1,000 signatures reached
To: U.S. Federal Government
It's time to give TSA agents a raise!
According to news outlets, starting pay for TSA screeners is about $24,000 annually – roughly equivalent to $12/hour –and most earn just $26,000 - $35,000, less than many other government employees. These workers are responsible for keeping air travel safe, and yet many are forced to live paycheck to paycheck. The latest government shutdown has exposed just how cruel and unjust this payscale is for TSA agents and other federal employees.
Join me in demanding that these workers get a pay raise as soon as the shutdown ends.
Why is this important?
I’m a career federal employee who lives in Washington, DC. Despite working without pay during the recent shutdown, I was fortunate enough to have saved enough to cover this unexpected gap in my income. Others – including many TSA employees – were not so lucky.
As part of my job, I’ve had to travel during the shutdown. Recently, I arrived at the airport much earlier than usual because I was worried about long security lines. Much to my surprise, there were no lines. The TSA employees were pleasant and professional. They were doing their jobs as they do every day, looking out for us, even when our government isn’t looking out for them.
We would never tolerate a major private sector employer forcing their employees to work without pay for weeks and months at a time, and yet, as federal employees, this is a new normal. It’s time to adjust federal pay scales to ensure that our hardworking federal employees at the lowest ends of the pay scale are not tossed into financial jeopardy with every shutdown. Everyone who works for the federal government should be able to accumulate savings. Join me in calling on decision-makers in government to act now by giving a raise to TSA workers and other federal employees who are struggling to make ends meet on their current salaries.
*NOTE: Saul Derrity is a pseudonym of the federal employee who started the petition.
