TSA Screener Sick-Outs Hit 10 Percent Over Holiday Weekend

Passengers wait in line at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.

Matt Rourke / Associated Press

The percentage of TSA airport screeners missing work has hit 10 percent as the partial government shutdown stretches into its fifth week.

The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that Sunday’s absence rate compared to 3.1 percent on the comparable Sunday a year ago.

The workers who screen passengers and their bags face missing another paycheck if the shutdown doesn’t end early this week. According to TSA, many of them say the financial hardship is preventing them from reporting to work.