‘Worst time’ to be a federal employee: Workers wonder if the shutdown is worth their sacrifices

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jessica Sweet spent the federal government shutdown downsizing. To make ends meet, the Social Security claims specialist drank only one coffee a day, skipped meals, cut back on grocery consumption, and put off paying some household bills. She racked up spending on her credit card to buy gas to get to work.

Read more: From lost wages to canceled flights, the government shutdown will impact an already struggling economy

With the longest shutdown on record looming, Sweat and hundreds of thousands of other federal workers who have missed paychecks will soon get some relief. But many feel their livelihoods have been political pawns in the fight between recalcitrant lawmakers in Washington, and wonder whether the fight is worth their sacrifices.

“It’s very frustrating to go through something like this,” said Sweet, a union steward for AFGE Local 3343 in New York. “It shakes the foundation of the trust we all place in our agencies and in the federal government to do the right thing.”

The shutdown began on October 1 after Democrats rejected short-term funding reform and demanded that the bill include an extension of federal support for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Its end came when eight senators allied with Democrats agreed to a deal to fund the government without extending the expiring subsidies.

Read more: The lockout is over, with no winners and a lot of frustration. How did we get here?

Federal workers deeply felt the effects of the shutdown

The shutdown created a series of problems for many Americans. Throughout the shutdown, at least 670,000 federal employees have been furloughed, while about 730,000 others have been working without pay, according to the bipartisan Policy Center.

The plight of federal workers was among several pressure points, along with flight disruptions and food aid cuts, that ultimately increased pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal to fund the government.

Throughout the six-week shutdown, officials in President Donald Trump’s administration repeatedly used federal workers as leverage to try to get Democrats to back down on their health care demands. The Republican president indicated that workers who do not receive their salaries will not receive their wages. He threatened and then pursued layoffs in a federal workforce that was already reeling from layoffs earlier this year. The court then blocked the closures, adding to the uncertainty.

Read more: Trump signs government funding bill, ending a record 43-day shutdown

The deal that puts an end to the shutdown would undo layoffs that have occurred since Oct. 1, while also ensuring wages for federal workers left in doubt by the Trump administration. The bipartisan agreement provides funding to reopen the government, including food assistance for SNAP and other programs.

Frustration with the lockdown and how it was ended
But the shock of the past six weeks, coupled with concern that the longest lockdown on record may not be the last they face, has rattled much of the workforce.

“Stress and hunger are great ways to shock people,” Sweet said.

Read more: What’s in the Senate shutdown deal?

For Sweet, the frustration is only compounded by the feeling that she was betrayed by Democratic-aligned senators who broke with the party over health care subsidies.

She said she realized that many workers were desperate for a salary. But she believed that standing firm on the issue of health care support was worth her sacrifice.

“There are other federal employees who understood what we were standing for and they are very unhappy that that line was crossed and that trust was violated,” she said.

Ready to get back to work

Adam Pelletier, a National Labor Relations Board field examiner who was placed on leave Oct. 1, said he’s glad the settlement includes rehiring the laid-off workers, but “the agreement that was reached almost looks like a Charlie Brown cartoon where Lucy grabs the football and pulls it out of them.”

Pelletier, a union leader for NLRBU local 3, had prepared financially for the shutdown in March when it became clear that a funding agreement likely would not be reached between Democrats and Republicans. He says the shutdown made him feel “like a pawn” because federal employees had no say in their fate.

He watches: Federal workers are struggling without pay as the long shutdown begins to affect more Americans

Federal workers who spoke to The Associated Press had one common message: that they were reeling but ready to get back to work.

“This was the worst time of my 20 years as a federal employee,” said Pittsburgh IRS employee Elizabeth McPeak, senior vice president of Chapter 34 of the National Treasury Employees Union. She said colleagues had to beg their landlords to stop collecting rent payments and relied on food banks during the lockdown.

“A month without pay is a long time to go,” McPeak said.