The US Capitol shown during the government shutdown. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- A partial government shutdown is now nearly two weeks old, and some local workers are feeling the pinch.
David Martinez is a corrections officer at the federal prison at Devens. He's considered an essential employee, which means he's working--but without pay.
"The risk hasn't changed," he told WBZ-TV. "We're not getting paid, and the risk is the same."
Martinez said the longer the shutdown goes on, prioritizing will be a key.
"Feeding your family, the gas to get to work, potentially heating your home, and then some other bills are going to go by the wayside, there's no quesiton," he said.
"The fact that I have to wait for a check that's going to come even though I have to show up every day is disgraceful to me," fellow corrections officer Mike Guerrero told WBZ-TV.
He said federal workers have received some general guidance to get through the shutdown:
"If you're furloughed, look for a second job," he said. "And I heard something about, if you can't make your rent payments, you can ask your landlord if you can do chores."
More than 800,000 federal employees have been affected by the shutdown, and there are impacts to some tourist attractions too--more than a dozen national parks in Massachusetts, including places like the JFK Library, have either closed publicly available buildings or stopped providing some resources like restrooms and trash maintenance.
WBZ NewsRadio's Ben Parker (@radiobenparker) reports