On the eve of the second month of the partial shutdown of the federal government, agents of the Transportation Security Administration appear to be getting fed up. Some 10 percent called out sick yesterday.
The agency said in a statement that on Sunday, January 20, “TSA experienced a national rate of 10 percent of unscheduled absences,” more than three times the normal rate. It blamed the absences on the fact that “many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations.”
As federally classified “essential employees,” airport security personnel are required to come to work whether or not they are paid on their regular schedules. Although T.S.A. agents have been promised payment for hours worked when the shutdown ends, there’s no indication of when that might happen, and it appears that a lot of these agents can’t wait that long.
Read the rest of the story on my Forbes site.