On Tuesday Teamsters gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. with fellow public sector unions to say in one voice that federal employees are fed up and are rising up!

“We’re tired of workers being targeted for political reasons,” said Jason Rabinowitz, Teamsters Public Services Director. “Workers who serve our country every day should be treated fairly.”

From the government shutdown earlier this year to continued attacks on federal workers’ ability to collectively bargain and exercise their right to union representation, federal employees have continued to be caught in the middle of political fighting in the nation’s capital.

The Teamsters were joined by hundreds of other union members inside and outside the federal government, including members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and many, many more. One of those workers was AFGE Local 3331 President Nate James.

“We have to tell people to lift their voices, we can no longer let our silence hold us in fear of speaking in the workplace,” James said. “We have to stand up, speak up; we have to rise up.”

They were also joined by members of Congress, like Senator Sherrod Brown (D – OH), who addressed the crowd of union members as they enthusiastically chanted his name.

“You can’t care about workers individually unless you care about workers collectively,” Brown said. “You can’t love your country and say you’re for workers, and then attack unions.”

The Teamsters represent nearly 2,000 federal employees across the country, mostly on military bases where members serve their nation with dignity, pride, and patriotism. The Teamsters will continue to stand with the selfless public servants who serve their nation day in and day out.

 

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