For Immediate Release: October 17, 2013
Contact: Ron Ault, President, Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO
202-341-2036
Who: Portsmouth Naval shipyard employees
What: Rally and protest against continuing sequestration cuts and other issues affecting federal workers
When: 3pm, October 17, 2013
Where: Prescott Park (rally) marching to Market Square
Why: The government shutdown and sequestration cuts threaten the stability of our workforce and their abilities to do their jobs effectively.
Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, President Ron Ault issued the following statement today following end of the government shutdown.
We are happy to see the working men and women we represent return to their various workplaces – the Naval shipyards, nuclear facilities and Department of Defense installations throughout the nation after the end of the shutdown last evening.
The government shutdown was a deeply flawed and irrational attempt by the extreme right wing in Congress to overturn the Affordable Care Act and to force our government to default on its debt. Their intransigence nearly decimated our economy, weakened our national security and hurt millions of working families across our nation.
And still, the biggest losers in this ongoing battle continue to be our federal workers and contractors, who are still suffering under the draconian sequestration cuts that remain in effect. The extremists continue, because of sequestration, to destroy our government’s ability to do its job.
Our Metal Trades Councils will continue to hold our political leaders accountable for their decisions. That’s why, today Portsmouth Shipyard employees and other affected federal employees will rally to protest the ongoing government cuts.
The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, is a department comprised of multi-union industrial operations in the private and federal sectors, including Naval and private shipyards, nuclear facilities, DOD installations and petrochemical plants.