Local TSA Employees Impacted By Government Shutdown Still Going To Work, For Now
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Thousands of federal employees in South Florida are dealing with the effects of the partial government shutdown and figuring out how to make ends meet.
TSA agents at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport who screen passengers are at their posts despite not getting paid.
But the question is for how long?
"We need to pay our bills now not later," said TSA worker John Hubert.
Hubert has been a federal employee for over a dozen years and is a union chief.
He's worried how he's going to buy food and pay for gas if the impasse isn't resolved.
"Morale is low. We live paycheck to paycheck," Hubert says.
Some TSA workers are calling out sick at Miami International Airport, but airport officials say it isn't affecting travelers.
It's a different story in other parts of the country.
TSA call outs at New York, Dallas and Seattle airports have led to long lines and missed flights.
Some federal workers are being forced to take second jobs.
Jose Rojas, who works at a Federal prison in Central Florida, says he is driving for Uber and Lyft to pay his bills.
"They are playing a game of chicken with our livelihood," Rojas says. "I can see a lot of people leaving the bureau and going to work for state and county agencies. I don't know whose going to guard the Federal Inmates. They may have to call in the National Guard."