Largest Federal Employee Union Calls for End to Shutdown; More Furloughed Workers Recalled

The nation’s largest federal workers union is calling on Congress to pass a clean bill to end the government shutdown as the shutdown hits nearly a month, and missed paychecks mount. 

In a statement, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) called on Democrats to end their opposition over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and pass a clean continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the government. AFGE also wants to ensure that back pay is included. 

“Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight,” said AFGE national president Everett Kelley in a statement. “Today I’m making mine: it’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship. Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today.”

But so far, Democrats are not willing to budge. 

“I’m committed to immediately reopening the government in a responsible way that prevents the illegal budget actions Trump has taken — including against our federal workers — and stops Americans’ health care costs from exploding,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). 

Other major labor unions have not yet called for Democrats to join in passing the clean CR. 

We’ll have more on the negotiations in Congress in From the Hill. 

Military Paycheck Date Looms 

On the topic of pay, the nation’s 1.3 million active-duty servicemembers are at risk of missing a paycheck on Friday. 

The Trump administration made an earlier military paycheck by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds. But it is unclear if the Trump administration will be willing — or able — to shift money again.

In addition to the military members, about 1.4 million federal civilian employees are going without pay, with about 670,000 employees furloughed and 730,000 working without pay. That’s according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, which notes that if “the shutdown continues through December 1, roughly 4.5 million paychecks will be withheld from federal civilian employees, representing approximately $21 billion in missing wages.”

Furloughed CMS Workers Recalled

Meanwhile, more federal workers are being recalled from furlough. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) recalled about 3,000 employees to help during the open enrollment period for Medicare and Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans. Medicare enrollment began October 15 while ACA enrollment starts November 1. 

CMS says it plans to pay the workers through funding collected through user fees from sharing data with researchers.

FDA Pay Glitch

There was also a pay glitch at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which prevented a portion of its shutdown-exempt workforce from getting their full paychecks. 

Federal News Network reported that 7,000 employees were incorrectly labeled as furloughed which caused some of the pay discrepancies. Impacted staff were told to report any pay errors to the agency’s HR system as soon as possible. 

Air Traffic Delays

Another impact is mounting air travel delays. 

Staffing shortages for air traffic controllers mounted over the weekend, causing delays across the country. That included a temporary halt at Los Angeles International Airport and a ground stop at Reagan National just outside Washington, DC. 

Air traffic controllers are deemed essential employees who are reporting to work without pay. 

According to CNN, there have been at least 264 instances of staffing problems reported at FAA facilities since the start of the shutdown. That’s more than four times the reported problems on the same dates last year.