Workers protest outside SSA offices nationwide

Employees marched outside nearly 100 Social Security offices nationwide on Wednesday, according to a government workers union, to protest deep cuts -- including pay cuts and furloughs -- that officials warned would result from proposed budget reductions.

Legislation Congress passed to fund government for the rest of fiscal 2011 strips $1.7 billion from the Social Security Administration's $11.4 billion budget.

SSA officials said deep cuts will result in office and phone line closures, as well as furloughs of agency workers. The processing of claims, checks and disability appeals will take much longer, workers and union officials warned.

"As we await congressional action, we are doing what we can to minimize the budget uncertainties from interfering with your lives and work," SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue wrote in a Feb. 23 e-mail to administration employees. "We will do what we can to prevent furloughs caused by not having enough money to pay you. That strategy may mean tough choices like cutting back on or eliminating overtime and expanding the hiring freeze."

The agency could shut offices completely for a day or two at a time, or remain open and operate with a smaller staff, said Witold Skwierczynski, SSA representative for the American Federation of Government Employees. If offices close down, then the public won't have access to SSA services, while short-staffing would result in longer wait times, he said in a call with reporters on Wednesday.

SSA also will face additional furloughs, layoffs and possible office closings in fiscal 2012 if proposals to return to fiscal 2008 funding levels are approved, according to Skwierczynski.

Another AFGE official, Dana Duggins, estimated that SSA could lose as many as 8,000 jobs in the next two years.

"If furloughs take place, there would be a hiring freeze for this year, and we would be likely to lose about 3,500 [employees] for this year alone," Duggins said Tuesday in an interview with Government Executive. "If we go back to [fiscal] 2008 budget cuts for [fiscal] 2012, we would lose the staffing we'd gained since 2008. We're looking at another 4,500 next year."

SSA is offering an early-out option to employees thinking about retirement.

According to the Office of Personnel Management, Civil Service Retirement System workers who voluntarily take an early out will see their benefits reduced by 2 percent for each year under age 55 at the time of separation. Those under the Federal Employees Retirement System would not see a reduced annuity and would not be eligible for special retirement supplement payments until they reach the minimum retirement age.

According to Duggins, the goal of early-out offers is to reduce the size of the agency's workforce so fewer people are laid off. She noted it's not a popular option with workers, however.

"Typically, people are not leaving in droves when the economy is already suffering," Duggins said. "It's typically not something that is widely embraced, and the commissioner has offered it in the last few years."

SSA did not respond to requests for comment before publication.