With TSA officers going unpaid since February 14, serious staffing shortages are mounting at airports across the United States as more and more airport security employees are calling out so they can take on work on the side.
Some are taking on shifts as Uber drivers, others are relying on DoorDash to make some extra dollars, while others, it has been claimed, are selling their own blood plasma in a process called plasmapheresis to earn around $100 per session to make ends meet.
That’s the claim of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO), which represents around 47,000 TSA officers in a new letter to members of the House and Senate, urging them to reach a deal to bring the funding crisis to an end.
“Our members employed by these DHS agencies are feeling the pain, as they did last fall during the 43-day government-wide funding lapse,” the letter reads.
“The families of more than a few of our members are turning to food banks for assistance and reaching out to their banks, mortgage lenders and landlords, and credit card companies for relief,” the letter added.
“AFGE knows of at least one instance in which a TSO [Transportation Security Officer] sold plasma to help make ends meet.”
The AFGE is increasingly concerned that lawmakers aren’t treating the lapse in federal funding as the urgent matter it ought to be. On March 27, TSA workers will miss their second full paycheck, unless an appropriations package can finally be agreed upon between Republicans and Democrats.
But neither side appears to be backing down.
Democrats claim they have now voted in favor of a spending package to fund the TSA on five seperate occasions. The White House insists that the shutdown rests entirely on Democrats.
The dispute centers on funding for ICE, which Democrat lawmakers have refused to pass unless major changes are made to the department’s policies.
TSA workers and the flying public find themselves caught up in the middle of the dispute. Huge lines have been building at TSA security checkpoints at major airports across the United States, and the weekend is set to bring even more chaos.
Analysts warn that the staffing shortages and checkpoint bottlenecks could be degrading the very security that the TSA was originally designed to provide.
Earlier this week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the chaos witnessed so far at airports like Houston Hobby, Atlanta Hartsfield, and New York JFK is going to look like “child’s play” compared to what is around the corner should the shutdown continue.
“A TSO selling plasma to keep the lights on is unconscionable,” commented AFGE National President Everett Kelley.
“Tens of thousands of families turning to food banks because Congress refuses to do its job is a national disgrace,” Kelley continued. “This is a profound moral failure.”
It’s a shame that Democrats are playing politics on this. ICE is already funded well into the future, so they are holding TSA hostage. This is so much worse than prior government shutdowns since TSA agents don’t typically make higher salaries like ATC, etc. The other thing I’m wondering is how their union is helping. They take their dues fast enough.