Miami airport closes terminal as TSA workers refuse to work without pay during government shutdown
MIAMI FL January 14 2019
As Transportation Security Administration screeners refuse to work without pay during the government shutdown, Miami International Airport will temporarily close off a terminal to accommodate fewer staff.
Airport spokesman Greg Chin told media outlets the security checkpoints in terminal G will be closed after 1 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Terminal G is one of the airport’s six terminals.
Passengers will still be dropped off at Terminal G, but outbound passengers will not have access to the terminal.
Miami International’s TSA employees have been calling out sick at twice the normal rate since the government shutdown began Dec. 22, Chin said. As a result, TSA managers aren’t confident they can keep the 11 checkpoints staffed for normal operating hours.
“We felt we had to make a decision before the weekend,” Chin told the Miami Herald. “They’re erring on the side of caution.”
Nonfederal employees will also be affected, Chin said, as retail employees who usually work at the one gift shop and four restaurants in terminal G will also be without work
It’s possible the terminal will reopen with normal hours starting Tuesday, Chin said.
The trend of sick callouts at Miami International Airport is indicative of a nationwide trend among TSA workers, who missed their first full paycheck since the government shutdown Friday. A TSA union official told CNN that, factoring in costs such as child care, it was actually hurting them financially to show up to work.
