Warner fights to protect federal workers

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined 14 Senate colleagues to unveil the “Five Fights for Federal Employees,” a proposal to protect current and retired government workers from ideologically motivated attacks.

“So many of our federal employees go above and beyond the call of duty every day to keep the government running, usually with little recognition and less fanfare,” said Sen. Warner. “We owe it to them to keep our promises. I will strongly oppose any efforts in Congress or by the Executive Branch to diminish the value of their service or deny federal workers access to the fair pay, benefits and protections they have earned.”

The Senators introduced a resolution with a statement of principles that the Senators intend to use to fight back against recent attacks on the federal workforce. These principles include a commitment to defend fair pay and earned benefits, oppose the erosion of essential protections that ensure the professionalism and independence of the civil service, and prevent the outsourcing of essential government functions to private contractors.

A number of prominent labor unions and organizations supported the proposal, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), National Weather Service Employee Organization (NWSEO), and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

In addition to Sen. Warner, Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Al Franken (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) cosponsored the resolution.

Full text of the resolution is available here.