Brian Bryant, International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), has called on Congress to take bipartisan action to prevent a government shutdown. The IAM Union represents 600,000 members, including tens of thousands of federal employees and contract workers.
Bryant emphasized the importance of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans to reach a temporary funding agreement. “The IAM strongly urges a bipartisan funding solution, which should be negotiated in good faith to reach a solution between both Democrats and Republicans to offer a temporary funding measure and avoid a shutdown,” Bryant said.
He also criticized recent statements from the White House regarding potential mass firings of federal workers during a shutdown. “The IAM also strongly condemns the White House’s threat to use a shutdown as a means to justify illegally firing scores of federal workers. Threats of such an action are unjust and cruel to civil servants, many of whom are Veterans who have already sacrificed and given so much to our great nation,” Bryant stated.
Bryant noted that federal workers play key roles in areas such as food inspection, social security administration, air traffic control, TSA operations, and military service. He argued that these employees should not be used as leverage in political disputes: “Federal workers should not be treated as political pawns in such a fight. These civil servants are so crucial for our nation, from our food inspectors, to social security, air traffic controllers and TSA agents, and even to the military personnel we depend on every day to keep our nation moving forward.”
The IAM Union includes thousands of federal workers represented by its affiliate organization, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), which covers about 110,000 federal employees nationwide.
Bryant further highlighted that private sector contract workers who support government functions may suffer more during shutdowns because they often do not receive back pay once government operations resume: “Government shutdowns are even more destructive for our private sector federal contract worker membership, who work alongside federal employees and perform equally essential work for our nation and often do not get any backpay at all after a shutdown ends.”
