President Trump promised during his campaign that strengthening the military would be his No. 1 priority. He said that he’d create “more jobs and better wages,” and that under a Trump presidency, “the American worker will finally have a president who will protect them and fight for them.”
Where I live and work in northwestern Pennsylvania, people listened. We honor those who serve, we need more jobs and better wages, and we’d certainly like a president who will fight for us.
But right now, the president who made those promises seems to be missing in action.
{mosads}Since June of 2011, I’ve worked in Northwest Pennsylvania as a Family Assistance Center Specialist for the Army National Guard. FACS, as we are known, help service members and their families deal with life situations so that they are ready to serve their country. We help veterans handle financial problems like mortgage foreclosures, rent arrears and utility cut-offs. And most importantly, we connect people with the help they need to deal with mental and emotional crises, including substance abuse and suicide.
FACS find ways to help. When service members, veterans and their families don’t know where to turn, they turn to us.
This past February, our company’s contract expired and we were laid off — something that had never happened before. Like me, 477 other FACS across the nation were employed by a private business under contract with the Department of Defense. The layoff was tough for us, but even tougher for military families, who no longer had anyone to turn to for help in emergency situations.
On March 9, after almost a month of furlough, I got the call from the company that had been awarded the new contract. Under the previous contract, I had been making $20.87 per hour. The voice on the other end of the phone was offering me my job back at a new wage: $12.25 per hour.
At that point I was so stunned, I couldn’t say anything beyond “are you kidding me?” I was expecting a pay cut, but not 41 percent. They were pressuring me to make a decision, but I said I had to talk to my husband. We ran the numbers and figured out that it would amount to $15,000 less per year.
The pay wasn’t the only consideration. Back in January, the armory I used to work at that was two blocks away from my house was closed. I would need to drive 40 miles to work every day. Between the pay cut, the hours spent driving, the wear on the car and money for gas, I could work at Sheetz or a local grocery store and be money ahead. I called them back and declined the job the next day.
I wasn’t the only one. Out of 13 FACS in Pennsylvania, five of us quit. Some of the ones who remained were single parents who didn’t have a choice.
To make matters worse, when the job I’d declined was posted, the pay was listed as $13.48. In other words, the contractor was willing to pay a brand-new employee $1.23 more per hour than a person who’s spent the past six years in the job and who has 30 years of experience in social services work.
I contacted the company, and they offered me my old position at the higher rate. I’m considering it, because I loved my job and the people I served. I never would have left had the pay cut not been so drastic. I’m not expecting to earn a lot of money — I just want a fair wage.
Ultimately, the biggest losers will be our military families.
I’ve been there for families when their loved one has been killed in action. I’ve had veterans confide in me that they’re thinking about ending their own life. I’ve had military members roll up their sleeves and show me where they were cutting themselves as a way to cope with their pain.
Strengthening the military isn’t just about having the most high-tech airplanes and the best body armor. It’s about serving the people who serve. It’s about providing separating service members with connections in their community and giving military families the tools they need to thrive. It’s about fighting for the veterans who fought so hard for us.
As a nation, we depend on federal contractors to do all of this. Yet in his first 100 days, President Trump has rolled back living wages and other protections for federal contract workers. That’s not just a slap in the face to those workers — it’s a slap in the face to all of the military members, veterans and families who rely on us for support.
I’m not sure what I’ll do next, but I know what President Trump should do. He should create more jobs and better wages, and he should fight for American workers and American military families. He should keep his promises. Pennsylvania families are waiting.
Dorothy Staub is a Family Assistance Center Specialist with the National Guard based in Erie County, Pa.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.