October 27, 2025 | CINCINNATI, OH—I am urgently speaking out today on behalf of working people across this community and this state. Every day, people get up at dawn, punch the clock, care for their families, stretch every dollar in tight budgets, and still do everything they can to make ends meet. And now their own government is telling them there may be no food assistance in November.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s decision to suspend SNAP benefits in November during the federal shutdown is a gross act of callousness. This is not about budget line items. It is about working families, seniors living on fixed incomes, veterans, and children going to school hungry. The government’s choice not to use available contingency funds to keep SNAP running is a choice to let people go without food.

Let’s be clear. The millions of Americans who rely on SNAP each month did not choose this dependency. We, as a nation, built a system that required it. We built an economy that keeps wages too low, housing too high, and groceries too expensive. And then we told people to make up the difference with SNAP.

According to a nonpartisan Government Accountability Office study, Walmart and McDonald’s are among the top employers of federal aid program beneficiaries like Medicaid and food stamps. The question of how much taxpayers contribute to maintaining basic living standards for employees at some of the nation’s largest low-wage companies has long been a flashpoint in the debate over minimum wage laws and the ongoing effort to unionize these sectors.

Now, in one cold decision, the United States Department of Agriculture is saying there will be no November benefits. No plan. No time to prepare. No alternatives. Just a notice that the help you counted on to feed your children, your parents, your neighbors — may not come.

How can we allow this? How can a government that knows millions depend on this program simply pull the plug? These are not strangers to us. These are working people — the cashiers who ring up our groceries, the bus drivers who get us to work, the caregivers who look after our loved ones, the veterans who once wore our flag on their sleeve. They have done everything we asked of them, and now they are being told to fend for themselves.

In Ohio, more than 1.4 million people rely on SNAP. In Hamilton County, nearly 97,000 of our neighbors, including more than 43,000 children, depend on it. That means roughly $19 million each month flows into local groceries, farmers, truckers, store workers, and food producers. That money supports communities, jobs, and livelihoods. Taking it away hits hard.

The AFL-CIO and the Labor Movement have long said that SNAP is the first line of defense against hunger. It lowers poverty, improves health and learning outcomes, supports a productive workforce, and keeps our local economies working. These benefits are not optional. Cutting them under the guise of a political stalemate is unacceptable.

I call on the USDA right now to reverse this decision. Use all lawful funds necessary. Restore full SNAP benefits for November. Issue clear guidance to states and counties so families know they’re secure. And to Ohio’s congressional delegation — Republican and Democrat alike — the time to act is now. Pass clean legislation guaranteeing SNAP funding for November and until the shutdown ends. No games. No delay. Workers and their families cannot wait.

Local food banks, charities, and churches can help, but are not a substitute for federal commitment. They cannot fill a nearly $19 million hole in one county alone. This is about justice and public responsibility. In the wealthiest nation on Earth, let us never tolerate hunger caused by inaction. Let our government be the partner working families need, not the one that lets them down.

Brian D Griffin
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
Cincinnati AFL-CIO Central Labor Council