CHICAGO (WLS) — With the federal government shutdown stretching into its eighth day on Wednesday, federal employees, union heads, and politicians convened downtown, grappling with the uncertainty of the shutdown’s duration and their prospects of getting paid.
“I’m urging everyone to support federal workers across the country and bring this shutdown to an end,” said Brent Barron, president of the National Council of Field Labor Locals.
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As the government shutdown continued into a second week, the Trump administration cautioned that furloughed federal employees might not be guaranteed backpay, as per a White House memo. After the previous government shutdown, Trump had signed a law ensuring retroactive back pay once funding was resumed.
“I think what the White House is clearly signaling is they’re not going to follow the law, and that concerns all of us,” Barron said.
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Workers and union representatives from the EPA, IRS, Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others, were present to voice their concerns, joined by local, state, and federal officials. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker participated in the ongoing news conference.
“Donald Trump has not only closed the government, but also is threatening to take away your paychecks,” Pritzker said.
When pressed on the issue of backpay this week, President Trump said he follows the law.
“We’ll generally take care of our people,” Trump stated. “However, some individuals might not fully deserve it, and we’ll address their situations differently.”
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In the meantime, some federal workers are already facing tough choices, like IRS employee Lorie McCann, who mentioned receiving her furlough notice just before attending the rally.
“What am I going to pay? What can be held off?” McCann said. “What can you pay the minimum on when I would normally, let’s say, for a credit card, I’ll normally pay it off every month. I just pay the minimum.”
Jill Hornick’s union, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1395, represents Social Security workers in Illinois. She says the stress level in federal offices among employees is incredibly high.
“When they’re trying to serve the American public and they’re mentally not healthy, mistakes happen,” Hornick said. “So the ripple effects of what a shutdown does are incredible.”
The stalemate continues. Both Democratic and Republican proposals to fund the government failed to advance in the Senate Wednesday.
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