A group of federal unions have undertaken an effort to keep the Pentagon from imposing 11 furlough days set to begin next week for about 650,000 employees. The temporary unpaid leave days are inspired by the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration and are predicted to save the Defense Department $1.8 million. The coalition of 20 labor groups is calling on their members to agitate Congress to give the Pentagon more budgeting flexibility. The eleven furlough days are down from the original 22 that the Pentagon stipulated necessary to meet its budget.
See "Federal worker unions make push to stop Defense furloughs", Josh Hicks, The Washington Post, July 1, 2013