United States: the government shutdown is a bipartisan attack on workers – where are the labor leaders?

The US federal government “shut down” last Wednesday night after a deadlock in Congress over the latest budget proposal. Around 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed—temporarily laid off—while those deemed essential will be forced to work without pay until lawmakers come to an agreement.

Trump and his Republican House majority blame the Democrats for the disruption, while cynically scheming to use the “shock and awe” moment to impose permanent layoffs on the federal workforce. This comes on the heels of 300,000 DOGE job cuts earlier this year. Trump’s henchman at the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, said the shutdown was an opportunity to “trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way.”

Congressional Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, are equally cynical and betting the standoff will help their prospects in next year’s midterms. With the party polling at 35-year lows, and a 59% majority of registered Democrats saying they disapprove of their party’s role in Congress, the House minority calculates that this is their chance to show voters they are “taking a stand” against Trump.

Is this fight about “healthcare”?

The government shutdown was triggered when the spending bill failed to pass in the US Senate. Democrats opposed the bill primarily due to proposed increases in Obamacare healthcare premiums. Under Senate rules, 60 votes are required to overcome a filibuster and end debate on legislation, which the bill did not receive.

In a video message together with Bernie Sanders, AOC said:

We need to stand up for our healthcare system. And if they want our votes, they need to make sure that we’re protecting every American, and making sure that we can do what we can to continue to make healthcare accessible, affordable, as we work to make it a human right for all.

Bernie chimed in, “Remember, right now our healthcare system is broken. We’re the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people. And these guys want to make it even worse.”

The US healthcare system is, indeed, in shambles. Despite spending nearly 18% of GDP on healthcare, it’s the only OECD country without universal coverage. Americans have the lowest life expectancy of any advanced nation—three years below the OECD average.

But in the mouths of Democrats, this is a cynical trick. Neither capitalist party advocates for socialized healthcare. The liberal “progressives” point the finger at the “bad guys” who “want to make it even worse,” but this only hides the fact that both parties defend the private insurance monopolies that control the healthcare system in this country.

An estimated 50% of what the US spends on healthcare is funded by taxpayer dollars that ultimately end up in the pockets of healthcare capitalists. A study from Yale School of Medicine found that large healthcare corporations spent 95% of their income—a total of $2.6 trillion over the past two decades—on shareholder payouts.

Sanders’s and AOC’s liberal rhetoric is merely warmed-over lesser evilism / Image: Senate Democrats

The 25 largest healthcare companies made $130 billion in profits last year. If Congress were to extend the subsidies Democrats are demanding, it would cost an estimated average of just $35 billion per year over the next decade.

If AOC and Sanders really wanted to fight for universal healthcare, then instead of propping up the Democrats with the same tired “lesser evil” arguments, they would argue for nationalizing the healthcare sector and launch a party capable of doing it—an independent mass party of the working class. The establishment of such a party would strike terror in Congress. Instead, Sanders’s and AOC’s liberal rhetoric is merely warmed-over lesser evilism: “what we have may not be good, but those guys want to make it worse.”

Nobody speaks for the working class

At the moment, most American workers are tuning out the obnoxious political theater in Washington. Congressional fights over spending bills frequently become a game of chicken in which both sides attempt to shift the blame and shape the debate. But now that the shutdown is underway, it could have serious effects on workers’ lives and risks tipping the already frail economy into a recession.

As communists, we have only contempt for both ruling parties, which use the livelihoods of federal workers as political pawns. We oppose the mass layoffs and cuts to social services that will flow from this shutdown, just as we oppose the attacks handed down from the federal government during “normal” times when Congress agrees on their austerity measures.

But above all, we must point out the deafening silence from the leadership of the American labor movement. Mass firings have already decimated the workforce—particularly public sector workers, who are unionized at much higher rates than the private sector. What are the labor leaders doing about it? Where are the calls for mass resistance, workplace occupations, and strikes to defend workers’ livelihoods? Where are the street rallies and marches to build broader class solidarity and showcase the incredible power of the organized and mobilized workers?

