Part-time jobs, loans and worry: Texas federal workers contend with government shutdown

WASHINGTON — Since the federal government shutdown began this month, San Antonio resident Imelda Avila-Thomas has canceled her daughter’s tutoring and removed her from after-school care. The furloughed Department of Labor employee did her best to prepare for the shutdown. She has filed for unemployment benefits, applied for part-time jobs, and sold some of her family’s belongings.

With no end to the shutdown in sight, Avila-Thomas doesn’t know when she will receive her next paycheck. The shutdown has been mentally and physically “gut-wrenching” for her family and for the federal employees she represents as president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2139, she said.

“It’s very disappointing we have been affected,” she said. “Federal employees have gone through a lot this year.”

Avila-Thomas is one of an estimated 130,000 federal civilian employees in Texas. Most are furloughed or working without pay as Congress and President Donald Trump have failed to reach a compromise to fund the government.

Many federal workers missed their first full paycheck this weekend after receiving only a partial paycheck two weeks ago.

### TSA Workers Feel the Pressure

“It’s getting serious,” said Chris Brown, a lead Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. He is one of about 4,000 TSA employees required to work without pay. Employees like Brown have historically received backpay after the government reopens.

Brown, who also serves as the vice president for his local union, said his experience as a TSA officer in previous shutdowns helped him prepare for this one. He has been stashing money away for months in anticipation of a potential shutdown.

“But you can never plan enough for something like this,” he said. “There’s always the possibility that an unanticipated cost will arise.”

Johnny Jones, another TSA officer at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, said he is prepared to sell some of his possessions to pay the bills. Jones, the president of his union, said his colleagues are constantly worrying about how much longer the shutdown will last and what adjustments they will have to make to their lives.

“That uncertainty has really overtaken the thought process,” he said.

Jones has worked to protect employees from retaliation for not coming to work and has advocated for TSA officers to be allowed to park in the airport’s terminals, which would allow them to leave work quicker and get home to their families or a second job.

### NASA Engineer Faces Financial Struggles

Justin Bautista, an electrical engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, also foresees the impacts of the shutdown worsening as it drags on. Bautista, a chief steward with his union, was furloughed at the start of the shutdown.

Shortly after, he was notified that he was an excepted employee and was brought back to work without pay because his work is essential to the agency. Since the shutdown began, he has taken out multiple loans and has had difficulty focusing on his day-to-day work and part-time graduate studies.

“It’s distracting on some level mentally to have to be concerned about all of this,” he said.

### Mental Health Concerns and Support

Back in San Antonio, Avila-Thomas expressed concern about the toll the shutdown is taking on some federal workers’ mental health. She has been sharing resources, such as food banks, with her colleagues.

“Every day that goes by, we wake up and I tell people, don’t spend too much time reading the news,” she said. “Take care of yourself.”

### Political Stalemate Continues

Most Texas lawmakers have acknowledged the harms the shutdown is causing federal workers, but this does not mean they are rushing to reopen the government.

Republicans in the House passed a short-term fix in September that would have extended government funding for seven more weeks. However, the effort has failed in the Senate a dozen times as of Friday.

Democratic Senate leaders have stated they will not vote for a funding plan that does not preserve health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.

Last week, several senators introduced bills aimed at paying federal workers during the shutdown. Republicans denied a request from Democratic senators on Thursday to vote on a bill that would require the government to pay all federal workers during the shutdown.

Another bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, would ensure air traffic controllers and TSA officers continue to receive pay during government shutdowns.

“Airport workers are doing their job to keep people safe, which is more than I can say for Chuck Schumer and the Democrats,” Cruz said in a statement.

While these bills could be brought to a vote this week, it is unlikely they will pass.

### A Call to Congress

As both parties place blame on each other for the nearly month-long shutdown, Brown said members of Congress need to stop using federal workers as political pawns.

“There’s a lot of people out here who are doing a lot of work trying to protect our fellow American citizens and do the best we can at it. We all took an oath to serve the government,” he said. “I think now it’s time for the government to serve us.”
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