WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - As government funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security remains frozen in Congress, airports are running food drives and accepting donations for security screeners enduring their second stretch without pay in the last six months.
Long lines at airports as TSA absences continue
Transportation Security Administration officers scrimped and pinched pennies during last year's 43-day government shutdown, and many of those 50,000 workers are still paying off debts as the current funding lapse for the TSA's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, has stretched to five weeks.
Those workers are six days away from missing a second full paycheck, but are being pressured to show up as screening times at some airports stretch on for hours.
"The 43-day shutdown in the fall, a lot of TSA officers didn't get paid for 50 days. So they're not recovered from that and that was only two or three months ago," said Kimberly Kraynak-Lambert, trustee of Pittsburgh's local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents government workers.
Airports and officials are scrambling to help TSA staffers make ends meet to forestall a sharp rise in absences from screeners, who earn an average of $61,000 annually, according to federal data.
FOOD DRIVES AND DONATIONS
Rebecca Wolf, president of AFGE Local 1127, who represents TSA officers at 47 airports across several western U.S. states, said struggling workers are taking on side gigs like making Amazon deliveries or driving for Lyft and Uber.
"Many have gone and applied for food stamps within their states," she said. "I have a couple of officers in one of my states that they're actually sleeping in their car and one has been evicted already."
DHS acknowledged the screeners' hardships, with a spokesperson saying that "Democrats must reopen DHS now."
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The union is alerting members nationwide to food drives and free pantries for groceries. Airports like Minneapolis-St. Paul and Phoenix are accepting donations such as gasoline gift cards, food, or essentials like baby goods. Seattle-Tacoma's airport has opened a food pantry, while at Dallas Fort Worth International, supervisors are bringing food to checkpoints twice a week.
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is giving out vouchers for one free meal per shift as TSA officers "continue to show up every day to protect millions of travelers, even as they face uncertainty at home," said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, in a statement. Screeners are also getting free parking and public transport passes.
HUNDREDS OF TSA OFFICERS HAVE QUIT
It is unclear when funding will be restored. Democrats in Congress in February agreed to fund most of the government in exchange for withholding funds from DHS following the high-profile killings of two U.S. residents in Minnesota by immigration authorities.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Friday that a bipartisan group of senators have narrowed the remaining issues in the DHS funding talks, but it is not clear when they will reach a deal.
"A Transportation Security Officer selling plasma to keep the lights on is unconscionable. Tens of thousands of families turning to food banks because Congress refuses to do its job is a national disgrace," said Everett Kelley, national president of the AFGE.
Officials have noted that small U.S. airports may have to shut due to a shortage of security screeners. So far, 366 TSA officers have quit their jobs since the shutdown began, according to DHS.
Workers presenting letters from DHS to creditors asking for late fees to be waived or for payments to be deferred are finding less leniency this time around, said Kraynak-Lambert of Pittsburgh's AFGE 332. Union officials say workers who call in sick must show proof with a note from a doctor.
"We can expect TSA job shortages to continue and grow as a result of the shabby treatment these workers have endured," said Cathy Creighton, director at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Chris Sanders in Washington and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; editing by Chris Sanders and David Gaffen)