Federal Employees - have you been through a RIF or govt. shut down?

[Anonymous]

Poster predicting unpaid furlough: please provide support for your opinion. Most Feds are covered under collective bargaining agreements-it's not so easy to make a sudden decision to take them off the payroll for a month. That's what Contract for America 1995 had in mind but it didn't work that way in the end. Tea Partiers are out to punish Feds, they will punish huge numbers of private employees as well as Feds, or maybe just instead of Feds. Not a good move, but they are people with a mission. Which is not to imply they are people with a clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you imagine the rhetoric about the recession, unemployment, the budget crisis, etc. if someone introduced a bill trying to get Feds paid retroactively for time they didn't even work?

But how disgusting is it to make some GS-7 unable to pay her rent because a bunch of elected officials want to play brinksmanship games over what is, in the end, some symbolic cuts. If the R's want to defund Americorps beginning Oct. 1, let's debate that and figure out what to do, but to try and take up every issue of the fed. govt between now and March 4 is just stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you imagine the rhetoric about the recession, unemployment, the budget crisis, etc. if someone introduced a bill trying to get Feds paid retroactively for time they didn't even work?

But how disgusting is it to make some GS-7 unable to pay her rent because a bunch of elected officials want to play brinksmanship games over what is, in the end, some symbolic cuts.

I completely agree but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poster predicting unpaid furlough: please provide support for your opinion.

Re-read the post at 19:39. No one is predicting a furlough. The prediction was a shutdown period for which there is no retroactive pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poster predicting unpaid furlough: please provide support for your opinion.

Re-read the post at 19:39. No one is predicting a furlough. The prediction was a shutdown period for which there is no retroactive pay.

As far as I can tell, the only difference between a furlough and a shutdown period w/o pay is that a furlough involves more planning, so it's less disruptive to govt services and to govt employees.

[Anonymous]

If there is a shutdown, will it affect all non-emergency employees? Or does it depend on the agency and funding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there is a shutdown, will it affect all non-emergency employees? Or does it depend on the agency and funding?

I think Obama has the power to decide (at a macro level) what agencies provide "emergency services" and need to stay open. The designation could be different this time around than it was in 1995. But if you aren't designated as essential (i.e. emergency) my understanding is that you would not work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is a shutdown, will it affect all non-emergency employees? Or does it depend on the agency and funding?

I think Obama has the power to decide (at a macro level) what agencies provide "emergency services" and need to stay open. The designation could be different this time around than it was in 1995. But if you aren't designated as essential (i.e. emergency) my understanding is that you would not work.

What about agencies that are funded by fees paid directly by the public for service?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is a shutdown, will it affect all non-emergency employees? Or does it depend on the agency and funding?

I think Obama has the power to decide (at a macro level) what agencies provide "emergency services" and need to stay open. The designation could be different this time around than it was in 1995. But if you aren't designated as essential (i.e. emergency) my understanding is that you would not work.

What about agencies that are funded by fees paid directly by the public for service?

I don't think the post office would shut down if that's what you mean, but I'm not 100% sure.

[Anonymous]

I don't know - I know that with the last one, passports applications didn't get processed, visas didn't get issued, foreclosures didn't get processed, child support cases were stalled, military veterans services were suspended, museums and parks were closed, etc.

[Anonymous]

I wish the mail WOULD stop - would serve as a nice reminder to the general public about what all these lazy, useless federal workers do for us.

[Anonymous]

Were there any protests the last time this happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoping for a shut down, people forget exactly how much the govt does. It would be nice for retires not to get their checks, children of fallen officers not to get their benefits, vets not to get their medical checks and to be unable to pay their bills, police officers not to pay for life saving vest

We govt employees are so overpayed and useless I'm looking for some nice time off.

If I'm not mistaken, seniors would still get their SS checks, so those blue haired Tea Partiers have much less to lose than many others if the government shuts down. I'm a good liberal and believe in a robust safety net. (Personally, wouldn't mind if my taxes went up some to deal with the debt.) But it makes me livid, especially as a mother, that so much of the cuts are coming from programs that will hurt younger Americans the most-- the environment, consumer safety, health, etc., while programs for seniors are completely off the table. So much for the future of our country. We should at least insist that they return their "Greatest Generation" title! The greedy bastards!

No they won't. At my agency during the last shut down we were unable to come in to send out benefit checks which we had to approve via treasurey. But, who cares about veterans benefit checks. Let those over payed politicos bitch and moan and shut us down.

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is we all need to be prepared for the worst. My husband and I are both Feds. Even though he's law enforcement and would probably be declared essential, I suspect he still wouldn't get paid until it was all over. Regardless, there would be a big impact at our house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were there any protests the last time this happened?

That's the best part! Us useless, lazy federal workers who have had salaries frozen and now maybe shut down are not allowed to strike.