Copyright ABC17News.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Missourians who work for the Internal Revenue Service in Kansas City are feeling the effects of the government shutdown, as thousands of federal employees across the United States are furloughed. A little more than 34,000 employees with the IRS are furloughed, according to Shannon Ellis, president of NTEU Chapter 66, which represents IRS employees in the Kansas City area. Ellis has served as the NTEU president for more than eight years and represents about 6,000 employees from the Kansas City campus. She has worked for the IRS for more than 23 years. During the shutdown, she cannot serve her role as president but can serve as a IRS customer service representative. She said IRS employees have been affected since Presidents Donald Trump took office in January, as IRS offices across the county have faced deferred resignations and early retirements. "We were already short-staffed and underfunded. We come into seasons trying to build our numbers up and have funding to do our job," Ellis said. "After all this reduction in force and deferred resignations, and 30% or more employees were hit now," Ellis said on the Kansas City campus there are about 1,000 employees in the building with about 50% kept as essential workers who continue to receive a paycheck. However, if an employee needs time off, they risk being placed on furlough. "If the employees have family medical leave or a surgery or an accident, and I miss one or more days, they're throwing me into the furlough status," Ellis said. "So, they're not even allowing me to miss because of an emergency, and they'll put me on furlough. "These employees have to make decisions on whether or not to take a day off to go to a doctor because they're afraid they're going to be the next ones put out on furlough getting no pay," Ellis said. She said the length of the furlough varies and can last for a pay period, or until the government shutdown is over. While Ellis continues to serve as a customer service representative, she said she’s unable to support the employees she represents. She cannot assist with retirements, health insurance changes or other matters that require official documentation because she doesn’t have access to the necessary systems during the shutdown. Ellis says her employees have turned to working for Amazon, DoorDash and Uber to make ends meet. She says others have tried to get assistance through unemployment, with some being approved and others being denied. "Here's the scary part, food banks are not stocked right now. A lot of the funds have been limited and the donations are just not out there. The employees are trying to get assistance through unemployment," Ellis said. "They're being hit with problems, like getting the documents they need to show, because you can't just go out and get a second job because, let's say you're working, you're required to work and you're not getting paid." Ellis said many federal employees are working without pay and can't qualify for unemployment or take on a second job because they're already working 40 hours a week or more. She added that most can't find side jobs that would make up for their lost income. Another growing concern is back pay, as the Trump Administration has suggested federal workers may not receive it once the shutdown ends. Ellis said that uncertainty makes some employees hesitant to apply for unemployment benefits out of fear that it could cause more harm than good if back pay is denied down the road. Other issue she says, is if an employee goes out and gets a second job, many places do not want to hire a federal worker because if the government reopens they have to return to work within a four-hour time frame. Ellis is in the safe zone for now, but she says she is terrified she might be next to lose her job. "I'm scared to death that I'm going to lose my job when I'm targeted because I'm a federal employee too. I'm targeted because I am a union representative," Ellis said. So every day I have that threat of I'm next. I've watched so many of my union brothers and sisters be put into a furlough status for no other reasons that they were union."
