As the federal government shutdown nears its fifth week, organized labor and working class advocates have been continuously mobilizing across the nation and the state to argue for not just an end to the congressional stalemate, but also solutions to the crisis that has caused it. Here’s a closer look at the shutdown’s impact on Florida and how Floridians everywhere have responded with solidarity and action.
Overcast for Workers in the Sunshine State
As cloud coverage and lower temperatures breeze across the sunshine state this week, the continued government shutdown has cast an extra layer of cold on Florida’s federal workers. Over 154,000 federal workers live in our state , and as negotiations stall in D.C, stories of their struggle span the length of the state. Floridians working for essential agencies such as the TSA and U.S Customs and Border Patrol continue to effort to keep Floridians and travelers safe in communities like Palm Beach, Miami, and Orlando despite missing entire pay periods. As a result, these critical workers have found themselves increasingly reliant on community aid for essential relief in the face of a lack of paychecks and means to support their families. Thankfully, their calls for support have not gone unanswered.
Solidarity Shines Through
In communities across Florida, unions, advocacy groups, and even congressional members have joined forces to provide for Florida’s federal workers and call attention to the realities they are facing to urge for solutions and an end to the Shutdown.
In Palm Beach County, Congresswomen Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Lois Frankel partnered with Feeding South Florida and American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 558 to collect and distribute food to struggling federal workers, showing even small actions can have meaningful impact.
In Broward County, AFGE Local 2014 and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans (FLARA) were joined in solidarity by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schulz to line the streets of the Plantation, FL Social Security Office to draw attention to the importance of continued funding to critical programs like Social Security for Florida’s Veterans and Retirees.
Union action has not just been towards aiding struggling workers either, but towards holding congressional leadership accountable. In Polk County, your West Central Florida Labor Council partnered with Indivisible Polk County to gather outside of the office of Representative Scott Franklin to call on him to use his voice to compel congressional leadership and his colleagues to return to Washington and put working families first in addressing the looming healthcare crisis. You can watch the press conference in its entirety on the West Central Florida Labor Council Facebook Page and read the full letter to Rep. Franklin here.
The Work Continues; The Shutdown Must End.
As mentioned earlier, as of today the government continues to remain shutdown, but as laborers continue to stand together, politicians are feeling the pressure from the people to bring this ongoing crisis to a conclusion. Whether through protests and press conferences outside of congressional offices or food banks and resource collection to help each other endure, Florida’s working class is standing in solidarity to support each other and drive change. As the clock keeps ticking, paychecks continue to be absent, and further essential programs like SNAP and food stamps are set to expire, the state and the nation are making the statement to congress loud and clear: The people will not sit still while the government continues to. The work must continue. The shutdown must end.