Robert Mack has been burning through his savings for 41 days and, like many airport security officers, wonders what it will take to get paid.
Mack, 46, has worked for the Transportation Security Administration at San Diego International Airport for 23 years. He and his coworkers have been caught up in a partial government shutdown for more than a month that has seen roughly 50,000 TSA agents go without pay.
Workers across the nation have called out sick, partially out of protest and also to come up with other ways to make money, that have resulted in long security lines and frustrated passengers. Mack, a lead transportation officer, estimated that around 13% of San Diego TSA agents were calling out daily.
“We’re at the point where the majority of us are running out of money,” he said. “We’re running on fumes. Most people aren’t built for six weeks without pay.”
Long lines continued Thursday morning at San Diego International Airport. Around 5 a.m., one passenger at Terminal 1 who decided not to take any chances was Rich Ceruti, who arrived before 4 a.m. for his 6:30 a.m. flight to Rhode Island.
“I got here too early,” Ceruti said as he waited for ticket counter machines to turn on.
Frustration seemed to be boiling over when one woman attempted to duck a rope and was yelled at by several in line. Chances are lines will continue to be long throughout the weekend, said airport spokesperson Nicole Hall. She said Thursday is when weekend travel begins and 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. is typically the busiest.
TSA workers and their union have asked passengers to remember its workers are real people who are struggling financially.
“Stop asking me about the long lines. Ask me if somebody’s gonna eat today,” Hydrick Thomas, president of the national American Federation of Government Employees union council that represents TSA employees, said at a Tuesday press conference.
Mack said some of his coworkers have asked friends and family for loans, held yard sales and bake sales,
“San Diego is too expensive to get by” without pay, Mack said. “It’s been rough. We’ve been doing whatever it takes to get a little extra money.”
Mack’s passion is cooking, primarily barbecue and soul food, and is known among friends for his macaroni and cheese dish, which features five cheeses. He said Thursday that he was trying to come up with a plan to make extra money with his cooking skills and, long-term, was eyeing a food truck business on the side.
He said many of his coworkers are also trying to think of extra ways to make money but some just quit all together. Roughly 500 TSA workers across the nation have quit, say the latest estimates, but Mack said it was under 10 workers in San Diego.
Several food drives have been organized for TSA workers, including one Thursday afternoon in San Diego. Meanwhile, the workers’ union has provided a letter for members to give to debtors and utilities explaining the situation.
The partial shutdown started five weeks ago as Democrats and some Republicans declined to fund Homeland Security’s budget. Some lawmakers have argued against what they say is an aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.
Administration officials said about 10% of TSA workers failed to report for duty on some recent days, compared to typical rates of less than 2%.
San Diego International Airport is encouraging travelers to arrive 2 1/2 hours before their plane leaves.
Robert Mack has worked for the Transportation Security Administration in San Diego for 23 years. He said he has been burning through savings as workers go without pay. (Courtesy of Robert Mack)
On Monday, President Trump sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who are still being paid, to more than a dozen airports across the nation to assist the TSA. As of Thursday afternoon, no ICE agents had come to San Diego. At this point, Mack said he and his coworkers believed they wouldn’t show up.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what they would be doing,” he said. “They aren’t qualified to do our job.”
Congressional debates over funding continued in earnest Thursday, said The Associated Press, with Democrats and Republicans working behind the scenes to make a deal. However, a test vote for an earlier proposal had failed. Trump, who has largely left the issue to Congress to resolve, threatened to send the National Guard to airports, in addition his deployment of ICE agents.
“They need to end this shutdown immediately or we’ll have to take drastic measures,” Trump said Thursday, according to The AP, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.