Furloughs of government workers have ripple effect
For the second time in 17 years, Kal Alkhettab’s small business is facing a financial crisis because of a government shutdown.
The shutdown, which has left 1,600 civilian employees at Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington on unpaid furlough, affects 50 percent of Alkhettab’s customer base.
“It makes me nervous,” said the Jet Way Market owner. “It makes me wonder if I’m going to have to relocate or take out money.”
Alkhettab, who has owned the convenience store next to the
base in northwest Shelby County for 20 years, said he barely survived the last time the government shut down for 27 days.
“I think I could make it about two months,” he said. “It will cut into my savings.”
Nationwide the government employs about 800,000 civilian workers. During the Department of Defense’s last fiscal year, 650,000 of those workers had to take six furlough days. Tuesday, all were affected, sent home or working without pay until Congress comes to a funding agreement.
Petty Officer 1st Class William Jamieson, base public affairs officer, said the 1,600 furloughed employees reported to work Tuesday morning, signed a form acknowledging that they were on emergency furlough status, and left.
“We knew it was a possibility that it was coming,” Jamieson said. “We just responded in the way we planned when we came in this morning.”
About 200 of the 1,800 civilian employees on base are exempt from the shutdown, including emergency personnel, childhood development center workers and security workers
By noon Tuesday, cars pulled out of the base with grocery bags piled nearly to the ceiling as word spread that the base’s commissary, which provides low prices on food and household items to those with military identification, would close indefinitely at 6:30 p.m.
“I was in the store for about two hours,” said Danny Howard, a retired Navy veteran who drove from Munford to shop. “They probably will be working late tonight because it was such a crowd in there. The line wrapped around to the dairy products.”
The shutdown also closed all federal parks. The four members of the 26-person staff who remain at Shiloh National Military Park in West Tennessee are turning people away.
“We have so far spoken to people from Texas, Oklahoma and Michigan who have wanted to visit the park that we’ve been required to turn away,” said John Bundy, superintendent of the park.
Shiloh receives about 300,000 visitors a year, according to Bundy, and park rangers make educational visits to local schools this time of year.
At the Clifford Davis/Odell Horton Federal Building on Downtown’s Civic Center Plaza, an undetermined number of employees will be furloughed.
Some agencies that occupy the building, such as the U. S. District Courts, have a reserve of funds to support staff for 10 business days.
Tom Gould, clerk of court, said all court employees have been deemed essential because of time-sensitive criminal cases that must.be processed, but those working on civil cases are furloughed.
“Judges made the ruling that we have a constitutional duty to be here and process cases,” he said.
During what Gould called “phase one,” national judiciary staff will monitor the reserve daily to make sure the court system is within its budget. During “phase two,” officials will decide which employees are essential and which get furloughed.
Those furloughed are legally prohibited from going in to work or working from home.
“It is contrary to the law for the courts to receive gratuitous work,” Gould said. “It’s considered to be a gift and that’s not allowed. For example a furloughed employee can’t (look at) his company e-mail.”
Those who are deemed essential will continue to work without pay, but Gould said he thinks they will be retroactively paid when an agreement is reached.
“In about two weeks that will be us,” he said referring to the federal employees already working without pay. “Congress is still getting paid, though. I have a feeling that if they weren’t getting paid, this would be figured out quickly. I try not to think about it because if you focus on it, you just get aggravated. I just come to work and hope it comes out right in the end.”
Alkhettab hopes he will get some of the business that would have gone to the Naval Support Activity commissary.
“I didn’t see any (NSA workers) today,” Alkhettab said. “I’m hoping I get the commissary customers here, but I doubt it. Most of them come from long distances and even out of state from Mississippi and Arkansas. They won’t bother to drive down here.”