With no end in sight to the government shutdown that began Oct. 1, AFGE members are voicing concerns about how the shutdown will affect their finances and the work they perform for the public.
“This isn’t about one party or the other. It’s about real people,” AFGE President Everett Kelley told the Associated Press last week. “The correctional officer worrying about his next paycheck. The TSA officer who still shows up to work because he or she loves their country, even though they’re not getting paid. No American should ever have to choose between serving their country and feeding their family.”
Transportation security officers are particularly feeling the pinch, as many live paycheck to paycheck and all are working without income for the duration of the shutdown.
“It’s disheartening. They come to work every day to do their job to protect the flying public. And we simply want members of Congress to do their job and pass a budget so this country can continue on,” AFGE Local 449 President and TSA Council 100 Executive Vice President Mac Johnson told ABC affiliate WTVD in Raleigh, N.C.
Johnson attempted to visit officers at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia and the Baltimore/Washington International Airport in Maryland but wasn’t allowed past airport security, NBC affiliate WBAL reported Oct. 15. Johnson told the station that the stress is mounting for workers.
“People are really starting to get down now,” Johnson said. “You know, you have rent, mortgage, child care, auto insurance, gas, so it makes it very difficult. And they are really starting to feel the effects.”
Some officers are seeking financial relief from their banks using letters provided by the agency, but there’s no guarantee creditors will comply, Johnson said. So the local is looking at what it can to help the officers it represents across Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
“We’re going to try to reappropriate a portion of our budget to provide non-perishable food, personal hygiene items, things of that nature to help them out as much as we possibly can,” he told WTVD.
Social Security Administration employees are in the same boat as TSA officers – having to report to work daily while going without a paycheck. Many have turned to the union for help, said AFGE Local 1164 Secretary-Treasurer Christine Lizotte, whose local represents SSA workers across New England.
“They’re trying to figure out, how do I navigate this? How do I pay my mortgage without the money?” Lizotte told ABC affiliate WMTW in Maine. “How do I make sure that I have childcare covered and gas covered? Because we’re still working. We’re still coming into work every day, packing a lunch and buying gas, in order to be here and not be paid.”
AFGE Local 4016 President Michael Galletly was furloughed from his job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Utah when Congress failed to extend funding past Sept. 30. He told the BBC that he pulled back on purchases in the run-up to the shutdown and has since applied for unemployment insurance and is seeking relief on his mortgage and car loan.
“A lot of people tend to look at these things and just hope for the best,” Galletly said. “Having been through this before – this is my third government shutdown as a federal employee – I just can’t afford to do that.”
AFGE Local 2883 Executive Committee Chair Peter Farruggia is one of 8,000 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who have been furloughed due to the shutdown. Farruggia told the Associated Press that he will soon have to make some tough financial decisions.
“Luckily I was able to pay rent this month,” Farruggia said. “But for sure I am going to have bills that are going to go unpaid this month, and I really don’t have many options.”
Compounding the pain is the administration’s illegal move to issue reduction-in-force notices to more than 4,000 federal employees while they are furloughed, AFGE Local 2883 President Yolanda Jacobs told reporters during an Oct. 14 press conference covered by The Hill and other outlets.
“These illegal firings of our union members during a federal government shutdown is a callous attack on hardworking Americans and puts the livelihoods, health, and safety of our members and communities at great risk,” Jacobs said.
Nearly a quarter of CDC workers have been removed through RIFs issued since the start of the year – and that doesn’t count those who received notices during the shutdown.
The Department of Labor has furloughed about 75% of workers due to the shutdown – and workers fear RIFs could be coming, AFGE Local 2139 President Imelda Avila-Thomas told The Guardian.
“That chaos is so debilitating on everybody’s mental health, physical health and just in general it’s demoralizing,” Avila-Thomas said. “Morale is already low, and then we have this happening. I don’t want to say anybody is safe, I think we all understand that’s not a thing.”
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