TSA Workers Receive Some Pay, But Next Paycheck Is Uncertain

After the American Federation of Government Employees mounted an aggressive campaign to ensure Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees get paid during the current partial-government shutdown, President Trump signed an executive order on March 28, directing DHS to immediately resume paying them. TSA workers at Maine’s airports had been working without pay since the DHS funding lapse on Feb. 14. Over the past six weeks, the union pressed its case on Capitol Hill, in court filings, in the national media, on social media, in airports, and in the streets.

"We are grateful that action was taken to pay the 47,000 TSA officers represented by AFGE," said AFGE President Everett Kelley after the executive order was signed. "Congress needs to continue working to pass a real, bipartisan appropriations deal that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running. And they must pass the Shutdown Fairness Act so that no politician, of either party, can ever hold a public servant's paycheck hostage again."

Bill Reiley, an airport screener at the Portland Jetport and Regional Vice President of AFGE Local 2617 New England, said that as of Monday his members had been paid for pay periods four and five, but were still waiting to be paid for pay period three. He noted that the President paid members through a memorandum, but there's no funding mechanism in place for the future and Congress went home for a two-week recess without passing a funding deal.

"We survived another shutdown. We're kind of hoping it's the end of it. But I think the shutdown is still in effect," Reiley told Maine Public. "We're supposed to get another paycheck next week. But I don't think we're going to see it, unless Congress comes back and does something."

Congress is not scheduled to return until the week of April 13. The DHS shutdown has now surpassed 44 days, making it the longest in American history.