Federal Union Leaders, Nurses & Others Meet with Senator Angus King to Discuss Social Security, Postal Service, Healthcare Cuts and Other Threats to Federal Workers & Services
On Monday, members of Metal Trades Council, postal workers (APWU 458), letter carriers (NALC 92), nurses (MSNA), social security claims specialists (AFGE 1164), VA workers (AFGE 2610) and others met with Senator Angus King at the Portland Jetport to discuss threats to federal workers and key federal programs and services like Social Security, the VA, the Postal Service, Medicaid and more.
Threats to Social Security
Social security workers Denise York and Sophy Chan of AFGE 1164 expressed frustration about all of the new directives coming from Washington that come without warning or guidance. They said often they don’t find out about the changes until the media reports them, such as a recently rescinded plan to cancel a decades-old program that allows parents to register their newborns for a social security number while at hospitals.
The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration admitted this week that he only did it because he was “ticked” at Governor Janet Mills. The AFGE 1164 members said the SSA is already at a 50-year low in staffing due to underfunding. The SSA’s elimination of whole departments and pressuring experienced employees to leave has caused workloads to increase and delays in processing benefits.
AFGE Local 2610 Acting President Chris Mace expressed alarm about a leaked Department of Veterans Affairs memo planning a reorganization including cutting 83,000 positions at the agency. This week, Togus offered jobs back to the six probationary employees who were fired by DOGE thanks to a judge’s order declaring the firing unlawful.
AFL-CIO Vice President Grant Provost speaks with Senator King Monday.
Airline Security
Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Bill Reiley, Maine chair of AFGE Local 2617, explained to the Senator how Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem eliminated the contractual agreement between airport screeners and the Transportation Security Administration that was signed last year. He said TSA workers are feeling “stressed out, frustrated, angry and feeling hopeless.” He thanked Senator King for co-sponsoring S-977, a bill that would give TSO them full workplace rights and protections that most other workers enjoy.
Hiring Freezes at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Metal Trades Council President Alana Schaeffer told King that despite official statements that shipyards like Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are exempt from hiring freezes, there are still hiring freezes in effect at the yard. She said apprentices who signed contracts agreeing that after two years and the completion of all of their apprenticeship requirements they would get pay raises, have not received wage increases. She said workers who are completing master mechanic requirements in four years are also not receiving their promised raises.
In addition, Schaeffer said that the yard has not been able to hire people to replace the 114 employees who took Elon Musk’s “fork in the road” buy out offer. She noted that the shipyard had 500 applications in the pipeline for jobs and are ready to be interviewed, but can’t be done because of the hiring freeze. She noted that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has expanded from a three to five dry dock facility and needs to hire 550 employees a year to maintain a large enough workforce to do the work.
“We have 200 applicants who were supposed to be interviewed last month for our apprenticeship class, but have just been pushed to the wayside and are probably going to find other jobs,” she said. “We have employees who have made it all the way through the hiring process that they have already picked up their families from other states, moved here and been told, ‘sorry your job offer has been terminated.’”
Schaeffer added that she is concerned about efforts to privatize the shipyard and pointed out that PNSY completes jobs for a quarter of the time and money as a private shipyard in Virginia.
Alana Schaeffer with Michael Crouse of the Professional Firefighters of Maine.
USPS Privatization & Low Staffing
Postal workers with APWU 458 warned Senator King about efforts to privatize the US Postal Service, noting that the multinational financier Wells Fargo is circulating a document in the banking industry highlighting the major profits that investors could make if the USPS was privatized. As the AP reports, the plan would entail selling off the most profitable parts of the postal services like packages and parcels while leaving taxpayers on the hook to cover the rest. It notes that the Postal Service generates nearly $80 billion in revenue that could otherwise go to Wall Street investors.
“Parcel could be carved out and sold or IPO'ed” to Wall Street investors, the report states.
The report also suggests private interests would raise prices by as much as 140 percent, claiming “…we believe raising prices would be likely, which would be positive for [USPS competitors] FedEx and UPS. In order to stand alone and earn a reasonable return we estimate USPS would need to raise prices by [about] 30-140 percent across its product lines.
The Wells Fargo report also recommends selling off, leasing or otherwise profiting off of community Post Offices in prime real estate locations.
“Unlocking [about] $85b of Real Estate Can Underpin the [privatization] Process,” the report states.
“We’re supposed to be a break even entity and rural post offices won’t show a profit and those will be the post offices that close,” said APWU 458 President Scott Adams.
NALC 92 leaders said mail carriers are continuing to struggle with low staffing because entry wages are not high enough to recruit and retain employees. Currently, NALC is in the process of negotiation a national collective bargaining agreement after its membership rejected the ratification of the tentative 2023-2026 National Agreement with the USPS in January, which many attributed lackluster pay raises.
Medicaid Cuts Threaten Rural Health Care
Nurses from the Maine State Nurses Association gave powerful, heartfelt testimonies about the recent budget resolution that passed the US House calling for up to $880 billion or more cuts to Medicaid over a decade to pay for massive tax cuts for the rich. They noted that 400,000 Mainers utilize MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program. 70 percent of nursing homes are paid for by MaineCare. Nurses have been raising the alarm for years about low-staffing levels in hospitals, but they said further cuts could put more rural hospitals out of business. Most recently, Northern Light announced the closure of Inland Hospital in Waterville, while Maine General is planning mass layoffs next month and MDI Hospital recently announced the closure of its obstetrics department.
Freezing Federal Infrastructure Projects
Rep. Kilton Webb (D-Durham), an organizer with IBEW 567, spoke about the importance of defending the Inflation Reduction Act [IRA] and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. He noted that IRA has made major investments in solar energy in the state. Kilton shared his story of working on those projects, buying his first home from that work and the importance of the clean energy transition. He urged Sen. King to do all that he can to protect the IRA. He noted that the Administration was freezing federal funding for various projects in Maine including a project hat was supposed to employ 80 of his members. He said the actions of the President are creating uncertainty for developers and putting jobs in jeopardy.