Arizonans Can’t Afford the Trump Government Shutdown
Arizona AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Yamashita issued the following statement on the impacts of the federal government shutdown:
President Trump and his allies have once again chosen chaos and suffering instead of a solution, forcing the country into a reckless government shutdown – all because they refuse to address the growing health care crisis.
This shutdown will furlough 750,000 federal workers nationwide and force countless others to work without pay. Nearly 180 million Americans are facing a healthcare cost spike. In Arizona alone, 342,564 people will lose their health care coverage, and approximately 34,460 federal employees will lose paychecks.
Critical public servants like TSA officers at Sky Harbor, Border Patrol agents, and health care workers at VA Hospitals in Phoenix, Prescott, and Tucson are impacted by this decision. These workers keep our communities safe, our travel secure, and our veterans cared for. Yet, they are being treated as pawns in the president’s political games.
This couldn’t have come at a worse time – Trump aims to raise insurance premium costs for Arizonans, just before open enrollment begins on Nov. 1. Every day this Trump shutdown continues, federal workers and their families are forced to make impossible choices –delaying payment on bills, finding childcare, and choosing to seek temporary employment elsewhere
This is a slap in the face to Arizona’s working families. Instead of engaging in negotiations to ensure our safety, the White House has chosen to abandon workers and play politics on social media. The Arizona AFL-CIO stands firmly with our federal workers and calls on Congress to end this crisis, put paychecks back in workers’ pockets, and protect the health care coverage Arizonans depend on.
Labor Union Statements:
- AFL-CIO: AFL-CIO to Trump Administration: ‘Fund the Government, Fix the Health Care Crisis, Put Working People First.’
- AFGE & AFSCME: Trump Administration’s Plan for Mass Firings of Federal Workers During Government Shutdown Violates Law, Unions Say
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