In September, we asked you to tell your legislators to avoid a government shutdown by reaching a funding agreement for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. At the last moment, they passed an extension that would fund the government and avoid a shutdown until November 17. Although that short-term deal kept the government open, we knew that fight to pass funding bills for FY 2024 would continue and extremists would resurrect harmful proposals that violate the funding agreement between Congress and the President.
And we were right. Here are a few examples of what extremists are proposing and the impacts on our union’s core values:
Our Collective Bargaining Rights –
- An amendment to prohibit the use of funds to implement or enforce a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that provides workers with an easier path to unionizing when employers violate labor law in a union election.
- An amendment to reduce funding for the NLRB by 66 percent, which would force major staff lay-offs and slow union elections at a time when there has been a 23 percent increase in petitions for the board.
- An amendment to prohibit the acting Secretary of Labor from accessing any funds.
Our Safety, and Health –
- Amendments to eliminate funding for Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
- An amendment to prohibit the use of funds for the Mine Safety and Health Administration to finalize, implement, or enforce the proposed silica rule that would prevent more miners from suffering from debilitating and deadly occupational illnesses by reducing their exposure to silica dust.
- An amendment to prohibit funds from being used to finalize, implement, or enforce the proposed rule that requires nursing homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid to meet specific nurse staffing.
Our Job Security –
- Cuts funding for International Trade Administration by 10 percent. These cuts would allow countries like China to undermine American jobs, delay timely reviews for industry, and undercut the targeted waiver processes we fought so hard for the Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs.
Domestic Economic Issues –
- Cuts funding for Federal Work-Study, eliminating work-based assistance to 660,000 students nationwide.
- Eliminates the Women in Apprenticeship & Nontraditional Occupations program.
Our Retirement Security –
- An amendment to reduce the salary of the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to $1.
- Decreases CMS administrative funding by over 20 percent, causing at least 40 percent longer wait times for approximately 24 million beneficiaries that reach out to the Medicare call center annually.
- Cuts funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA) by $183 million.
We cannot allow these extremists in the House to cause a government shutdown. It’s time for them to be responsible and honor the budget agreement they made in May. Stay tuned to Rapid Response in the coming to see how you can hold them accountable.
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