Do You Think ‘Essential’ Federal Employees Should Have to Work Without Pay During a Shutdown?

What’s the story?

• The American Federation of Government Employees is suing the Trump administration for requiring “essential” employees to work without pay during the ongoing partial government shutdown.
• Approximately 380,000 federal employees are furloughed and 420,000 are working without pay due to the shutdown, which entered its 13th day on Thursday.

Who are considered “essential employees”?

According to court documents, “essential” government employees are those “performing emergency work involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.” They include:

• The Federal Aviation Administration
• Border Patrol agents
• Immigration enforcement personnel
• Law enforcement officers
• Federal firefighters

What are both sides saying?

• AFGE filed the suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging that the government is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by forcing employees deemed essential to work without pay.
• The union's president, J. David Cox, called the requirement to work without pay “inhumane.”
• "Our nation's heroes, AFGE members and their families deserve the decency of knowing when their next paycheck is coming and that they will be paid for their work," Cox said.

"Our intent is to force the government and the administration to make all federal employees whole."

• The White House has not responded to requests for comment, but President Donald Trump has said he’s waiting for the Democrats to make a deal that includes $5 billion in funding for his border wall.

“A lot of people are looking to get their paycheck. And so I’m ready to go anytime they want,” Trump told Fox News on New Year’s Day. “No, we are not giving up. We have to have border security. And the wall is a big part of border security—the biggest part."

• In the past, Congress has retroactively paid federal workers after shutdowns. But an official with AFGE said that because the current pay period is nearly over, even if a deal were reached on Friday, federal workers wouldn't see that money until late January.

What do you think?

Is requiring employees to work without pay “inhumane”? Or are they deemed “essential” for a reason? Take action above, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo courtesy U.S. Southern Command)