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The federal government shut down on December 22, locking out almost 400,000 workers and forcing another 400,000 deemed “essential” to show up to work without pay. Many of these workers are union members, affiliated with the American Federal Government Employees (AFGE). The union is rightfully suing the federal government, claiming that it is illegal to require workers to work without paying them. But a more militant labor movement could respond to the shutdown very differently, seizing the “choke points” within the US economy and society that federal workers are strategically positioned to take advantage of. For example, what if Transportation Security Administration workers decided to refuse orders to work without pay, leaving the airport security gates unstaffed during the busiest season for travel? The airlines would be effectively shut down by a TSA agent “wildcat,” with passengers reluctant to board unsecured flights. Meanwhile, there’s a potential army of 400,000 furloughed federal workers, not just in D.C. but based at government offices across the country. What if, taking a note from the yellow vests movement in France, these workers established “picket lines” blocking major roads and highways, halting all nonemergency traffic? Certainly that traffic would also include package delivery trucks and tractor trailers hauling goods for their own high-demand peak season, many of them driven by Teamsters who are contractually protected when they refuse to cross picket lines. Imagine the political fallout of this massive economic disruption, all because Trump wants a border wall. Even the MAGA hat-wearers would likely prefer a safe flight home and their packages delivered on time over a wall that they will never even see. The reopening of the government under these conditions would be a massive victory of the labor movement, a product of our own collective efforts rather than that of closed-door negotiations between legislators and the White House. But unfortunately, this Christmas wish for the labor left was not granted. The reality is informed instead by many years of defeats and organizational setbacks for federal workers.

In the World as It Is The ongoing holiday lockout is the most recent insult the federal government has hurled at its workers. But pay and benefits have been deteriorating for years, and conditions look set to degrade even faster in the near future. According to data compiled by Government Executive, civilian federal workers have received an annualized raise of 1.48 percent per year since 2008, including three years of zero raises under President Obama. During the same period, workers’ health insurance premiums increased up to 7 percent a year, though more recently the increase has been smaller. And this year, President Trump not only threatened a wage freeze for federal employees, he also proposed cutting their retirement benefits by $143.5 billion. Congress counter-proposed a 1.9 percent wage increase, but with the government shut down and no budget resolution in sight, it is unclear whether federal workers will receive raises or maintain their pension benefits this year. A recent study found that federal workers’ salaries are already 31 percent below comparable jobs in the private sector on average, though the disparity varies greatly by job title. In 2013, a sixteen-day government shutdown effectively locked out 800,000 workers and forced another 1.3 million to work without pay. This year, the government briefly shut down twice in January and February, and shut down a third time on December 22. This time about 800,000 workers are affected in total, with roughly half locked out and the other half working without pay. More workers could be affected soon as additional agencies run out of reserve funds they used to remain open the first week of the shutdown. It appears that the current Congress has given up on passing a budget to restore those workers to their jobs, and the earliest the new Congress could take up a budget resolution is January 3, when its members will be sworn in. Meanwhile, as rent day looms with no paychecks in sight for federal employees (or contractors) the Office of Personnel Management suggested furloughed workers try to barter carpentry or painting work with their landlords in lieu of rent.