WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘I Voted For Him, And He’s The One Who’s Doing This’
January 8, 2019
Hundreds of thousands of workers do not know when they will get their next paycheck because of the Trump Shutdown. Workers blame Trump, and despite his lies, they don’t support his shutdown.
Here are real stories of workers hurt by the Trump Shutdown:
“I hate the shutdown. … it’s starting to take a toll on everybody at work.” – Federal worker
“I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this. I thought he was going to do good things.” – Federal worker
“It feels like I’m a hostage, and it really hurts to see cruel comments about how people are ‘glad’ the government is shut down.” – Federal worker
“I do not like being spoken for. The president doesn’t know my position on the shutdown and should not assume my support.” – Federal worker
“I have a hard time believing that someone who’s been a millionaire since childhood can relate to having your family’s income taken away and with no notice.” – Federal worker
“You still have to go to work, you still have doctor’s appointments you have to get to, and gas costs money, and food costs money, so we were stressing.” – Military spouse
“It’s one of those times when it does have a real impact, and it’s an impact that’s going to affect my landlord, and the rest of my family, and other extended members of my family as I try to find a solution to this.” – Federal worker
“So when something like this happens and you’re not going to get your next check, it’s like okay, what do I do? I’ll have to make a tough choice between paying my utilities or going and buying groceries for the next two weeks.” – Federal worker
“We have mortgage payments. We have car payments. We have credit card bills, utilities, and we also have child care. So with half of our income gone, it’s very concerning.” – Federal worker
“When you’re trying to raise a family, adjusting isn’t an option. When you went to go to work for the Justice department with the kind of the thought you’re going to get paid every week, every two weeks. Your paycheck will be consistent. And it’s turned out not to be.” – Federal worker
“The feeling of uncertainty is hard… because you have to be strong for your kids.” – Federal worker
“If they don’t get paid, then their loan does not get paid, which puts them in a past-due or delinquent status.” – Democracy Federal Credit Union president
“You’re just playing catch-up for the rest of the year. You’re going to be in debt for a while.” – Federal worker
“We’d just like to get back to work. We’d like to take care of the people.” – Federal worker
“We saved most of the money we used for the occasion, but we had a discussion at length about returning half of what little we had actually purchased. It was a stressful discussion, to say the least. I had to reassure her that there were alternative ways to get a little money to hold us through.” – Federal worker
“If I’m not paid on Jan. 11 and I spend zero dollars on gas or groceries between now and then, I will run out of money to pay bills on Jan. 18 and will have to break into the emergency fund. It’s a bunch of uncertainty and stress that is not welcome. … It feels like I’m a hostage, and it really hurts to see cruel comments about how people are ‘glad’ the government is shut down.” – Federal worker
“I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don’t know where funds to maintain my regular bills will come from. And I’m working, so I can’t go out and find other employment to fill the holes.” – Federal worker
“Our family will have no income if the shutdown drags on for a long period of time as my husband and I are both employed by the federal government.” – Federal worker
“It is entirely within the president’s power to end the shutdown, but he is a coward and petty tyrant who likes to talk tough.” – Federal worker