AFGE WINS BACK PAY FOR FURLOUGHED DOT EMPLOYEES

Union Praises Rep. Connolly for leadership in
Introducing the Bill

(WASHINGTON) – The American Federation of Government Employees
has successfully convinced the House and the Senate to pass legislation
that would compensate nearly 2,000 Department of Transportation
employees who were furloughed for two days because of blocked funding.
Yesterday, the Senate passed the bill, H.R. 4851, which also extended
unemployment insurance and COBRA health benefits, which was passed by
the House in March. President Obama signed the bill last night.
“Without this legislation, the employees would otherwise not be paid
for the time they were furloughed when the highway trust fund was not
reauthorized in a timely fashion,” said AFGE National President John
Gage. “This bill will ensure that the paychecks of the affected
employees are not reduced. AFGE applauds Congress for doing the right
thing.”
On March 1-2, 2010, DOT furloughed nearly 2,000 employees without pay
when funding for their jobs expired because of stalled legislation.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) blocked a bill that would extend unemployment
benefits and health coverage for unemployed workers and provide a
short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund, which support federal
surface transportation programs.
AFGE, which represents the 2,000 DOT employees and 600,000 others
government wide, praised Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.), for his
leadership in introducing the bill that would make sure the furloughed
employees get their full paychecks.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the
largest federal employee union, representing 600,000 workers in the
federal government and the government of the District of Columbia