Locked-out union workers rally against government shutdown

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziL5LFL2ZKFq-fopEhAe6zFGP9pFDTWm6lJ1d0fi86xrfd95L_PBo043shku9twx8qQfsA1XiKtZNcXVGwB7BIdsGqffzNpaZe1a3KYNnRLaJ_kBQr_QBNy8AhXpcBTi6F-bK56mTHdL_/s1600/teamster+rally.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziL5LFL2ZKFq-fopEhAe6zFGP9pFDTWm6lJ1d0fi86xrfd95L_PBo043shku9twx8qQfsA1XiKtZNcXVGwB7BIdsGqffzNpaZe1a3KYNnRLaJ_kBQr_QBNy8AhXpcBTi6F-bK56mTHdL_/s320/teamster+rally.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today on Capitol Hill. </td></tr></tbody></table>The gloom of the government shutdown and a cold rainy day didn't stop a thousand locked-out federal workers from rallying outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., this morning. <br /><br />With the shutdown now in its tenth day, the huge crowd of furloughed union workers -- including members of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Federation_of_Government_Employees" rel="nofollow">American Federation of Government Employees</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Treasury_Employees_Union" rel="nofollow">National Treasury Employees Union</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFSCME" rel="nofollow">AFSCME</a> -- gathered to express their outrage and demand that extremist Republicans stop holding the country hostage. Other workers from <a href="http://www.seiu.org/" rel="nofollow">SEIU</a>, the <a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters</a> and <a href="http://goodjobsnation.org/" rel="nofollow">Good Jobs Nation</a> came out to support their union brothers and sisters.<br /><br />Rain pounded down on a furloughed aviation inspector who spoke to protesters:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">I'm a little damp right now, but that's nothing compared to the way American workers are getting soaked by House Republicans.</blockquote>Rev. Jesse Jackson, union leaders and dozens of members of Congress also rallied the crowd. Like a <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/10/hundreds-rally-against-shutdown.html">similar protest held last week</a>, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) of the Progressive Caucus led the demonstration, joined by Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) and Nancy Pelosi.<br /><br />Workers chanted "Let us work," holding umbrellas and signs that said "Stop the lockout" and "Stop holding America hostage."<br /><br />One AFGE leader set the record straight on what American workers are willing to negotiate on with anti-worker Republicans:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Half of our members are out of work and the other half are being forced to work without a paycheck. And despite what John Boehner and tea party extremists are saying, we are willing to negotiate. We want to negotiate an end to sequestration and a fairer tax system so that the rich and corporations pay their fair share. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">We have all kinds of ideas to end the plight of the working class and improve federal government. But we don't shut down the government to make a political point.</blockquote>As always, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called out the extremists in Congress and put their latest attack on the middle class in context:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">This shutdown started with tea party hostage-takers wanting to stop health care reform. But let's be clear: destroying health care is just the tip of the iceberg for right-wing extremists. They want to destroy Social Security and Medicare. They want to end regulations on Wall Street. They want to go after the whole social safety net that keeps millions of Americans from falling into extreme poverty. They want an oligarchic society ruled by the rich.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And they say they are willing to negotiate -- it's time to compromise. We have already compromised! The budget we passed is <em>their</em> budget. We don't like it. And still they want to take more from the American people.</blockquote>Today the shutdown hit <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/nuclear-regulator-furloughing-staff-a-day-sooner-than-expected-98093.html" rel="nofollow">3,600 employees at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission</a> -- the people who make sure a Fukushima-like nuclear disaster doesn't happen in America. Meanwhile the clock is ticking on the deadline to increase the debt ceiling. <br /><br />The shutdown has hurt hundreds of thousands of workers, families and small businesses, but millions more will face a deep economic crisis if Congress drives the government to default. <br /><br />Some locked-out government workers said they will <a href="http://www.dclabor.org/ht/display/EventDetails/i/111831/pid/538" rel="nofollow">return to the Capitol tomorrow</a> -- rain or shine -- to keep the pressure on politicians and stop Republicans' war on working families.

anti-worker extremists Congress government shutdown government workers lockout Locked-out union workers rally against government shutdown

Today on Capitol Hill.  The gloom of the government shutdown and a cold rainy day didn't stop a thousand locked-out federal workers from...

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Hundreds of union workers protest government shutdown

