Union leaders say their members are owed thousands of hours in back pay, and they aren't going to stay silent while lawmakers remain deadlocked.
"Morale is pretty low at this point, we're all wondering when the next paycheck is going to come," Niel Thomas, with IAFF Local F7, said.
Neil Thomas is head of IAFF Local F7, the union that represents the 32 members of the West Point Fire Department.
They are civilian, professional firefighters, but are employed by the Federal Government.
They are among the roughly 730,000 essential workers nationwide, required to keep working during the shutdown.
"We're working 72 hours a week, 144 hours every two weeks, a lot of that is built-in overtime that we are forced to be there for and that's what was cut off the first check," Thomas said.
A photo of a fake check for 13,000 hours worked, totaling zero dollars, was posted on the union's Facebook page.
But unlike most memes, it's not meant to be funny.
"People are having to put their mortgages on hold and everything else, it's kind of disappointing when you're thinking about the fact that we're showing up for the community," Thomas said.
There are three fire stations covering West Point's sprawling 16,000-acre campus, but the department's reach extends well beyond the gates.
"We're on calls with Woodbury, Montgomery, every time there's a call, if they need assistance, we're on the way as well. We just need to come to an agreement. Both sides need to give a little bit and get something signed and pushed through," Thomas said.
Through another Senate vote falling short on Tuesday, it's unclear when the government will reopen.
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