by Nick Delgado

Guam - The passage of the federal government's Fiscal Year 2011 budget bill may have averted financial losses for federal employees, however concern is now being raised over Uncle Sam's Fiscal Year 2012 budget. American Federation of Government Employees president Manuel Cruz says they are worried, as the FY2012 federal budget proposal includes a five year federal pay freeze, health insurance rate increases, more than 200,000 job cuts nationally, and employee furloughs. Cruz says they have been holding teleconferences with the national office to identify what can be done to prevent these proposals from becoming a reality.

He said, "It doesn't look very nice for federal employees and that's what we are working, the good thing about it is here on Guam we are only looking at about 2 thousand federal employees so in a sense the impact will not be that great especially with the military buildup coming up."

Cruz says they are mobilizing their members to speak out to Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo and Senate members regarding their concerns.