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-oPdw5m-v-ygb0vRAVXRx1KfXEEm2GS1zg1ZM3gW-uqrzH_P-J6pJAEVmATbR1ioCaOFUdXcbT2vaIflexHPaEa2OfrXe6ObtlkLQ2RX4NJ3ZvjC6XAJx9hibqH3AqSh63mN3Y10DhJkh/s1600/Furloughed_fed_workers_protest_congress_lockout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-oPdw5m-v-ygb0vRAVXRx1KfXEEm2GS1zg1ZM3gW-uqrzH_P-J6pJAEVmATbR1ioCaOFUdXcbT2vaIflexHPaEa2OfrXe6ObtlkLQ2RX4NJ3ZvjC6XAJx9hibqH3AqSh63mN3Y10DhJkh/s400/Furloughed_fed_workers_protest_congress_lockout.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union workers protest shutdown today.</td></tr></tbody></table>Locked-out federal workers <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/10/04/federal-workers-to-rally-against-shutdown-on-capitol-hill/" rel="nofollow">gathered in front of the Capitol</a> in Washington D.C. this morning to protest Republican extremists in Congress who shut down the government. <br /><br />Members of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Federation_of_Government_Employees" rel="nofollow">American Federation of Government Employees</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Treasury_Employees_Union" rel="nofollow">National Treasury Employees Union</a> and other unions spoke for thousands of union workers employed by the government, calling the shutdown what it is: a lockout.<br /><br />Led by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and union leaders, the crowd of workers chanted "Let us work" and "Shut down the shutdown." Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the jobs of dedicated public servants should not be held hostage by tea party fanatics:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Two weeks ago a shooting took place not too far from here at the Navy Yard. Hundreds of brave federal police officers responded to stop the carnage and restore security. Today those dedicated officers are not being paid. That's outrageous.</blockquote>Sanders noted the budget that Republican extremists refuse to pass is already a very conservative one. He said there's no reason for them to shut down the government over a budget that is more to the right-wing's liking than anyone else's.<br /><br />As the crowd grew, furloughed federal employees talked about the uncertainty and hardship their families are facing during the shutdown. An aviation safety inspector said he can't do his job to make sure planes are safe to fly. And a worker from <a href="http://goodjobsnation.org/" rel="nofollow">Good Jobs Nation</a> who works at a McDonald's at the Smithsonian described how  the shutdown harms low-wage federal contract workers.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkevrdvH68adkOByYwtb1JyfEOvUlQdxRxATfmprfkzbhmuflhM6s8siwNhUnZGCH-pg0JCI4sE_MVKYnnKQ19nqUkuh7DQvf2Jv7JsqjBy2NF-lNBqnTTOe34O0wNncCiH_Eqfp4YXTN/s1600/Furloughed_fed_workers_protest_lockout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkevrdvH68adkOByYwtb1JyfEOvUlQdxRxATfmprfkzbhmuflhM6s8siwNhUnZGCH-pg0JCI4sE_MVKYnnKQ19nqUkuh7DQvf2Jv7JsqjBy2NF-lNBqnTTOe34O0wNncCiH_Eqfp4YXTN/s200/Furloughed_fed_workers_protest_lockout.jpg" width="185" /></a></div>Workers at the rally said they should get back pay for the days they are furloughed. Some members of Congress have <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/house-and-senate-bills-would-pay-federal-workers-for-shutdown-furloughs/2013/10/03/d2fc8096-2c58-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html" rel="nofollow">proposed legislation</a> to do just that. <br /><br />The pain from the shutdown is not just being felt by government employees. Speakers railed against right-wing lawmakers who put veterans' families and other vulnerable people at risk, just to score political points and to gut a law they don't like.<br /><br />As for Republicans' proposal to reopen some parts of the government with piecemeal funding, workers at the rally said they want all of their coworkers to get back to work, not just some of them. <br /><br />Rep. Ellison said locked out federal workers were prepared to come back and protest every day for as long as extremists in Congress keep holding the government hostage.

anti-worker extremists Bernie Sanders government shutdown government workers lockout Hundreds of union workers protest government shutdown

Union workers protest shutdown today. Locked-out federal workers gathered in front of the Capitol in Washington D.C. this morning to protes...

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Oregon guv says he'll fight RTW4Less for government workers

<div class="tr_bq"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=2645579766001&playerID=2436822742001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAPLpuSqE~,a1DdoZJH5WT7C8Y068BNUzNkGsOfv-0l&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=2645579766001&playerID=2436822742001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAPLpuSqE~,a1DdoZJH5WT7C8Y068BNUzNkGsOfv-0l&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></div><br />Oregon's governor John Kitzhaber slammed a proposed ballot measure that would impose right-to-work-for-less on government workers during a Labor Day picnic. <br /><br />Backers of the ballot measure want to crush Oregon unions. They say they don't but they're lying.<br /><br />Jeff Mapes at <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2013/09/john_kitzhaber_tells_organized.html#incart_river_default" rel="nofollow">The Oregonian</a> reported:<br /><blockquote>Kitzhaber, speaking at a Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park sponsored by the Northwest Labor Council, denounced the initiative as an attempt to turn Oregon into a "so-called right-to-work state" that would weaken unions and leave workers less well-off... </blockquote><blockquote>"A right-to-work state means you have a right to work for less without a voice in the workplace," Kitzhaber told the labor crowd. "A right-to-work state means you have a right to be exploited and ripped off and work at unsafe jobs and low wages and no benefits." </blockquote><blockquote>The governor charged that anti-union forces are targeting Oregon "because this is where labor is strongest." He cited organized labor's role in passing the nation's second highest minimum wage law and noted that Oregon's largest union -- Service Employees International Union -- has been able to reverse the general trend in declining union membership by organizing home health care workers... </blockquote><blockquote>...unions have already been girding for another fight over an initiative they believe is aimed at weakening the public employee unions, which are <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/01/despite_their_clout_oregons_pu.html">key backers of Democratic candidates in Oregon</a>... </blockquote><blockquote>He said right-to-work laws strike at the heart of unions that he said play a crucial role in building the middle class. "Without organized labor, we have very little chance to address the growth of income disparity," he said.</blockquote>

government workers Oregon right to work for less Oregon guv says he'll fight RTW4Less for government workers

Oregon's governor John Kitzhaber slammed a proposed ballot measure that would impose right-to-work-for-less on government workers during...

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