More than 20 days ago, the Trump administration and its yes-men and women in Congress shut down the government. For weeks, the American people have paid the price as public services have been put on hold and federal workers have been put on leave without immediate pay.
This happened because anti-worker extremists refused to reach a bipartisan deal to stop health care costs from skyrocketing. Instead, they are protecting the deep tax breaks for greedy billionaires and corporations they passed in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” That decision will lead to health care premiums more than doubling for millions of Americans, with hospitals and health centers closing.
Some working people will be forced to decide between paying their premiums or paying their rent. Others will downgrade their care or drop it altogether. As AFSCME nurses and health care workers know, this will only lead to more sick people in more crowded emergency rooms and higher prices for everyone.
Congress needs to act now to help working families.
The longer this shutdown continues, the more our health care and our jobs are in danger. Look no further than the administration’s attempt to illegally fire federal workers. AFSCME sued and won a temporary block protecting essential public service jobs. But workers will continue to miss paychecks until this shutdown ends.
At the state and local level, funding for important programs like food assistance, Head Start and housing are all at risk of running out. This will hurt working families and potentially result in even more furloughs and layoffs.
Today, working people are being squeezed like never before, while the billionaire class stands to gain more than they could ever possibly need. The forces we are up against got us into this mess, but we can fight our way out of it — that is, if we get organized.
We must talk to our co-workers, engage our communities, and build the power we need to improve the lives of workers. We need AFSCME’s 1.4 million members to keep the pressure on Congress and make sure they lower health care costs. And whatever we do, we cannot — and will not — be silent about the shutdown.