LOL.

No, LOL means it's laughable that TSA agents don't know about shutdowns, etc., both via official channels and via their union. You sound hysterical, invoking "slavery and indentured servitude." Give us a break with that silliness.

Why would it be ok for military to go unpaid if they did airport security screening?

That is exactly the legal theory being advanced in the lawsuit asserting that the federal government may not require employees to work without pay.

So, hardly hysterical. Hardly laughable.

The union may not win in the end, but no judge is laughing.

"Slavery and indentured servitude." LOL. Utterly laughable.

The internet has names for people who make claims and don't follow up with proof/citations after being asked to do so.

As much as I despise TSA as an agency, and as much utter contempt as I have for the federal government in general, I do have some sympathy for the thousands of government workers caught in the middle of this childish staring contest being conducted by 535 of the worst human beings in our country - our beloved leaders.

I see a lot of comments online about how people living paycheck to paycheck are doing something wrong, financially irresponsible, etc. Well, sure, if you make $150k and live paycheck to paycheck, you're doing something wrong. But for a $40k TSO supporting a family, getting far enough ahead to absorb the loss of half a month's pay is, for all practical intents and purposes, impossible. And sure, go ahead and post an example, a dozen examples, even 50 examples, of people who are able to get ahead on $40k a year, but those are exceptions (and they're still doing something wrong, because if you have the drive, discipline, and sense to really get ahead on only $40k, you're in the wrong job and should be looking for something better).

I seriously doubt that rank-and-file TSOs have any sort of clearance. They most likely go through a background check similar to the one I had to undergo when working on a military base s few years ago, but actual clearance? Highly unlikely, since handling classified information is not part of their job descriptions. Some of the upper management types probably have clearance, and maybe some of the middle management types, but I doubt that anyone in the screening force below the level of AFSD has a clearance at most airports.

Living paycheck to paycheck doesn't qualify as having "money problems". I'd classify it more as "scraping by", but it doesn't become "money problems" until you've got obligations you can't meet - such as when your employer simply stops paying you what they owe you.

And even then, missing one paycheck doesn't necessarily mean "financial calamity". It means belt-tightening, prioritization, missed payments, and hardship, but it doesn't necessarily reach the level of calamity until you miss an entire month's pay rather than half a month's pay.

Sure, but we also know that TSA has never caught one of them, and in fact misses up to 95% of the weapons they're supposed to screen for, including in one instance five pounds of undisguised, unhidden C4 high explosive, still in its plainly-labeled government-issue wrapper.

LOL. The idea that thousands of TSA workers were unaware they were deemed essential personnel is absurd. Give us a break with this nonsense.

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I never claimed they had security clearance, but a TSA worker looking the other way for $5,000 can do a lot more damage than a rank-and-file bureaucrat with a security clearance who leaks a few files.

If you don't have any savings or even a credit card that can get you by one missed or bounced paycheck, you have money problems. I can't believe people keep arguing otherwise.

I'm not sure what more can be said about this partial government shutdown and how it impacts some government employees including TSA.

In my younger days I was enlisted Navy, married and making just about $200 a month. We lived paycheck to paycheck. After rent and food little was left over for a rainy day. So I understand what some of the 800,000 impacted federal employees are dealing with.

Maybe its a matter of scale but why is it that we are only hearing about specific groups of government employees (TSA, ATC primarily) making a lot of noise? TSA only represents about 6.5% of the federal employees impacted and best I can tell all the other impacted agencies are going to work to do their duty.

The actions of these employees calling out sick in this matter seems more harmful to TSA's image than helpful and will, in my opinion, further erode the TSA nameplate. I recognize that TSA's employees are caught between a rock and a hard place but they still have an obligation to report for their assigned duties. If an employee cannot meet their other obligations the correct course would be to resign and move on.

Very selective reporting and I suspect the union has a hand in it.

Supposedly the reason we're hearing about TSO's so afraid of missing a check that they are calling in sick before they have even missed a check - we are hearing about them and not the rest of the 800,000 government employees showing up even though their check is also delayed because TSOs aren't making big $$$.

1) I have seen zero evidence that TSOs, as a group, earn significantly less than the rest of the 800,000 employees currently working under a payroll delay.

2) I have seen zero evidence that the only TSOs calling in sick are the lowest paid people - no LTSOs or STSOs or higher are calling in sick.

3) People at all income levels can end up living paycheck to paycheck. TSOs just got something the rest of the 800,000 folks working without checks got - a questionably legal $500 bonus just for showing up for work. TSOs have even less excuse for calling in sick than the rest of the 800,000 unpaid folks.

I wish TSA would strike.

Maybe that will help resolve this completely ridiculous impasse.

I don't blame them for not showing up. They aren't getting paid.