San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is asking shops and restaurants to reduce their prices for federal employees who continue to work without being paid due to the partial shutdown of the US federal government.

The second shutdown of 2018 started on Saturday 22 December 2018 and has continued into 2019. But a resolution could finally be imminent with US President Donald Trump reportedly offering a compromise in recent days to end the shutdown, which has affected 800,000 federal workers and is the longest in history.

The proposed compromise relates to Trump’s Mexican wall project and 700,000 Dreamers who illegally entered the US with their parents when they were young. Temporary Protection Status holders are also a focus.

DISCOUNT FOR EMPLOYEES

As the shutdown continues, SFO has requested that restaurants and retailers offer a 50% discount to federal employees working at the airport.

SFO will also adjust its fee structure to protect voluntarily participating concession operators from any financial impact relating to this discount programme.

Ivar C. Satero, Airport Director said:  “This programme demonstrates how our airport community comes together to support one another. Our goal is to ease the financial hardship on federal government employees at SFO who are personally affected by this government shutdown.

“We appreciate the work of our airport concessions and we will continue to seek out ways to help our affected teammates.”