LAS VEGAS (FOX5) —After more than 40 days without pay, some TSA workers are seeing paychecks.
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday allowing TSA officers to be paid after Congress failed to reach a deal last week. The order only applies to TSA, leaving thousands of other federal workers still without pay.
The Department of Homeland Security shutdown began Feb. 14.
Keith White, a union representative for TSA officers at Harry Reid International Airport, said some officers started seeing payments hit their accounts as early as Friday night.
“We really didn’t believe it until we actually saw it,” said White, who represents AFGE Local 1260.
Trump signed the executive order in hopes of easing hours-long wait times and rising absences at major airports throughout the country, The Hill reported.
TSA workers see partial payments
White said morale among employees has been low during the shutdown.
“Morale overall for the employees has been extremely low. Although employees continued to come to work, we were so uncertain,” White said.
The executive order came after Congress was unable to reach a deal before a two-week recess.
“Although we’re happy, this shouldn’t have happened,” White said.
White said no one received a whole check. He said some people received two pay periods, while others received a pay period and a half.
“Most TSA employees received a retroactive paycheck today that included at least two full paychecks covering pay periods 4 and 5 today,” DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement to The Hill.
Pay periods 4 and 5 are the most recent times interrupted by the shutdown, according to The Hill.
A source close to the American Federation of Government Employees confirmed to The Hill that many TSA officers began receiving back pay Monday for periods 4 and 5, but not for outstanding payment from period 3. The union represents approximately 47,000 of the 51,000 TSA workers who worked unpaid during the shutdown, The Hill reported.
The source said “not everyone has received money,” noting “it all depends on bank processing times,” according to The Hill.
“Additionally, there are issues with overtime pay being received and the amount of taxes being taken out,” the source told The Hill.
Other federal employees still waiting
For thousands of other federal employees, payments may still take weeks. The executive order only applies to TSA workers, and Congress remains on recess.
“There’s a whole litany of support staff that is still not being paid,” White said.
A federal employee who works as support staff for Homeland Security Investigations, a division under ICE, asked not to be identified. He said he has already borrowed from his 401 (k).
When asked if he was fearful, he said, “Yes, I am. Yeah, at a certain point, I mean, things run to the end.”
White said the shutdown has impacted workers’ day-to-day lives.
“44 days without pay can devastate your life. I mean, there’s credit that has been completely ruined,” White said.
Both workers said that, because of their status, they are required to work without pay and cannot apply for unemployment benefits. Some federal positions restrict outside employment.
House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal Friday to reopen much of the DHS, including the TSA, leaving the department unfunded as lawmakers left Washington for a two-week Easter recess.
Since the shutdown began, nearly 500 TSA workers have left.
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