For Immediate Release: October 24, 2025
“A government that demands labor without pay isn’t leading its people — it’s betraying them.”
IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper issued the following statement on Day 24 of the government shutdown:
“Right now, 1.4 million federal employees, including thousands of IBEW members, are either being forced to work without pay, or are at home wondering when, or if, they will ever be paid or return to work at all. While these people, the true civil servants, stand in bread lines across the United States, President Trump is demolishing the White House to build himself a grand new ballroom. That contrast says everything about where America is headed unless we act now to stop it.
“Every day the shutdown continues, we risk normalizing the once unthinkable: Americans laboring for free under orders from the government. Once that becomes acceptable, we are no longer talking about a budget crisis, we are talking about a moral and existential one. A government that demands labor without pay isn’t leading its people — it’s betraying them.
“The IBEW has always believed that an honest day’s work deserves an honest day’s pay. When our own government orders people to report for work and then withholds their paychecks, it breaks the sacred trust between the worker and the nation they serve. And that broken promise harms every American.
“The IBEW stands with every federal employee and contractor left wondering how they will pay their bills, feed their family, and survive. Know that you are more than pawns in this game of political brinksmanship; you are America’s working class — the builders, the maintainers, the protectors. You are the true patriots, serving your country with honor, even as your country’s leaders fail to serve you.
“It is time for those in power to finally do what is right: reopen the government now. Pay every worker the wages they are owed. Show the world that America still honors its workers and still honors its word.”
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The IBEW represents approximately 873,000 members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads and government.