Write a Letter to the Editor
Letters to the editor are a quick and effective way to speak directly to your community. They put a local voice behind the national headlines, showing how shutdowns and reckless cuts affect real people where you live.
AFGE has prepared templates you can adapt for your own newspaper. Below you’ll find:
- Guidance on how to submit your letter
- A long version sample LTE (for outlets with more space)
- A short version sample LTE (for quick submissions or papers with strict word limits)
How to Submit Your Letter to the Editor
- Check your paper’s word limit (often 150–250 words).
- Always include your full name, city, phone, and union role; editors may verify before publication.
- Click here for submission details for the 100 largest U.S. newspapers.
Sample LTE — Long Version
Headline suggestion: Shutdowns Are a Failure. Stop the Chaos.
In 2019, 800,000 federal employees went five weeks without pay because Washington failed to do its most basic job—funding the government. That shutdown cost the U.S. economy about $11 billion at the time—equal to roughly $13.6 billion today—and nearly $3.7 billion was lost forever.
Now we are once again on the brink of a shutdown—but this time the impact would be even worse. Federal agencies are already reeling from mass layoffs, hiring freezes, and deep cuts. More than 148,000 federal employees have already left their jobs this year, and the Social Security Administration is cutting 7,000 positions—about 12% of its staff. These cuts have created backlogs, slowed services, and stretched remaining staff to the breaking point. A shutdown would pile chaos on top of chaos.
A shutdown locks out hundreds of thousands of employees from doing their jobs while forcing hundreds of thousands more—like TSA officers, VA health care workers, and Border Patrol agents—to work without pay. Every week without paychecks is about $5 billion pulled out of family budgets and local economies, hurting small businesses in every community.
Government is not a game. Shutdowns don’t punish politicians—they punish ordinary Americans. Our communities deserve leaders who put aside the brinkmanship, fund the government, and keep federal employees on the job serving the public.
I am calling on [REPRESENTATIVE] to prevent another shutdown and ensure stability for workers, families, and communities here in [STATE].
[NAME] is [ROLE] at AFGE Local [LOCAL #], which represents federal workers at [AGENCY] across [CITY/STATE].
Sample LTE — Short Version
Headline suggestion: Stop the Shutdowns. Keep Government Working.
Federal employees have already endured mass layoffs, hiring freezes, and cuts that have left agencies short-staffed and backlogged. A shutdown would only make things worse—locking out workers, forcing others to work without pay, and pulling $5 billion a week out of local economies.
Our communities deserve stability, not chaos. I urge [REPRESENTATIVE] to fund the government and keep federal employees on the job.
[NAME] is [ROLE] at AFGE Local [LOCAL #], which represents federal workers at [AGENCY] across [CITY/STATE].
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IMPORTANT: This information should not be downloaded using government equipment, read during duty time or sent to others using government equipment, because it suggests action to be taken in support of or against legislation. Do not use your government email address or government phone in contacting your Member of Congress.