SEIU’s Verrett: Working people made clear throughout the shutdown that healthcare is a priority – we won’t back down now

Issued November 09, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC - Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President April Verrett released the following statement today after the Senate took a procedural vote clearing the way to end the government shutdown:

"I'm proud of how working people showed up across the longest government shutdown in our nation's history to demand that Congress protect affordable healthcare for every American. But unfortunately, Republican leaders showed that they would rather jeopardize people's health and punish federal workers than make billionaires pay taxes.

Now that the shutdown is ending, federal workers will get paychecks again. But this weak deal is no cause for celebration. Millions of working families of all backgrounds will now see their healthcare costs skyrocket as ACA tax credits expire. Federally contracted workers are still not guaranteed backpay.

We won't back down until Congress takes action to resolve our healthcare crisis and ensures that every federal worker receives backpay. Working people don't fold - we fight forward."

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