A group of federal workers rallied in Northern Kentucky Thursday to call for an end to the government shutdown, which they say is hurting public services and the employees who provide them.
Employees at the Internal Revenue Service, Customs and Border Protection, Environmental Protection Agency and other government offices held signs and chanted outside the IRS building in Covington.
Diane Gallina is a steward for the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 73, representing IRS workers in Covington and Florence.
She estimates up to half of local IRS employees are furloughed. That's causing longer phone wait times for callers and adding to a backlog that's been around since COVID.
“With what's going on, that's going to make everything start piling up again, which means we will not be able to get people's EINs [employer identification numbers] assigned, their taxes assessed, send out letters to let them know that they need to contact us for essential things related to their businesses or personal accounts,” Gallina said.
Gallina says the IRS’ Covington operations took another hit last Friday, when a majority of the IT department was laid off via a reduction in force.
“That's about 20 people, give or take, that we need on a daily basis to help keep our computers going, do updates if something breaks,” Gallina said. “They are no longer there to keep our systems going so that we can keep serving taxpayers.”
A federal judge Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from laying off more workers while the government is shutdown, according to NPR.
The approximately one hundred Customs and Border Protection employees at CVG and the DHL hub are continuing to report to work, but none are getting paid.
Heidi Tien is with the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 155, representing CBP workers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. She says the lack of pay is causing financial stress for her and fellow employees.
“I can't support your local business. I can't support your child's fundraiser. I can't support things I would normally do because everyone's cutting back,” Tien said.
A number of local unions, including the National Treasury Employees Union, organized the rally Thursday. Speakers presented four demands:
- to reopen and fully fund the government
- to protect federal jobs, protect paychecks and protect benefits
- to reinstate laid off and fired federal employees
- to reinstate federal workers' collective bargaining agreements
The government has been shut down since Oct. 1, due to Congress' failure to pass a budget for the federal government.
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