On Nov. 29, Pres. Obama announced a two-year pay freeze for nearly
two million workers employed by the federal government. If it is
approved by Congress by the end of the year, the freeze will go into
effect Jan. 1.
This move comes amidst mounting right-wing
pressure to cut spending in virtually all sectors other than the
military. American Federation of Government Employees president John
Gage called the decision a “superficial, panicked reaction to the
deficit commission report.” (Washington Post, Nov. 29)
Federal
workers are being forced to pay for an economic crisis they did not
cause. The pay freeze is just one part of a larger effort to shift the
burden of the recession onto the working class. As long as the
capitalist system remains intact, the billionaire bankers and CEOs can
always count on government bailouts, and poor and working people will
have to wage a militant fight-back movement to defeat unjust austerity
measures.
