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Federal Employee Union Wants to Torture Congress Over Shutdown

October 1, 2015

Federal Employee Union Wants to Torture Congress Over Government Shutdown

Not torture as in waterboarding (although it might be highly effective on stubborn Congressional representatives), but torture as in a flood of calls and messages from angry constituents.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is planning hundreds of rallies and exhorting members to make thousands of calls to members of Congress if the federal government shutdown goes ahead as expected on Oct 1.

AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 670,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas.

Is It Better For Furloughed Federal Employees During Government Shutdown?

An extended government shutdown of a week or more will obviously have a wide-ranging impact on just about everything. But the people most directly affected are federal employees. During the previous 13-day federal government shutdown in 2013, around 800,000 non-essential federal employees were furloughed.

While this may seem bad, those who are furloughed may actually be better off this time. Congress is already considering legislation to ensure that all federal employees, furloughed or not, will be paid retroactively for the period of the shutdown. It may not be approved right away, but it’s highly likely to be approved once a budget agreement is finalized and the shutdown ends.

This means that furloughed workers will be earning federal pay while enjoying some time off. On the other hand, those who will still be working in federal agencies and departments during the shutdown will be doing so without pay – at least for now.

Those who depend on each paycheck to pay their bills will be put in a very awkward position of having to work while also worrying about how to arrange for the money . If they haven’t already applied for something like an in-service hardship TSP withdrawal or loan, it’s highly unlikely to be approved at the last minute.