Federal Layoffs Ripple Through Town Affecting Students and Permanent Employees

The government is now reopened and Americans can return to their normal routine. People are no longer focusing on the shutdown, and instead, on what’s affected by layoffs and what federal workers are still facing.

Federal workers are now returning to a regular work schedule after not receiving pay for almost two months from the government. Permanent workers who are considered essential should expect to receive their paychecks and return their backpay. 

Workers affected are now trying to return within the workplace after facing uncertainty of knowing whether they would continue being a permanent employee at their jobs, or unfortunately get laid off.

Transportation Security Officer, Jared Mulcahy, is just one of many employees at Cleveland Hopkins Airport affected by the shutdown. Mulcahy has not been paid since September 20, and is still returning to work everyday. 

Employees were given the option of receiving loans at zero interest, provided by the government. Due to the workers not receiving pay, Mulcahy said a lot of call-offs from workers in neighboring airports. 

Without consistent pay, permanent workers are struggling to continue to show up and continue working for an “unfair” price. 

Mulcahy explained what he’s facing as a “domino effect”, as workers had been receiving instructions for mandatory overtime due to the lack of employees.This means TSO’s are having to work six days a week, come in on their off days, or pick up shifts their coworkers have called off according to Mulcahy. 

TSO’s are not currently receiving pay for this overtime, but are promised to be put on backpay until the government re-opens. 

Relief programs are given to airport security, to receive extensions on rent or other bills and workers have options to open credit cards with low or zero interest. “I think it’s USAA has a thing, you can put out a loan with zero interest for every single week,” Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy is referring to a loan option given by the United Service Automobile Association, or USAA, where members impacted by the government shutdown are eligible for loans at zero interest and other options. 

Workers among airport security have been quick to seek relief. , “I know a few people that have had to take out loans, or apply for credit cards so they can still afford to live,” Mulcahy  said. 

The National Parks are also facing mass waves of firing, with layoffs of around 9000 employees as of late October. The Midwest Archeological Center, which provides professional support and consultation to federal, state, and other government agencies have also experienced uncertainty from workers. 

The Midwest Archaeological Center oversees archival collections preservation for over seventy parks within the National Parks System. Employee Grace Evans said her experience, working as a seasonal employee stationed in Nebraska with the MWAC, was a different view during the government shutdown. 

The seasonal staff are “essential to the team” according to Evans. Even though Evans is seasonal, her position as an Archaeological Technician is considered permanent because of the importance of her assistance in archaeological fieldwork. 

Taking notes, digging and screening soil, and site preparation are all tasks Evans must be present at work to carry out. “We don’t necessarily have the same protections as the term or permanent employees do, I guess we’re kind of an at-will situation,” said Evans. 

Evans explains this situation as “at-will” because she doesn’t really have a choice but to continue, as her position is needed and this job, even without her higher-ups. 

This issue with layoffs eventually also had a domino effect on Evans’ position, similar to what TSO’s are facing, “The supervisors, if they were fired, the seasonals can’t actually do the work legally, because we don’t meet the qualifications on our own”, according to Evans.

The U.S. Secretary of Interior’s general qualifications require their workers to have previous experience of a background in public service, experience with managing cultural and natural resources, and other things that upper positions are required to be completed. 

Firing these positions and laying off workers has a trickle effect of those underneath them, with concerns from seasonals being able to function without their higher-ups and their guidance.

Evan’s position relies on her other permanent coworkers, as she does not meet the qualifications that supervisors and higher archaeologists meet. An archaeological technician relies on these positions and also works under their direction. 

Her position working for the National Parks was able to continue due to projects already in motion and money previously paid,“We had projects lined up, the park I worked with, they had already planned for us to come out, money was already doled out for a lot of these projects so we just went out and did our jobs,” she said. 

 

Evans made it through the first round of layoffs for seasonals in the beginning of January, when the shutdown first occurred. She explains that seeing her higher-ups be laid off was stressful to her emotions and workload “It was concerning because a lot of my other friends that were permanent employees did lose their jobs,” she said. 

 

While Evans faced discomfort watching her peers leave, the federal workers with direct links to the government were being impacted by the government shutdown previously.

Army reserve soldiers who are currently in inactive duty training are facing the issue of their training being postponed due to the shutdown. This issue training usually consists of one weekend each month, 

Yok Wongkeaitaroon, who is a college student and also a part-time reservist, said their normal drill schedule was impacted. 

“In my battalion, we’re not doing drill.  A lot of soldiers they have to come sometimes even out of state, so hotels and gas are paid for, but in this case because they’re not.It was up to commanders discretion that we weren’t gonna do drill,” said Yok.

Drill is calculated as a percentage of active duty pay, so when reservists miss drill, their pay is reduced. For the weekend Yok’s unit missed,  they will receive no pay for that weekend at all. 

“The budget hasn’t kicked in for us to get paid yet,” said Yok. Before Trump’s announcement Wednesday, there was uncertainty about pay from her in the next fiscal year. Her main reliance on the reserves is for her education and receiving paid tuition. 

This could also have been affected by the government shutdown, as tuition is on the list of things to come to an end. “I’m really relying on the reserves, is my tuition, but I don’t think that’s gonna go away with the government shutdown because I’m pretty sure it’s fixed into my contract,” she said. 

Military members are also on back pay, expecting to receive their paychecks after the government reopens. According to Yok, her coworkers who faced the shutdown in 2018 claim their back pay took a while to return to their accounts. 

Service members are still required to report to work even without pay, especially those under temporary positions. 

According to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, workers who were furloughed will receive retroactive pay. However, this also means that the aid workers received during the shutdown are issued to be returned back to the government.