ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s a stressful waiting game. Six days have passed since the government reopened, and some federal workers still do not know when they will get their next paycheck.

That includes TSA employees.

What You Need To Know

It’s been over one month since TSA employees have been paid; they received a partial paycheck in early October

AFGE Local 556 Union said it still does not know when workers will get paid or how much will be on their paycheck

One Orlando TSA officer said she still has to make calls to remind creditors that they haven’t been paid even though the government has reopened

To top it off, they are preparing for January as another shutdown possibly looms ahead

Union members from the AFGE Local 556 tell Spectrum News that since the payroll staff was furloughed, they are now back in the office and trying to process everything as fast as they can. But it is hard not to get impatient, as these employees received their last partial paycheck over one month ago.

“I can tell the dedication of our workers,” said Tatiana Finlay as she watched her team proudly. “This is our mission, it’s our oath, it is literally what it is.”

Finlay is the Fair Practice Coordinator for the AFGE Local 556.

The union dipped into the emergency fund in its budget to provide gas cards to make sure members can still get to work this week.

“This is what is happening, these are the things you are not seeing, but these are the things we are living,” Finlay said.

The employees are waiting and wondering but still working. “It has been rough. It’s rough,” Finlay said.

Finlay and her husband both work for TSA. They drained their savings and still have to make calls to remind creditors that they haven’t been paid even though the government has reopened.

Her savings and credit had just recovered from the shutdown in 2019, and now, they are right back to square one.

“My mortgage, for example, has been reporting to my credit that I am in delinquency even though I am in forbearance because what is happening is out of my control,” Finlay said.

The uncertainty hits extra hard with the holidays around the corner. Finlay has 3 kids at home.

“Hard to explain to a 10-year-old, I don’t know if Santa Claus is going to be visiting or what that is going to look like,” Finlay said.

To top it off, they are preparing for January as another shutdown possibly looms ahead. “There will be major cutbacks in our house, hoping that if it does happen again in January that our money is going to be able to stretch a little bit longer,” Finlay said.

Finlay said she thanks everyone for stepping up to help with donations and other support through the shutdown. But it’s a reminder for them that this isn’t over yet. They hope to get some payment by the end of the week, but they don’t know if it will include some or all of their backpay owed to them.