The Food and Drug Administration has {link:stopped: "https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/01/10/Shutdown-has-stopped-most-US-food-inspections-FDA-chief-says/9101547129505/#ixzz5cJ1L1ouK"} performing most domestic food inspections during the partial government shutdown. Without a deal to reopen the government, the regulatory agency will have to force furloughed workers to come back without pay. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

The Federal Aviation Administration {link:closed: "https://natca.org/"} its training academy in Oklahoma City because of the shutdown, which has slowed down training and placed recent graduates on furlough. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, which organized the protest in front of the White House, is the largest federation of unions in the United States. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI

Members and supporters of the AFL-CIO labor union join the protest at the White House. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., {link:told: "https://twitter.com/MarkWarner/status/1083522228778606595"} the crowd, "I want to thank all of you. Every federal employee who has gone to work or been furloughed and has done their job, even though this White House has not done their job." Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., speaks to furloughed government workers and their supporters during a protest. He {link:told: "https://twitter.com/SenatorCardin/status/1083413520623038465"} the crowd, "I'm happy to stand here with you and my other colleagues in unity to tell President Trump 'Stop holding America hostage with your politics.'" Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

While federal employees show their disapproval of the shutdown, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell {link:blocked: "https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/01/10/Senate-passes-bill-granting-back-pay-to-furloughed-workers-amid-rallies/6531547135933/#ixzz5cIxUSCDP"} two bills Thursday that were passed by the House last week to reopen the government. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Rep. Peter Defazio, D-Ore., speaks at the rally. He later {link:tweeted: "https://twitter.com/RepPeterDeFazio/status/1083517433682505728"}, "A wall is not impenetrable. You can go under it, over it, around it, & through it. A wall won’t stop drugs or undocumented immigrants from coming into this country. We need smart investment in our nation's border security -- not a barrier doomed to fail." Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

On Wednesday, Trump {link:walked out of a meeting: "https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/01/09/Trump-walks-out-of-shutdown-meeting-with-lawmakers-calls-it-waste-of-time/9921547061820/?ds=5"} with lawmakers, calling it a "waste of time." Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Trump and Congress were at a budget stalemate as Democrats refuse to provide Trump with the $5.7 billion funding request for a southern border wall. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Members and supporters of the National Air Controllers Association and other aviation industry associations protest the partial federal government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

The Senate on Thursday {link:passed: "https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/01/10/Senate-passes-bill-granting-back-pay-to-furloughed-workers-amid-rallies/6531547135933/#ixzz5cIu7Ibye"} a bill to ensure furloughed federal workers will get back pay as workers carried out demonstrations calling for an end to the shutdown. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Jan. 23 (UPI) -- For Allison Schwaegel, an air traffic controller at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, the federal shutdown became all too real last week when she received a pay stub with "zero" payment.

Schwaegel is one of the 800,000 federal employees caught in the government shutdown, which is now in its fifth week. She's married with two children, is the primary breadwinner in her family and missing a paycheck is yet another challenge in her already high-stress profession as an air traffic controller.


Her tower has been shorthanded, forcing her and her co-workers to work six-day weeks for about two years. Just when the facility hired new controllers, giving them a break, the government closed Dec. 22.

"We have a critically staffed facility," Schawaegel told UPI. "We just got eight [new controllers]. Just as we started to see light at the end of the tunnel, this happens. It's frustrating to have the solution at our fingertips and they can't train."

The staffing issue is just one of many that face air traffic controllers. While Schwaegel and her colleagues work without pay, much of her support staff -- who do everything from training to dealing with runway issues -- are furloughed.

"Like a doctor who relies on a nurse, we rely on staff for training, interpretation of rules, helping us deal with the airport authority and runway closures," Schwaegel said. "Certain things like that are not getting done. This just adds to another level of stress."


While Schwaegel hopes she'll eventually get paid, that's not the case for Kenneth Thompson and Pablo Lazaro -- cafeteria cooks at Washington, D.C.'s Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

Because they are contract workers, they aren't eligible for back pay. So every day the shutdown goes on, it's money they'll never recover.

"Everything is coming due," Thompson, who's worked for the same contractor for 15 years and had built up some savings, told UPI. "I'm getting down to my savings now. The thing about it, you can talk to [bill collectors] and they're patient with you, but they are still tacking on late fees, interest and whatever.

"In the long run, it's not really helping you because you're going to have to pay all of the extra money, and you're not getting any extra money in your pay in return."

Lazaro, who's worked with the contractor for more than a decade, said he fears for his family and two young children because he's on the verge of missing a mortgage payment that he used to pay on time faithfully. He's been able to find a part-time job, but it won't pay a fraction of his bills.

"I've been applying for jobs because it's been slow, because it's at the beginning of the year," Lazaro told UPI, emphasizing that companies are now shedding the extra help they hired during the holiday season. "It's so sad right now because I don't know what's going to happen."

Thompson said many employers also are concerned about hiring furloughed federal workers because they're considered short-term. Instead, he says, they opt to invest in new employees they don't have to worry about losing after the shutdown.


"They pretty much don't want to mess with you when they find out you're furloughed," Thompson said. "Everybody's just struggling with the unemployment. They have families and stuff like that. A lot of new workers are living paycheck to paycheck. That adds another complication."

Thompson had a rare laugh when asked if he's seen any truth to Trump's much criticized claim that federal workers want the border wall and support the shutdown.

"Many of those people that won't be receiving a paycheck, many of those people agree 100 percent with what I'm doing," Trump said last month. "A lot of people that you think are upset -- and certainly they're not thrilled -- but they say, 'Sir, do the right thing. We need border security.' And these are people that won't be getting paid."

"That is a falsehood," Thompson answered. "He promised that Mexico would pay for it. Now he's holding us hostage because he couldn't keep his promise.

"He's using us as pawns and people are hurting out here."

Schwaegel said air traffic controllers cover a wide political spectrum, but their feeling about sacrificing pay for the border wall has been pretty universal.

"I cannot imagine a reason that's important enough to shut down the government," she said. "The government needs to be up and running. This is a matter of public safety. Why comprise one area of public safety for another? They're not connected and it's quite frustrating that we've become political pawns.

"I can speak for some, but not all of my workers. I have not heard anyone I work with say that they support the shutdown, no matter what side of the aisle they're on. Not a one."


The Washingtonian reported some furloughed workers have resorted to selling their belongings on the Internet -- vehicles, televisions, guitars, vacuums and camping gear -- to make up for lost pay. Others are holding sell-all garage sales to make ends meet.

A coalition of nonprofit organizations started a pop-up food pantry at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut to help members and academy workers, the Navy Times reported last week.

Schwaegel said the difficulty has not made her co-workers any less dedicated. After heavy snow fell in St. Louis last weekend, she said, two controllers slept in the office to make sure they were at work the next day.

"That speaks to their integrity and professionalism, knowing they're not getting paid but they go above and beyond to sleep at work so they're not leaving the morning crew short," she said.