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Fort Hood Civilian Workers to Feel Effects of Sequester

Flickr, Virginia Guard Public Affairs http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaguardpao/5533101175/

Across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration are about to have more effects in Central Texas.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Tuesday that his department has cut all it can on the military side and that any more would affect readiness, so Hagel says the time has come for civilian defense department workers to take unpaid days off: mandatory furloughs.

Cheryl Eliano is President of the American Federation of Government Employees chapter whose members work at Fort Hood, near Killeen.

“We don’t need to do one day of this furlough, not one day," Eliano told KUT News. "There are other ways that they can look into our budget to cut. They do not have to do this.”

Sec. Hagel says most federal employees will have to take one unpaid day off a week, starting July 8.

Trey Shaar is an All Things Considered producer, reporter and host. Got a tip? Email him at tshaar@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @treyshaar.
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