PHOENIX — The longest government shutdown in history continues to have a major effect on federal workers, including TSA agents right here in Phoenix.
In fact, the need is so great that St. Mary's Food Bank brought supplies Monday directly to a Phoenix TSA office. The federal employees missed their first paycheck last week.
“If you see somebody working, you assume that they’re being paid to do that job. Right now they’re working and they’re not being paid,” said Jerry Brown of St. Mary's Food Bank.
TSA agents continue to work during the shutdown because they are considered "essential" government employees.
“TSA is not one of the high-paying jobs when it comes to government employees, so they’re kind of in that most vulnerable positions where one or two missed paychecks really has an impact on their lives,” Brown said.
Despite promises they’ll receive back pay, many airport workers say they live paycheck-to-paycheck. Both security agents and air traffic controllers were given the handouts Monday. The food bank says many of them are desperate for the help.
“Hopefully, you’ll be able to use that part of your budget on other things to get those bill paid while your paychecks are still not coming in,” Brown said.
And the workers aren’t the only ones feeling the squeeze.
The food bank says they’re worried if the shutdown goes much longer, they’ll have to dip deeper into their reserve of supplies.
“We don’t want to deplete all those reserves this quickly in the month of January. We depend on the stuff we get in November and December to carry us all the way through the spring months," Brown said. "If we’re having to make large amounts of donations for things like this right now, that’s going to deplete our supplies quickly.”
If you'd like to donate to St. Mary's Food Bank, you can head to the food bank's website.