Cleveland Workers Rally as Shutdown Reaches Second Week
As the federal government shutdown entered its second week, federal workers, union leaders, and local lawmakers gathered in front of the Federal Building in downtown Cleveland, calling on Congress to end the stalemate.
“It’s an incredibly uncertain time,” said Brian Pearson with the North Shore AFL-CIO, which represents 80,000 workers across 150 local unions. “This is the biggest attack on unions in history, and we are in the middle of it.”
Congresswoman Shontel Brown, who represents Ohio’s 11th Congressional District and serves on the House Oversight Committee, also attended the rally.
“I’m calling attention to the recklessness of the current administration — this is their shutdown,” Brown said. “Specifically in my district, about 38,000 people will be adversely impacted.”
Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga joined Congresswoman Brown in urging Congressional Republicans to return to Washington to re-open our government and protect tens of millions of Americans from skyrocketing healthcare costs.
"Like many Americans, we are tired of the political games being played with the livelihoods of our federal workers. If Speaker Mike Johnson is truly sincere in his remarks that we need to protect millions of Americans from either losing their healthcare or having premiums spike, then he should call his caucus back to D.C. to work with Democrats and end this unnecessary shutdown," said Burga.