Biggest Federal Employee Unions Says Shutdown is Preferable to Elon/Trump CR

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/biggest-federal-employee-unions-says-shutdown-is-preferable-to-elon-trump-cr

Federal workers obviously don’t like government shutdowns. Most of them are furloughed. Others are forced to continue working without pay. But in a letter addressed to members of the Senate, which I obtained, Everett B. Kelley, head of what I believe is the country’s biggest federal government employee union — the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) — asks senators to vote “no” on the House-produced continuing resolution, and says that a shutdown is actually preferable to passing the bill.

“AFGE is particularly struck that even as the Senate prepares to debate and vote on [the continuing resolution], the Trump administration has announced its intention to effectively destroy the Department of Education regardless of whether Congress approves or disapproves of that decision,” it reads. It also says they categorically reject the idea that voting against the CR means voting for a shutdown. They then go on to discuss that the administration just unilaterally canceled the collective bargaining agreement with TSA workers and declared the agency “union-free”.

This paragraph stood out to me …

With thousands of federal workers either fired, placed on administrative leave, or at immediate risk of losing their jobs, AFGE members have concluded that a widespread government shutdown has been underway since January 20 and will continue to spread whether senators vote yes or no on H.R. 1968. Under the current CR, federal workers are being treated no better than they will be if government funding ceases Friday night. Yes, it is true that workers who have not yet been fired are at least drawing a paycheck - for now. But if H.R. 1968 becomes law - a measure that ignores the administration's brazen refusal to carry out duly enacted laws of Congress and further erodes Congress's power of the purse - AFGE knows that DOGE will dramatically expand its terminations of federal workers and double down on its campaign to make federal agencies fail because there will be nothing left to stop the Administration for the balance of Fiscal Year 2025, if ever.

In any case, there are lots of details in a letter that runs more than two pages. But I thought this was interesting simply because it’s really saying something if the people who take the biggest hit from a shutdown, federal workers — or at least the largest single union representing them — are saying it’s better to risk a shutdown than vote for this bill.

*snip*