{"id":367667,"date":"2011-04-04T18:28:16","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T18:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/04\/fed-workers-in-shutdown-limbo\/"},"modified":"2011-04-04T18:28:16","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T18:28:16","slug":"fed-workers-in-shutdown-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/04\/fed-workers-in-shutdown-limbo\/","title":{"rendered":"FED WORKERS IN SHUTDOWN LIMBO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div readability=\"127.03118503119\">    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/ce25ddc7rker.gi_.top_.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Federal workers push back on shutdown\" width=\"475\" height=\"324\" border=\"0\" class=\"cnnstoryImageFull\" \/><span><b>Federal workers are making their voices heard, with just five days to go before a possible government shutdown.<\/b><\/span><!-- \/PURGE: \/2011\/04\/04\/news\/economy\/federal_workers_shutdown\/irs_worker.gi.top.jpg --><span id=\"fb-recommend\"\/><br \/>\n<span>By Charles Riley, staff reporter<\/span><span>April 4, 2011: 2:23 PM ET<\/span><!--startclickprintexclude--><br clear=\"all\"\/><\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK (CNNMoney) &#8212; With just five days left before a government shutdown, federal workers are pressing lawmakers to cut a deal that will keep the government open for business.<\/p>\n<p>The stakes are high. If lawmakers fail to pass some kind of <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2011\/04\/01\/news\/economy\/budget_cuts_2011\/index.htm\">spending bill<\/a> by the end of Friday, hundreds of thousands of government employees are likely to be furloughed, and their paychecks stopped.<\/p>\n<p>The National Treasury Employees Union and the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represent a combined 260,000 workers, announced Monday they have asked their members to call lawmakers and encourage them to strike a deal.<\/p>\n<p>The goal is to make sure lawmakers understand the impact a shutdown would have on government workers, said William Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees.<\/p>\n<p>In already tough economic times, &#8220;One or two missing paychecks could spell disaster for these families,&#8221; Dougan said. <\/p>\n<p>And the impact wouldn&#8217;t stop there. Dougan warned of an economic ripple effect into communities across the country that depend on federal workers and the dollars they spend.<\/p>\n<p>Just who are these workers? According to government data, <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2010\/12\/01\/news\/economy\/federal_worker_pay_freeze\/index.htm\">average employees<\/a> are likely to be in their mid-40s.<\/p>\n<p>They work in management, business or financial positions at the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs or Homeland Security.<\/p>\n<p>They tend to have graduated from college, live outside of Washington and are white. They make around $74,000 a year.<\/p>\n<p>And they are starting to feel a little picked on. Late last year, at President Obama&#8217;s suggestion, Congress instituted a <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2010\/12\/22\/news\/economy\/federal_pay_freeze\/index.htm\">two-year freeze<\/a> on federal worker pay. <\/p>\n<p>At the same time, lawmakers have failed to enact a real budget six months after the fiscal year began. Instead they have passed six short-term spending bills that have left agencies uncertain about funding levels and struggling to perform their functions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In our view this is an untenable situation,&#8221; National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Workers are feeling the uncertainty. Shutdowns are not uncommon, but 15 years have passed since a battle over the budget resulted in workers being furloughed.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s how it would work: The government would keep <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2011\/02\/25\/news\/economy\/federal_shutdown\/index.htm\">essential services<\/a> &#8212; such as air traffic control and the national security apparatus &#8212; in full operating mode.<\/p>\n<p>Agencies go through a complicated process to decide which employees stay on the job, and which are asked to stay home. Each agency draws up its own plan.<\/p>\n<p>But those plans have remained under wraps, much to the chagrin of Kelley and Dougan, who said agencies and the Obama administration are not communicating with workers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It seems absolutely, positively ridiculous,&#8221; Dougan said. &#8220;I know the plans are there and I know the agencies have them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The lack of information is making it difficult for employees &#8212; who are facing the prospect of a pay stoppage &#8212; to make contingency plans.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s disrespectful to hold these folks in limbo until the last minute,&#8221; Dougan said.<\/p>\n<p>Federal workers who are furloughed due to a shutdown usually receive back pay when Congress is able to pass a new spending bill. But lawmakers have to specifically authorize those funds, something that is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p>The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Press secretary Jay Carney was asked about a possible shutdown on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There are procedures in place since the 1980&#8217;s for this kind of situation,&#8221; Carney said. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing unusual that this government and administration are doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With talks continuing on Capitol Hill, lawmakers might beat the clock and reach a deal. They usually do. Negotiators have thus far focused on six-month bill that would fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n<p>If that fails, they could always do another short-term fix &#8212; the seventh this year.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2011\/04\/04\/news\/economy\/federal_workers_shutdown\/index.htm?section=money_topstories&#038;utm_source=feedburner&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29#TOP\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i.cdn.turner.com\/money\/images\/bug.gif\" alt=\"To top of page\" border=\"0\" width=\"7\" height=\"7\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>First Published: April 4, 2011: 2:03 PM ET<\/p>\n<p><!--endclickprintexclude--><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/ce25ddc7rker.gi_.top_.jpg-150x150.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>See the original post here:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/rss.cnn.com\/~r\/rss\/money_topstories\/~3\/dfjQG05O-o8\/index.htm\" title=\"FED WORKERS IN SHUTDOWN LIMBO\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FED WORKERS IN SHUTDOWN LIMBO<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Federal workers are making their voices heard, with just five days to go before a possible government shutdown. By Charles Riley, staff reporter April 4, 2011: 2:23 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) &#8212; With just five days left before a government shutdown, federal workers are pressing lawmakers to cut a deal that will keep the government open for business. The stakes are high. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-367667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FED WORKERS IN SHUTDOWN LIMBO - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/04\/fed-workers-in-shutdown-limbo\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"FED WORKERS IN SHUTDOWN LIMBO - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Federal workers are making their voices heard, with just five days to go before a possible government shutdown. 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