SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
AFGE union members hold a rally for wage increases on February 9, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Largest US Federal Workers Union Blasts Trump-GOP Push for Pay Freeze as 'Demeaning, Dishonest, and Cruel'
"It's sad that even on his way out, President Trump still can't resist the opportunity to stick it to the government workers."
Dec 03, 2020
The largest federal workers union in the United States condemned President Donald Trump on Thursday for throwing his support behind the Senate GOP's effort to freeze the pay of civilian government employees in 2021, a move that would effectively slash their pay given rising insurance premiums.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), called the outgoing president's decision to backtrack on his previous support for a 1% raise "demeaning, dishonest, and cruel."
"A pay freeze further shows how the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are in lockstep on hollowing out the federal government--making it that much harder to respond to national crises like the coronavirus pandemic."
--Everett Kelley, AFGE
"A pay freeze further shows how the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are in lockstep on hollowing out the federal government--making it that much harder to respond to national crises like the coronavirus pandemic," Kelley said in a statement. "It's sad that even on his way out, President Trump still can't resist the opportunity to stick it to the government workers he so often vilified during his four years in office. If he wants to throw a temper tantrum over the American people's decision, he needs to leave federal employees out of it."
Kelley urged lawmakers to reject the "disrespectful proposal" as they continue to negotiate the specifics of a spending package needed to avert a looming government shutdown.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, Trump's budget director Russ Vought quietly announced the White House's support for the proposed pay freeze in a letter (pdf) earlier this week to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Trump administration's endorsement of the Senate GOP's proposal, made public last month, came as the president is also working during his final days in power to strip many federal workers of civil service protections via executive order, leaving swaths of government employees vulnerable to termination without cause.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who is urging appropriators to block Trump's executive order in the year-end government spending bill, denounced the president's support for the proposed pay freeze as "another gratuitous attack on our dedicated federal employees."
"These public servants have done heroic work during the pandemic and deserve our support," said Connolly, "and instead Donald Trump is reneging on another promise."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The largest federal workers union in the United States condemned President Donald Trump on Thursday for throwing his support behind the Senate GOP's effort to freeze the pay of civilian government employees in 2021, a move that would effectively slash their pay given rising insurance premiums.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), called the outgoing president's decision to backtrack on his previous support for a 1% raise "demeaning, dishonest, and cruel."
"A pay freeze further shows how the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are in lockstep on hollowing out the federal government--making it that much harder to respond to national crises like the coronavirus pandemic."
--Everett Kelley, AFGE
"A pay freeze further shows how the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are in lockstep on hollowing out the federal government--making it that much harder to respond to national crises like the coronavirus pandemic," Kelley said in a statement. "It's sad that even on his way out, President Trump still can't resist the opportunity to stick it to the government workers he so often vilified during his four years in office. If he wants to throw a temper tantrum over the American people's decision, he needs to leave federal employees out of it."
Kelley urged lawmakers to reject the "disrespectful proposal" as they continue to negotiate the specifics of a spending package needed to avert a looming government shutdown.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, Trump's budget director Russ Vought quietly announced the White House's support for the proposed pay freeze in a letter (pdf) earlier this week to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Trump administration's endorsement of the Senate GOP's proposal, made public last month, came as the president is also working during his final days in power to strip many federal workers of civil service protections via executive order, leaving swaths of government employees vulnerable to termination without cause.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who is urging appropriators to block Trump's executive order in the year-end government spending bill, denounced the president's support for the proposed pay freeze as "another gratuitous attack on our dedicated federal employees."
"These public servants have done heroic work during the pandemic and deserve our support," said Connolly, "and instead Donald Trump is reneging on another promise."
The largest federal workers union in the United States condemned President Donald Trump on Thursday for throwing his support behind the Senate GOP's effort to freeze the pay of civilian government employees in 2021, a move that would effectively slash their pay given rising insurance premiums.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), called the outgoing president's decision to backtrack on his previous support for a 1% raise "demeaning, dishonest, and cruel."
"A pay freeze further shows how the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are in lockstep on hollowing out the federal government--making it that much harder to respond to national crises like the coronavirus pandemic."
--Everett Kelley, AFGE
"A pay freeze further shows how the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are in lockstep on hollowing out the federal government--making it that much harder to respond to national crises like the coronavirus pandemic," Kelley said in a statement. "It's sad that even on his way out, President Trump still can't resist the opportunity to stick it to the government workers he so often vilified during his four years in office. If he wants to throw a temper tantrum over the American people's decision, he needs to leave federal employees out of it."
Kelley urged lawmakers to reject the "disrespectful proposal" as they continue to negotiate the specifics of a spending package needed to avert a looming government shutdown.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, Trump's budget director Russ Vought quietly announced the White House's support for the proposed pay freeze in a letter (pdf) earlier this week to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Trump administration's endorsement of the Senate GOP's proposal, made public last month, came as the president is also working during his final days in power to strip many federal workers of civil service protections via executive order, leaving swaths of government employees vulnerable to termination without cause.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who is urging appropriators to block Trump's executive order in the year-end government spending bill, denounced the president's support for the proposed pay freeze as "another gratuitous attack on our dedicated federal employees."
"These public servants have done heroic work during the pandemic and deserve our support," said Connolly, "and instead Donald Trump is reneging on another promise."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.