owed from pay period 3 as soon as possible.”
“Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out,” Bis added.
The funding lapse has lasted since Feb. 14, causing extreme delays at airports because some TSA workers quit or called out sick.
Democrats have refused to vote for any package that doesn’t rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. On Friday, the Senate voted unanimously to pass a measure that would fund Homeland Security but not ICE and Border Patrol. But the House rejected it, saying it wouldn’t pass it if ICE isn’t included.
In response, President Donald Trump ordered that TSA workers get paid through other Homeland Security funding. That pay is temporary. Congress began a two-week recess on Friday. They return April 14.
Angela Grana, regional vice president of the union that represents TSA workers at 38 airports in the Rockies, told USA Today that she got paid for working 200 hours. She said the overtime and holiday hours she worked didn’t appear to have been counted properly, and that she believed she was taxed at a higher rate than usual because of the lump-sum payment.
“This is all back pay. That doesn’t tell me I’m going to get paid in the future,” she said.
By late Monday morning, TSA lines were down to less than 30 minutes at most major airports, CNN reported.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston had 75-minute security lines before dawn Monday. Hours later, that number dropped to as low as 9 minutes.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Monday, travelers waited 3 minutes.
About 500 workers, or about 0.82% of total personnel of 61,000, have quit since the partial shutdown began.
Atlanta TSA officer Aaron Barker told CNN he believes the number of agents will keep dropping.
“I do think that there’s going to be a mass exodus of officers,” Barker, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 554, told CNN.
“Officers have gone into debt. Credit has been shot,” he said. “Officers have been evicted. Cars have been repossessed.”
“Back pay is not going to address [the] systemic issues,” he said. In the past five months, “We have been shut down 50% of the time.”
“This is a natural disaster that was caused by Congress,” said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA workers.
“The vast majority are devastated,” he said. “My colleagues, they’re like, ‘Our finances are ruined.'”