"Our Calling is Now" to End the Government Shutdown

As she accepted the 2019 AFL-CIO Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major for Justice Award on Sunday, AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson called on conference activists from across the labor movement to come together to address the government shutdown.

"Our calling is now," Nelson said. "There is a humanitarian crisis unfolding right now for our 800,000 federal sector sisters and brothers who are either locked out of work or forced to come to work without pay due to the government shutdown. These are real people who are facing real consequences of being dragged into the longest shutdown in history. No money to pay for rent, for childcare, or a tank of gas to get to work."

Nelson urged union members not to sit on the sidelines. "Don't wait for an invitation," Nelson said. "Get engaged, join or plan a rally, get on a picket line, organize sit-ins at lawmakers' offices."

For more information on how you can support efforts to end the shutdown, visit https://www.afge.org/take-action/campaigns/stop-the-shutdown.

AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson and other CWAers joined union members, workers affected by the shutdown, and other allies, packing the Hart Senate Office Building on Wednesday to call on Senators to end the shutdown.