The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO held an emergency legislative action meeting Thursday February 7, 2013, focusing on how to convince Congress to STOP sequestration and press Congress to pass a budget. “As dangerous as sequestration is, another continuing resolution worse,” said Metal Trades Department President Ron Ault.
If Congress cannot come to a bipartisan solution to avoid both a Defense Budget Continuing Resolution and sequestration the automatic and indiscriminate cuts will force the DoD to immediately layoff as many as 46,000 civilian employees. After March 15, another 800,000 civilian employees will lose 20 percent of their income to forced furloughs. And, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Economists predict that as many as 1 million jobs could be lost directly and indirectly over the next few years due to the cuts in shipbuilding maintenance and repair. With our economy just starting to recover from the great recession the cuts caused by another continuing resolution and sequestration will obliterate the gains we have made.
With most of our affiliates in attendance, or calling in via teleconference, the department has asked all of our affiliated unions to focus their resources on lobbying Congress on the effects of sequestration and the dangers of another CR on our federal workforce, our national security and our fragile U.S. economy.
Although sequestration provides short-term cuts and savings, delaying program acquisitions will actually raise the total cost of programs in the long run. This will mire us deeper in a fiscal hole.