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CLEVELAND (WJW) – As the federal government shutdown entered its tenth day Friday, 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.”
Federal government funding expired on September 30, leaving more than two million employees nationwide either working without pay or furloughed. Pearson said the instability is taking a toll on working families.
“You don’t know if you can count on the next paycheck,” he said. “It hurts working families — if they’re worried about putting food on the table, they can’t move their families forward.”
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.”
As the standoff in Washington continues, federal workers across Northeast Ohio remain caught in the middle — uncertain when they’ll see their next paycheck or return to normal operations.
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Melissa Reid
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