Ronald Reagan’s infamous attack on the 1981 PATCO strike was a watershed moment in the decades-long decline of the American labor movement. Instead of striking when Reagan fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers, the labor leaders rolled over. Their weakness invited decades of ruling-class aggression, whittling down the ranks of organized labor. Today’s labor leaders are standing aside in the face of attacks that make the crushing of the PATCO strike look relatively minor in comparison. Their response has been one of criminal silence.

Today’s labor leaders are standing aside in the face of attacks that make the crushing of the PATCO strike look relatively minor in comparison / Image: Reagan Presidential Library, Wikimedia Commons

The overwhelming majority of the population is working class. But this social force with immense potential power is being stripped of its voice due to a cowardly absentee leadership. Liz Shuler is the head of the AFL-CIO—yet who has ever heard of her? When has Shuler ever called a press conference to put forward demands or even just a working-class perspective? When has the AFL-CIO stepped up to announce a plan for fighting the onslaught of attacks on the US working class?

This demoralizing paralysis is especially stunning at a time when both parties are suffering historic levels of unpopularity. Trump’s approval rating sank to -18 last month, with his approval when it comes to the economy and inflation plunging to -22 and -34 respectively. Meanwhile, working-class anger is on the rise. Public support for unions has held steady around 70% for the past five years—all while labor leaders have staged a decades-long disappearing act.

Lessons from the last shutdown

The last time the government shut down was in December 2018. At that time, the Democrats drew a “line in the sand” by opposing funding for Trump’s border wall. Not that they opposed spending on “border security,” as such—Democrats were happy to approve money for drones, surveillance, and militarized border personnel. But they calculated that digging in against Trump’s wall would score political points. They’re attempting to do the same with the issue of healthcare today.

The ensuing shutdown stretched into January 2019 and lasted 35 days, making it the longest in history. Then, like today, hundreds of thousands of federal workers were denied paychecks, but were still expected to pay rent and other bills. As their situation became desperate, workers found ways to fight back. In late January, some 3,800 TSA workers staged “sick-outs.” They were joined by protests among air traffic controllers—some of whom were driving Uber after their unpaid shifts, just to get by.

In this context, one of the few labor leaders to show a spark of a fighting spirit captured national attention. On January 20, 2019, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (Communications Workers of America), made a defiant speech calling for a general strike to end the shutdown. That week, the sick-outs at La Guardia airport in New York City intensified, causing flights to be cancelled. It was this threat of a serious class-struggle response that forced Trump to reopen the government on January 25.

As we explained at the time:

Nelson’s call for a general strike shook the ruling class. The American capitalist class has not heard language like that from a trade union leader in a long time. Most of the trade union leaders spend their time telling the workers to obey the capitalist labor laws and argue that labor is weak and has no choice but to accept whatever the bosses are offering.

In reality, organized labor has enormous potential power and could become a beacon for unorganized workers. However, to achieve this, it requires a leadership ready to fight the bosses with class-struggle methods … If Nelson campaigned with this perspective against the current AFL-CIO leadership team—even if she lost the election—she would win in the long run by helping to create a militant labor movement that would eventually and fundamentally transform American life.

The deep dissatisfaction in the ranks of labor has been building up for years with no organized outlet to express it. Someone like Sara Nelson could channel that mood, but only if they are willing to break with the pro-capitalist outlook of the AFL-CIO leadership and organize a class-struggle current to steer the labor movement onto a militant path. Unfortunately, there’s no sign of any such initiative from Nelson, UAW President Shawn Fain, or any other labor leader.

During the 2018–19 government shutdown, Nelson made a defiant speech calling for a general strike. This threat of a serious class-struggle response forced Trump to reopen the government / Image: AFGE, Wikimedia Commons

The AFL-CIO has issued a milquetoast appeal for its members to call Republican congressional leaders to register their complaints: “The labor movement’s message to the administration and their allies in Congress is clear: Get to work. Fund the government. Fix the healthcare crisis. And put working people first.” Not a mention of mobilizing its 15 million dues-paying members—let alone any hint at strike action.

