S.J. will cover TSA salaries during shutdown

About 500 federal employees will get help from short-term loan program

Transportation Security Administration workers and other federal employees who work at San Jose International Airport could soon get some relief from the government shutdown that has halted their paychecks.

In a special meeting Wednesday afternoon, the San Jose City Council directed the city manager and the director of aviation to move forward with a plan to cover the pay checks of up to around 500 federal employees at the airport through a short-term loan program during the shutdown. While the details will be worked out in the coming days, the money would come from an airport fund and the workers would pay back the money, without interest, when the shutdown ends and they receive backpay from the federal government.

The move came as welcome news to TSA agents and other workers.

“We applaud San Jose for trying to step up and do the right thing for the federal workers that keep air travelers safe at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport,” said J. David Cox, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents federal workers, including TSA agents. “We thank San Jose for stepping up to the plate, but unfortunately for the tens of thousands of TSA officers outside of San Jose, this issue will not be going away anytime soon. Our members live paycheck to paycheck and this partial government shutdown is crushing them financially.”

TSA absence rates in San Jose have ticked up to 14 percent during the shutdown from just 3 percent normally, forcing people to make a “Hobbesian choice” between working without pay and driving for Uber to cover rent and other living expenses, said Mayor Sam Liccardo. “We needed to do something proactive.”

Already, some airports have curbed operations. In Miami, airport officials have shuttered one terminal early each day that workers have been furloughed.

About half of the TSA workers at Mineta live in San Jose. In a region with

astronomical rents, many TSA workers earn only about $40,000 per year.

“I am very concerned about all of our federal employees who have now missed their first paycheck,” said Councilwoman Pam Foley. “Many of these folks live paycheck to paycheck.”

San Jose may be the first city to launch such a loan program for workers affected by the shutdown. Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said he hadn’t heard of any other places with such programs. The group, Church said, “appreciates the support for our members and we look forward to reviewing the details of the program.”

While TSA workers make up the vast majority of the 500 federal employees working during the shutdown at the airport, the program would also help air traffic controllers and customs and border protection workers.

According to Judy Ross, the assistant director of aviation for the airport, the airport has an account with a little more than $50 million in reserves that it would use to pay for the program. Ross estimated the cost would work out to about $2.5 million each month, and the airport is comfortable spending up to $7.5 million, or three months, on the program. If the shutdown drags beyond that, the amount could rise. Workers wouldn’t be forced to participate if they have enough in savings.

Some employees, Ross said, are bringing in sandwiches and other food for struggling colleagues, and the airport has talked to Second Harvest Food Bank about distributing food to workers.

Several members of the public questioned the decision to focus on airport workers and not other federal workers. The city manager, Dave Sykes, said airport operations are some of the first places cities are seeing the impact of the shutdown.

“This is really a tragedy what’s going on,” said Vice Mayor Chappie Jones.

Councilman Sergio Jimenez and several other council members said they want the program to be as open as possible, without the credit score requirements and other restrictions some loans carry.

Liccardo has talked to Wells Fargo about processing the loans, but the specifics of which financial institution will work with the city are still to be determined and the exact date the program would get up and running is still unclear, but is likely to launch within days or weeks.

“The sooner the better,” Ross said, “because the impacts are now.”