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MSPCA tries to help government workers caught in Trump shutdown
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Is there a program to help children?
I would like to donate diapers and things to help government workers with babies.
Yes! I've been trying to find
Yes! I've been trying to find a place to donate pet food to for this exact cause—I'm a pet owner and my guy east before me always, and I know I'm not alone with that.
To be clear,
this is for workers' pets, not the workers themselves. Things aren't that bad, yet.
"Let them eat Science Diet!" —Marie-Antoinette
The BSO...
... has also taken notice and is offering two free tickets to any performance to furloughed gov’t workers, starting today & going through the 29th.
https://www.wbur.org/artery/2019/01/16/boston-symphony-free-tickets-gove...
The BSO can't even offer
The BSO can't even offer their give their part time employees flu shots or health insurance. They limit a large chunk of their stuff to less than the threshold for the MassHealth employer insurance mandate. Kind of important when they exposed a large number of employees to asbestos and lied to the staff and OSHA about it.
Yet they have money to give away to government employees?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
When money gets tight
I always buy food and litter for my cats before I start thinking about feeding my own fat ass.
Thanks for sharing
Dollar Tree and other dollar stores
Have very reasonably priced pet food and supplies.
These folks are entitled to collect unemployment and will recieve back pay when they go back to work. I might also add: federal workers are well paid with good benefits including a pension. I should know; I work for the federal government. Essential, so wasn't furloughed.
Well, aren't you special, then
Yes, you're right, the furloughed workers will get their pay back. But that's not going to do much for them right now.
Do you have enough savings to tide you over for an extended period should you lose your job? Then again, you're vital to the war effort, or whatever, so you don't actually have experience going without a paycheck.
ALL federal workers?
I wonder about the people who clean the toilets at national parks and places like that. Are they "well paid" too?
lol yeah feds are well paid
lol yeah feds are well paid with good benefits when you're a GS9, 10, 12.... TSA agents are making like 17.00 an hour when they ARE getting paid. There's a reason there's a push for a 15$ minimum wage - that's considered bare bones to be able to feed your kids. So 17, 18, in the metro Boston area? (Because the agents don't get free airport parking, remember). If you're a single parent or, as happens commonly in federal service, married to another fed, missing that paycheck can eat into your savings right fucking quick.
if you're currently working, albeit unpaid, you can't file for unemployment. backpay isn't gonna matter when you've missed your mortgage payment, the bank doesn't GAF.
and a pension has shit all to do with it?? it's not like you're allowed to tap into it like you can the TSP and get a loan out for whatever amount of time. and even if you could, oh right, a big chunk of OPM and the HR bureaucracy is furloughed, so good luck with that.
Contracted furloughed workers
Contracted furloughed workers will not get back pay.
It's not definite
It's not definite that they will receive back pay. I think it generally works out for them, but it's not a done deal.
Also, unemployment only gives you a percentage of your wages. They don't take any taxes out of it. So those on unemployment are getting a fraction of what they are paid and then while trying to live on those fewer dollars, stand to get whacked by the IRS at a later date over money they couldn't set aside for taxes. Screwed in both directions.
Unemployment kind of sucks - especially for those living paycheck to paycheck.
You can choose to get both
You can choose to get both state and federal taxes taken out so you don't get whacked at the end. People might choose not to b/c unemployment does not give you a lot but it's not worth bypassing the taxes (I received $612 a week after taxes and that was after 25 years of working and never using unemployment before...it was a shocker to me!).
Reasonably priced but
Reasonably priced but potentially filled with harmful chemicals and ingredients that may result in higher vet bills due to illness and death.
Curious
In my previous DoD experience, even essential workers weren't paid. We just had to work.
if your agency is shut and
if your agency is shut and you're essential, you're not getting paid even if you're working.
some agencies have funding and are operating as per normal, many of which - like the VA - have almost all/most employees considered 'essential' due to the nature of their services.
what does a pension have to do with it?
or do you expect some of your "colleagues" (p.s. I don't believe you work for the federal government), to simply enter retirement as a viable option for dealing with the shutdown?
Not a pension, probably not a government worker
Also Federal workers under 50 or so do not get a pension. They get a TSP