Federal employees protest sequestration at Warren TACOM

WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) - Federal employees are protesting across-the-board budget cuts, known as sequestration. They rallied outside the U.S. Army Detroit Arsenal at Warren's TACOM at 11:30 am.

Over 100 rallies are planned today to battle sequestration. It's a mass demonstration planned by the American Federation of Government Employees.

"Our message is very clear: Sequestration has got to go," AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. said. "If federal employees are furloughed without pay, if offices and plants are shut down, if vacancies aren't filled because of these across-the-board budget cuts, then federal employees won't be able to do the work that the American public expects them to do."

Americans for Tax Fairness and the Alliance for Retired Americans helped coordinate the protests.

"The goal is to demonstrate to lawmakers and citizens that there are real consequences to the massive budget cuts called for under sequestration," Paul Veselenak, president of AFGE Local 1658, said in a press release. "In addition to the direct cuts in service delivery, furloughing more than a million workers across the country will have a trickle-down effect on local businesses."