Federal workers union demands end to government shutdown, ups pressure on Democrats to fold

The country’s largest union representing federal workers on Monday called on Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown immediately by passing a short-term spending measure.

Describing the closure of the federal government as an “avoidable crisis,” American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said the time for political brinksmanship has passed.

“Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight,” Mr. Kelley said. “Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today.” 

AFGE represents 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers and is a close ally of the Democratic Party. It’s a break with the party, which puts new pressure on Senate Democrats to back the GOP’s short-term spending bill that Democrats have filibustered for weeks.

The ongoing government shutdown is heading into its fifth week.

The union demands that the government be reopened immediately under a stopgap spending bill, known on Capitol Hill as a continuing resolution or “CR.” The House-passed stopgap to fund the government through Nov. 21 was defeated 12 times by Senate Democrats, who demand additional spending to extend a COVID-era expansion of Obamacare subsidies and other Democratic priorities.

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The union is now pressuring Senate Democrats to agree to the Republicans’ offer to negotiate health care issues after the government reopens and without a GOP commitment to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

The AFGE called for the shutdown to end as most federal workers missed their first full paycheck, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned that money will run out Nov. 1 for food stamps for the poor.

“When the folks who serve this country are standing in line for food banks after missing a second paycheck because of this shutdown, they aren’t looking for partisan spin. They’re looking for the wages they earned,” Mr. Kelley said. “The fact that they’re being cheated out of it is a national disgrace.”

AFGE has filed multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration for threatening to fire federal workers furloughed due to the shutdown and for forcing civil servants at the U.S. Department of Education to engage in partisan rhetoric.

The National Republican Congressional Committee responded to the union’s demand by saying the political clock has run out for Democrats.

“When the people Democrats claim to fight for are begging them to stop the shutdown, it tells you everything,” said NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella. “They’ve shamelessly turned a temper tantrum into a hostage crisis, and American workers are the ones paying the price.”