As shutdown ends, discussions over air traffic controller pay during future shutdowns begins

ST PAUL, Minn. — The longest government shutdown in United States history is now over. After 43 days, the government has reopened, though the effects will linger.

Pay for federal workers, like air traffic controllers and TSA agents, is expected to be paid over the next several days, according to NBC.

"Relieved that it's over, relieved that our members are finally going to get compensated and paid," Drew MacQueen, Great Lakes regional vice president for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association , said.

MacQueen says work for their members wasn't an option, but a requirement.

"We showed up through the pandemic. We showed up through 9/11 and we showed up through the last government shutdown," he said. "We showed up in this one."

He says some of their members had financial strug