Food shelf at MSP Airport helping TSA officers during government shutdown
By Ashley Grams
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — A food shelf is open at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in support of federal employees who are working without pay during the government shutdown.
Some people dropped off donations at specified sites on Sunday. A flyer, shared with WCCO, reads “the MAC is partnering with the Armed Forces Service Center to open a food shelf to help ease the burden.”
The shutdown started on Oct. 1 and is the second-longest on record.
“People are grinning and keeping up a good face, but people are getting a little nervous. Some people are getting a little scared and some people are getting a little angry,” said Neal Gosman, a union officer with AFGE Local 899 who represents Transportation Security Administration members in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Gosman first spoke with WCCO on day 19 of the shutdown and says emotions have shifted in the week that followed.
“Last week, there were people who were optimistic in some ways, this is going to be done soon and that has gone away,” Gosman said.
The union representative and long-time TSA officer says in a briefing at the end of his shift on Sunday, many TSA employees received a list of resources, including some food shelves. Gosman says while some people received a partial paycheck last pay period, this time, no money will hit their bank accounts.
Second Harvest Heartland says it plans to help meet the need at MSP and bring food for federal workers directly to the airport this week.
These efforts at MSP are reminiscent of six years ago, during a 35-day government shutdown. Back in 2019, a food shelf and donation locations at the airport also supported unpaid workers.
Gosman knows these impacts go far beyond just union members, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the nation.
“Our job is to keep people safe to keep transportation going and that’s our job,” said Gosman. “The job of the people in Congress and the people in the administration is to run the country.”
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