NARVRE Calls for End of the Government Shutdown
As we enter the sixth week of what has become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, we say enough is enough.
Federal workers across the country continue to work without pay or have been furloughed, food assistance programs have been compromised, and thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled, with plans of more to come. While RRB offices remain open, millions of Americans (including NARVRE members) are seeing the ugly impacts of this shutdown in their day-to-day lives. This is no longer an issue of political division, this is an opportunity for all Americans to finally demand better. Congressional members have sworn to represent the best interests of their constituents at the federal level, and it’s time we hold them to that promise.
Each day the shutdown continues, the more damaging the consequences become for federal employees, for the economy, and for every American who depends on the services they have been promised.
In a world where prices are high and affordability has become harder and harder to maintain, missed paychecks and shuttered benefits can mean poverty, hunger, and life-altering hardship for millions of people, including families and children. Railroad workers and retirees, like all Americans, deserve a functioning government that can carry out its essential responsibilities without holding their citizens hostage.
But, there may be an end in sight. The funding bill set to end the shutdown has been approved by the Senate this past Monday (11/10), and now goes to the House for a final vote.
We urge you to contact your Congressional representatives immediately and demand they work together to reopen our government. Americans have been forced to sit on the sidelines for 43 long days, and it’s time to let our representatives know that we will not stand for this. We are past the point of political division, and are calling for unity now.