WHEREAS, President Trump and a majority of Congressional Republicans refuse to pass legislation funding a number of agencies in the federal government without an additional $5 billion to build an unnecessary wall along the US-Mexico border; and

WHEREAS, funding for those agencies began to run out in December of 2018 as a consequence, resulting in a partial shutdown of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, this shutdown is a significant hardship for many federal workers as they are forced to go without pay and many federal services; and

WHEREAS, the union representing these workers, the American Federation of Government Employees, has called for the passage of long-term spending bills to reopen the government and provide a 1.9 percent pay raise for federal employees this year; therefore be it

RESOLVED, the United Federation of Teachers supports AFGE’s demands and urges Trump and Congressional Republicans to withdraw their absurd and offensive insistence on funding for an unnecessary border wall.