Twenty Federal Unions Join Forces to Pressure Hill with 'Federal Employees Day of Action'

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill Dougan, Chair

Phone: (202) 255-9950

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Workers Alliance, a coalition of 20 unions collectively representing over 300,000 federal workers throughout government, has scheduled a coalition-wide ‘Federal Employee Day of Action’ to pressure elected officials to preclude federal workers from further cuts to pay, benefits, and jobs as part of a fiscal cliff deal.

Scheduled for Tuesday, December 18th, the day of action will utilize a wide array of tactics to influence elected officials including in-office visits, electronic constituent letters, phone calls, and raising awareness via social media. The message: “Federal employees have already sacrificed $103 billion in pay and benefits – enough is enough.”

“With so little time left and so little progress being made, we agreed that something had to be done,” said FWA Chairman William R. Dougan. “Federal employees have often been a scapegoat of first resort in last-minute budget deals, and we won’t let that happen again. Federal workers have already seen $103 billion in cuts to their pay and benefits, but many in Congress still don’t get the message. That’s why we’re encouraging our members to contact their elected officials in any way they can, and tell them ‘the bank is closed.’”

Over the next 36 hours the member unions of the FWA will encourage their own members and other federal workers to do their part for the cause. Said Dougan:

“This is not a union issue. It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue. To an extent, it’s not even a federal employee issue. This is fundamentally about maintaining a government that is equipped to serve the American people. Federal employees keep our nation safe, our national treasures secured, and our veterans healthy. Hurting federal employees only hurts those they serve. That’s why we’re encouraging all federal employees to stand up and tell Congress put an end to the irresponsible compensation and budget cuts.”

Constituent Letter: http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/5876/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5216

Day of Action Graphic: http://www.federalworkers.org/ht/a/GetImageAction/i/775

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The Federal Workers Alliance is a coalition of 20 labor unions, collectively representing over 300,000 federal workers government-wide and more than 9 million workers in all sectors of employment. For more information, go to www.federalworkers.org