MS NOW Editor’s Note: Everett Kelley is the National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest Union representing Federal and Washington, D.C. Government Employees. Kelley recently authored a Labor Perspective that appeared on MS NOW, which reads - in part:

In the most recent pay period, many TSA (Transportation and Security Agency) Officers received only a fraction of their normal pay.

Now, the checks have stopped entirely.

If you’ve traveled through airports such as New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong or Houston’s Hobby recently, you may have seen something unusual.

Security lines stretching farther than you, or anyone, would expect.

In you flew out of New Orleans on Sunday, you may have seen those security lines stretch out into the parking garage.

They also stretched outside at least one terminal in Houston.

Maybe you were worried about missing your flight.

Maybe you were frustrated and stood there wondering what was going on.

Across the country, TSA Officers are once again being asked to report to work without a paycheck.

Let me tell you what was going on.

Those lines were not a fluke.

They were a warning about what happens when the people responsible for keeping our Aviation System safe are forced to choose between performing a public service that keeps us all safe for no pay - or flipping burgers with pay.

Across the country, TSA Officers are once again being asked to report to work without a paycheck.

In the most recent pay period, many Officers received only a fraction of their normal pay.

Some Members of the American Federation of Government Employees took home as little as $5.

Now, the checks have stopped entirely.

Instead, we have partisan gridlock once again.

It’s long past time for Congress to get together and pay the folks keeping American air travelers safe.

So, if you are frustrated standing in that long security line, I understand.

But I hope you will also think about the Officer at the end of that checkpoint lane.

They showed up for work without knowing when they will be paid.

They showed up because they take their mission seriously.

They showed up because protecting the traveling public matters to them.

A long airport line is an inconvenience.

What politicians are doing to these Workers is far worse.

To Read AFGE President Kelley’s Labor Perspective In Its Entirety, Go To: Long TSA wait times during this shutdown are a warning of worse to come

Photo Courtesy Of The AFGE’s Facebook Page.