美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Whatever It Takes': Government Workers Apply For Unemployment As Shutdown Drags On

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Federal workers have missed paychecks for the first time since the partial government shutdown started over three weeks ago. Now thousands are doing what once seemed unthinkable - applying for unemployment benefits. WAMU's Patrick Madden reports.

PATRICK MADDEN, BYLINE 1: Inside an auditorium 2 in a Maryland suburb of D.C., federal workers and their supporters gathered a few days ago to protest the shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history. Labor 3 activists 4 stood on stage to belt out a Woody Guthrie tune 5, as many in the audience sang along.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing) This land is your land.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing) This land is my land. From...

MADDEN: But in the back of the room, it was hard not to notice a group of women wiping tears from their eyes. Michelle, a federal employee of more than 30 years, is getting tips on how to apply for unemployment.

MICHELLE: I show up to work. I do a good job. I'm doing everything a responsible adult is supposed to do. And all of a sudden, it's all blowing up, and I don't know what else to do.

MADDEN: Michelle, who doesn't want to give her full name for fear of retribution, says she can't believe she's found herself in this position.

MICHELLE: This is the first time in my working life I am going to have to go to my creditors 6 and say, I don't know how to pay you. And it's embarrassing.

MADDEN: Since the shutdown began, thousands of federal workers and contractors 7 have applied 8 for unemployment. Officials expect that number to increase as people feel the pain of missing paychecks. And it's already starting to show at an unemployment office in Washington, D.C. One by one, government employees walked in. They signed their names and waited to get their claims processed.

STEVE: It's depressing a bit to - you know, to be unemployed 9.

MADDEN: Steve, who also doesn't want to use his full name for fear of retribution, says he left a better-paying job in the private sector 10 to work for the federal government.

STEVE: The reason that I chose a public sector job was the stability of the whole thing.

MADDEN: Steve says another big selling point was the sense of mission.

STEVE: You know, trying to make the world a safer place. And it's like - I don't know - might as well just go make some money somewhere else, I guess.

MADDEN: The federal government says this shutdown will cost at least $50 million a day in lost wages and productivity. And that's not just D.C. Eighty-five percent of federal workers live outside the Washington region. But there are hidden costs, too, that go beyond money, says Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation 11 of Federal Employees.

RANDY ERWIN: Who in the world's going to want to work for the federal government when people are not able to fill prescriptions 12, are bouncing checks, ruining their credit?

MADDEN: And their eventual 13 unemployment checks will likely be far less than what they were making. And these claims take time to process, and bills can add up. And for federal employees who do receive unemployment, they'll have to reimburse 14 the money when Congress gives them back pay. But federal contractors don't get back pay from the government. Some of them are janitors 15 or cafeteria workers, like John Woodson. He spent 30 years working low-wage jobs at federal buildings. He arrived at the D.C. unemployment office unsure of what was next.

JOHN WOODSON: Might have to wash some cars or go back to detailing, whatever it takes - wash some windows - whatever it takes to, you know, put food on my table, you know?

MADDEN: You're here today to hopefully start receiving some unemployment benefits.

WOODSON: Hopefully. You know, who knows? He might got a way of putting the freeze on that, too.

MADDEN: The he, of course, is President Donald Trump 16, who has said, without money for the border wall, the government will not be reopened, leaving these workers feeling like there's no end in sight. For NPR News in Washington, I'm Patrick Madden.