'I’m struggling' – Federal airport workers direct concerns to Henrico Congressman Rob Wittman at sparsely attended RIC meeting

Coming up short for rent and gas money, skipping meals, seeking out food from food banks and working second jobs are some of the ways that federal workers at the Richmond International Airport are dealing with being stiffed by Uncle Sam while still having to work.

A handful of Transportation Safety Administration federal workers at RIC met Thursday with U.S. Congressman Rob Wittman (R-01-VA) to let their representative know how the federal government shutdown is impacting them.

There are approximately 300 federal employees at RIC, a group that includes TSA employees, air traffic controllers and Customs and Border Patrol agents. But only about a dozen TSA staff came to the catered lunchtime event, many of whom had just finished their 3 a.m. early shift.

“I’m a single mom with two kids,” said one TSA worker, who would not give her name. “Not being paid means I have no money. My bills are not being paid. I’m eating the bare minimum. I’m struggling. We’re all going through rough times.”

Another TSA worker said the expectation for federal staffers to work is difficult when they don’t even have money for gas. Feed more, the Central Virginia food bank, hosted a recent food distribution event at the airport, but it occurred on a day when many TSA workers were off.

For the single mom, the lack of a paycheck, coupled with colleagues calling in sick to work at jobs that provide a needed salary, means more than the usual day-to-day stress. It also means she is short on energy to engage with travelers in her warm and ebullient style, she said.

None of the TSA workers would give their names due to fears about job stability with the federal government and other guidelines that federal workers remain nonpartisan.

For another TSA staffer, not getting paid and the regular onslaught of bills means working after his full TSA shift, as well as during weekends for an airport passenger wheelchair transport company.

“Everybody’s worried and stressed,” a TSA worker said.

The airport event was organized by Scott Robinson, a former TSA officer and former American Federation of Government Employees union leader who runs the Hampton Roads-based Against Giants labor advocacy organization.

“The desired outcome would be for the TSA officers to have an opportunity to speak with their elected representative,” Robinson said. “About half of the officers live in [Wittman's] First District. So, they are having the opportunity to share their stories and drive the point home that they are suffering through this government shutdown.”

Robinson said Wittman has a significant federal worker presence in his district. While Robinson tried to prompt the TSA workers in a conversation to express their greatest problem with their salaries being held and how the public could help, the workers plainly responded that they simply wanted to be paid.

Wittman thanked the TSA officers who showed up to the lunch event he sponsored and put forth his angle on the government shutdown and next steps.

“They've been meeting on the Senate side, which is where the meeting needs to take place,” Wittman told the TSA officers. “The House voted on Sept. 19th to keep the government open, so there's nothing there [for us] to meet about. There's nothing to negotiate. It's just a simple reopening of the government. There's nothing that you can add or take away from it. It's about as simple as it gets. The senators need to figure out what they're going to do to get the 60 votes.”

Wittman said the senators were talking about a “clean” continuing resolution that allows the government to keep operating,

“They're trying to get the appropriations bills done so you can actually get the next step in funding the government,” Wittman said.

He said another key issue was being able to vote on the Affordable Care Act tax credit extensions, which he thought should have some reforms.

Wittman said he was also glad the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy had announced Thursday that he was going to reduce flights starting this weekend to and from major airports by 10% so, as Wittman put it, there would not be delays and long lines due to call-outs, which cause travelers take out frustrations on the TSA.

Flying 'has been madness'

For people traveling this weekend and beyond with flights expected to be canceled, it meant more frustrations.

The airport television screens were already showing delays for flights from major airports.

Out by a luggage carousel stood traveler Rachel Campbell, who had traversed the country to travel to Richmond, with a connection in Charlotte, where her flight sat on the tarmac for an hour.

“I’ve flown a couple of times this past month, and it’s been madness. Once I had to fly a day late. My expectations have been very low,” Campbell said.

Campbell said she's been trying to schedule her travel on the earliest flights available so that she can keep her day open for inconveniences if there are delays or cancellations.

“I hope they can resolve the government shutdown,” said Campbell, who is supportive of the federal workers who are not getting paid, as a health worker who has gone on strike before for better conditions and pay. “There is so much turmoil in general. I hope that the federal elected officials can get over themselves and figure it out.”

Members of Congress are continuing to be paid while the shutdown is dragging on, while these airport workers, deemed as essential, are not. Wittman said he is sponsoring a bill to change rules so that members of Congress also do not receive salaries during shutdowns.

On Thursday, Virginia U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, along with four other Democratic Senators, introduced the Securing Assurance for Federal Employees (SAFE) Act, legislation to explicitly prohibit the federal government from carrying out layoffs known as reductions in force during a lapse in appropriations. The bill also would reverse RIF actions taken during the current government shutdown.

Another TSA worker at the meet-and-greet in the airport conference room said it pained her to see her co-workers, especially the single mothers and young couples who have just gotten a vehicle and are starting out, now unable to pay their rent.

“Federal workers used to mean something, and now it’s like we do not matter at all,” she said.

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.