By Barb Arland-Fye
Editorial
Some 150 veterans, federal workers and others rallied outside the Davenport office of U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks during rush-hour traffic March 6, protesting mass layoffs of federal probationary employees nationwide. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is slashing the federal workforce to root out waste and inefficiency but the process is devoid of mercy, a core teaching of the Catholic Church. One of the rally participants carried a sign that read, “We are hard working Americans, not waste or fraud!”
Miller-Meeks represents the First District of Iowa, which has 7,000 federal employees — nearly one-third of the 22,000 federal employees in Iowa. The district includes 16 of the 22 counties of the Diocese of Davenport. Nationwide, employees dismissed or facing dismissal come from the Internal Revenue Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, the Agriculture Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency among other agencies, the Associated Press reports (https://tinyurl.com/4sjtu6sw).
Reuters reports that about 25,000 workers from the 2.3 million federal civilian workforce have lost their jobs and another 75,000 have taken a buyout. Reuters said the VA plans to cut more than 80,000 jobs to return the agency to 2019 staffing levels, citing a memo that the VA Chief of Staff sent to senior agency officials (https://tinyurl.com/mr98uhua).
Federal employees “underpin every part of our economy and public safety,” Jennifer Sherer of the Economic Policy Institute and one of the rally’s speakers told The Catholic Messenger. “This is not just a union issue. It’s not just a federal employee issue,” Chad Finch, vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2119 told the rally participants. As he pointed out, the mass layoffs affect all of us — either through our relationship with the affected employees or the services they provide and that we depend on.
Six of the 2,000 employees at the VA Hospital in Iowa City have lost their jobs, said Pat Kearns, a registered nurse at the hospital and president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2547. The hospital serves around 60,000 patients. Reducing staff and expecting more out of existing employees or contracting out to less-experienced employees will increase the risk of errors, he believes. Reorganization is the responsibility of Congress, Kearns said.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Economic life is … ordered first of all to the service of persons, of the whole man, and of the entire human community” (no. 2426). Shouldn’t we, as faithful citizens, raise objections to President Donald Trump, Miller-Meeks and other Congress members about a method of reorganization that is not “ordered first of all to the service of persons” …?
Nearly 40 years ago, our nation’s bishops issued a seminal document, “Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy.” Among the letter’s points especially applicable today: “The pursuit of economic justice takes believers into the public arena, testing the policies of government by the principles of our teaching. We ask you to become more informed and active citizens, using your voices and votes to speak for the voiceless, to defend the poor and the vulnerable, and to advance the common good” (No. 27, https://tinyurl.com/9h4tsech).
Pope Francis reminds us, “The dignity of each human person and the pursuit of the common good are concerns which ought to shape all economic policies.” Shouldn’t elected members of Congress be shaping economic policy rather than an unelected business leader with no legislative experience?
The Iowa City Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, Quad City Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, and AFGE Local 2547, sponsors of the March 6 rally in Davenport, urged participants to contact Miller-Meeks (millermeeks.house.gov, 202-225-6576, 563-232-0930) to “stand up for Iowans.”
As Catholics committed to our faith and teachings, that is our duty as well. Begin with prayer, followed by reading “Economic Justice for All.” Then contact Miller-Meeks, other members of Congress (congress.gov for contact information) and President Trump (whitehouse.gov). Remind them that reorganization is the responsibility of Congress and that our faith teaches us that our economy serves the people; the people do not serve the economy.
Barb Arland-Fye, Editor
arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org
