Volunteers in Juneau are offering free lunches for federal employees who were furloughed when the government shut down on Oct. 1. So far, more volunteers than furloughed workers have attended.
On Thursday afternoon, half a dozen volunteers laid out sandwich fixings, bags of chips, muffins and homemade pumpkin bread at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building downtown.
Chad Millen prepared a turkey and cheese sandwich and sat down at a foldout table with his two young daughters. He was furloughed from NOAA Fisheries, where he works as an IT specialist on a system that tracks commercial fishing catches.
Millen said he saw the shutdown coming.
“It’s like the game of chicken, and you’ve got the two cars driving towards each other,” he said, referring to the two political parties in a gridlock. “They’re both acting crazy, expecting the other side to yield, and we’re passengers in the car, and so that’s what it feels like, is, you know, it’s not really about you, but you’re in the middle of it.”
Millen said his division at NOAA recently joined the National Federation of Federal Employees, or NFFE. Coming to lunch is a good opportunity to learn more about the labor union.
Millen was one of just two furloughed workers who attended lunch Thursday.
Eric Antrim is the recording secretary for NFFE Local 251 and one of the free lunch volunteers. He was furloughed from the U.S. Forest Service, where he manages bridge inspections across the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. He said his last paycheck came on Oct. 10.
“We’ve got a lot of members that are paycheck to paycheck,” Antrim said. “This next paycheck that we’re going to miss, I think that’s when, you know, maybe a baloney sandwich starts to sound a little bit better than it did last Monday.”
Antrim said they hosted one other lunch so far this year, last Monday, but only a few furloughed workers came.
NFFE Local 251 represents nearly 500 U.S. Forest Service employees across Alaska. Antrim said that 330 of its members are furloughed, according to data he obtained from human resources.
He said the volunteers plan to keep providing lunch and a space to gather for federal workers on Mondays and Thursdays until the shutdown ends.
Correction: Eric Antrim manages bridge inspections across both national forests in Alaska, not just the Tongass.
