More than a month after Donald Trump caved and allowed his government shutdown to end, about 1,000 Transportation Security Administration workers are still waiting for the full amount of back pay they’re owed.
An unnamed TSA official tells CNN that the pay screw-up is because agency administrator David Pekoske “cheated the purpose of the shutdown” by issuing partial paychecks for the final two weeks of 2018. “They were scrambling to keep people on the job because you had a number of sick outs taking place, but in fact, they created more problems for employees. And they're dealing with it one month after the shutdown is over.”
The 1,000 TSA employees who need to be made whole are part of a workforce of about 60,000 with an average salary under $41,000. Most worked without pay through the shutdown, with some calling out sick because they could not afford to pay to commute and have their children taken care of while they themselves weren’t being paid. They were supposed to be paid as quickly as possible after the government reopened—and a month later, they’re still waiting.