FOLLOW US

The leader of the largest federal workers’ union criticized President Donald Trump for claiming that many of them wanted the partial government shutdown.

On Wednesday, Jeffrey David Cox Sr., the president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said the members of the union strongly oppose the shutdown.

“They are eager to get back to work. They unequivocally oppose using shutdowns as a means of resolving policy disputes. This is not about a wall, this is about 800,000 real people with real families and real bills to pay,” said Cox as quoted by New York Daily News.

Cox statement was contrary to Trump’s claim on Tuesday that many furloughed federal workers want the government to remain close.  The president said, “Many of those workers have said to me, communicated, stay out until you get the funding for the wall. These federal workers want the wall.”

The AFGE represents 700,000 workers in the federal government and employees in the government of the District of Columbia (D.C).

Last Saturday, the AFGE encouraged Trump and the Congress to reach an agreement, reopen the government, and pass long-term spending bill that include a 1.9% pay raise for federal employees next year.

“Gambling with the lives of federal workers is not acceptable”

Separately, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), which represents 80,000 highly-skilled workers in the public and private sectors, also condemned the government shutdown.

Thousands of IFPTE members are working in different federal government agencies including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

In a statement Wednesday, IFPTE President Paul Shearon, said Trump’s statement regarding the federal workers’ position on the ongoing government shutdown was false.

“The president falsely claims that ‘many’ federal workers support the shutdown and have told him to ‘stay out.’ We have not heard from a single member who supports the president’s inaction. Most view this as an act of ineptitude.”

Additionally, Shearon said Trump “should be deeply concerned about the morale” of federal workers, “productivity of government agencies,” and “the ability of the government to attract and retain the best and the brightest.”

However, he noted that the president is “literally tweeting the words ‘poor me’ while holding dedicated professionals hostage, creating unnecessary stress, and financial hardships for their families…” He also stressed that Trump is treating federal workers are a “chip on a giant poker table.”

Furthermore, Shearon stated, “if the president wants to gamble, perhaps he should go back to running casinos. A casino is where its commonplace for chips to be tossed around. Gambling with the lives of federal workers is not acceptable.”