Originally Posted by
WillCAD
It takes a lot longer for a shutdown to hit a contractor, because they invoice at longer intervals than the federal bi-monthly pay cycle. But with the shutdown now longer than thirty days, many contractors have missed a paycheck as well, so I wonder if some of them will begin work actions as well.
But I'm not surprised that TSOs are among the first to suffer increased sick-outage. Much as we complain about whether they're actually earning their pay, it cannot be denied that they don't make much money, and missing half a month's pay hurts lower-paid workers much more than it does higher-paid workers.
I have seen no evidence that the TSOs calling in sick are only or mostly very lowly paid, ie, LTSOs and STSOs and BDOs, the higher paid ranks, are showing up.
There's no discussion of the fact that many lower-paid folks are one-half of a dual-income household and they are not the primary wage-earner.
It's also possible to be earning six figures and still be unable to deal with a delayed paycheck. We hear about 'big numbers' of TSOs quitting, but reports are conspicuously silent on the actual number. I suspect that's because it's 99% talk and few are actually leaving.
The IRS is calling back several thousand workers - delayed paychecks - to process income tax returns. I haven't heard the level of threats and complaints from the IRS folks that seem to be coming from the airports. For what it's worth, I just googled pay scales for TSA, the IRS and the Coast Guard (under the same umbrella as TSA). The lower end of the payscale is pretty much the same for all three, so why aren't the IRS and Coast Guard people threatening to quit and whining? Are they non-union? Is that the difference?