As for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), which declined to step forward and lead the workers’ resistance efforts in 2019, their leadership has made clear that their priority in the current shutdown is to prevent the workers from fighting back. They posted a notice on their homepage warning workers in no uncertain terms:

NATCA does not endorse, support, or condone any federal employees participating in or endorsing a coordinated activity that negatively affects the capacity of the NAS, or any other activities that undermine the professional image and reputation of the people we represent. Air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals take their responsibility to protect the safety of the flying public very seriously. Participating in a job action could result in removal from federal service. It is not only illegal, but it also undermines NATCA’s credibility and severely weakens our ability to effectively advocate for you and your families.

With the experience of the last shutdown fresh in their memories, the labor leaders’ message to workers is clear: “don’t get any ideas!” This is a shameful dereliction of duty by those who are supposed to be leading the workers in an irreconcilable fight against the bosses. Instead, they are collaborating with and doing their dirty work for them.

US workers deserve better leadership

There is a gaping contradiction between the immense potential power of the working class, and the pathetic conservatism of its leaders, who refuse to lift a finger.

A workers’ leadership worthy of the name would be sounding the call for an almighty fight back and taking practical steps to ensure victory. As an example, they could convene workplace assemblies in every industry to prepare immediate strike action to bring the economy to a halt. They could defeat the threat of layoffs by responding to the government shutdown with a workers’ shutdown of all transportation, production, distribution, services, energy, and communications. Trump and both parties in Congress would be forced to retreat immediately.

Instead of crouching in fear, a class-struggle leadership would expose the weakness of the Trump regime. The president’s every move is aimed at distracting the public from his own failures, particularly on the economy. This is the sole motivation for his deployment of National Guard troops in cities like DC, Memphis, and now Portland, Oregon, where small scattered youth protests have “interfered” with the administration’s ICE raids.

If uncoordinated groups of young people can disrupt Trump’s full-press deportation campaign, just imagine what a mass, centralized mobilization of the labor movement could achieve! The Portland-based Northwest Oregon Labor Council unites over 100 locals across 36 industries. Even if they mobilized just a fraction of their ranks, they could send Trump’s ICE goons and the National Guard packing. This was proven in 2020, when Trump deployed the National Guard in 30 states to confront the George Floyd demonstrations. Far from carrying out an authoritarian clampdown, the troops were overwhelmed by the mass of protesters who dominated the streets.

The recent string of military deployments have been even more farcical, with DC locals christening them “national gardeners,” since the troops have been assigned to “beautification missions” such as picking up trash and planting flowers. While the liberals and their media outlets sound the alarm over “fascism” in a hysterical attempt to scare up votes, the labor leaders echo their messaging while offering no fighting proposals to mobilize their own forces. As a result, Trump has a free hand to continue his intimidation tactics, while eviscerating the federal workforce.

The Revolutionary Communists of America are building the nucleus of a very different type of working-class leadership. A class-struggle current within the unions would be the backbone of an audacious fight back, starting with the kind of effective workplace actions that successfully defeated the last government shutdown.

We reject the cynical propaganda and political posturing of both major parties and propose a class-independent solution: Instead of cutting jobs and services, slash the ICE and military budgets! Instead of lesser-evil rhetoric over cuts to Medicaid, expropriate every monopoly in the insurance and health sector and guarantee quality healthcare to all! Instead of being forced to choose between two evil twins, build a mass workers’ party!

Organized and mobilized workers can defeat Trump and Congress. A victory in this fight will lead to other victories for labor and will replenish the ranks of the unions with fresh forces ready to take on the bosses. The labor leaders must set the date and prepare for a one-day general strike, as a first step toward turning back these attacks!

Once the working class gets a taste of its enormous potential power, once it’s provided with a class-independent leadership and a class-struggle program, a new era of history will open.