Union president calls Senate fiscal cliff bill ‘bad deal’

Federal Drive

Union president calls Senate fiscal cliff bill ‘bad deal’

William R. Dougan, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said Tuesday the Senate's fiscal cliff bill will lead to a political...

Michael O'Connell@moconnellWFED

January 1, 2013 5:01 pm

< a min read

Although the Senate worked late into the night Monday to reach a bipartisan solution to the fiscal cliff crisis, one federal union leader says the resulting legislation is a “bad deal” for federal employees.

“The most important federal workforce issue of our generation – sequestration – continues to hang over the head of federal employees throughout government,” said William R. Dougan, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees in a statement released Tuesday.

He added that the Senate’s plan fails to address the country’s borrowing limit, resulting in “another prolonged political standoff, leaving federal workers uncertain of whether they will have a job to come back to for a third time in two years.”

While the Senate bill does succeed in extending the “shared sacrifice from the wealthiest Americans,” Dougan said it doesn’t go far enough.

“If we are to maintain a government capable of serving the vital needs of its people, we must put a permanent end to the non-stop partisan brinksmanship that has brought us to the edge so many times,” he said. “Federal employees cannot continue to be a pawn in these political games.”