Pennsylvania Stalemate Ends, “Non-Critical” Jobs Restored

July 10, 2007

Anyone who’s ever wondered how it would feel to go without public services should have awakened Monday morning in Pennsylvania. That’s where Gov. Ed Rendell ordered a partial government shutdown, keeping 24,000 workers off the job. The 24-hour shutdown was the result of a budget stalemate between the authorities and the Legislature that was only resolved by the end of the day. As AFSCME Council 13 Executive Director Dave Fillman said, the legislators “should be furloughed for not doing their job. The hard-working Commonwealth employees should stay on.” Authorities said the unpaid furlough would only affect state workers performing “non-critical” jobs. Can they actually define “non-critical”? According to this report from the Associated Press, the effects of the shutdown were anything but non-critical: “Pennsylvanians discovered they couldn’t take driver’s license tests. Highway maintenance and a range of permitting and licensing functions were stopped or severely curtailed.” All this during the height of roadwork season. From where we sit – and we think the Pennsylvania citizens who didn’t receive services would agree – these jobs are very important. And what about the paychecks that will go to the workers who couldn’t report? Bet those potentially missing dollars aren’t “non-critical” to them. Although the stalemate is now over, AFSCME members will not take these abuses lying down. State workers shouldn’t be held hostage to political squabbles. Let’s make sure this never happens again.