Employees Stage Office ‘Work-In’ : Budget: Federal workers are angry at being furloughed by impasse. ‘We’re not a poker chip,” union chief says.

Expressing frustration over the federal government shutdown and the strain on furloughed workers, about 100 government employees Tuesday staged a “work-in” at a Baltimore Social Security Administration office.

Chanting slogans--”Congress, we want to work!”--the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1923 reversed the normal bargaining practice of withholding labor by urging its members to report to their jobs. The furloughed employees arrived at the Woodlawn headquarters building at 9 a.m. as though it were just any other business day.

“There’s no reason our people aren’t working,” said John W. Gage, president of Local 1923. “There’s no point in this so-called shutdown. We’re not a poker chip or a chit to force people to do one thing or another over in Washington.”

Since Dec. 16, when Congress and the White House failed to pass a budget, about 280,000 federal employees in nine Cabinet departments and several agencies have been ordered home as parts of the federal government shut. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that unless the budget impasse is resolved, it would furlough 93% of its 2,700 employees Jan. 15. Some agencies are still at work because their budgets have been approved. It was the second time in two months that workers deemed “nonessential”--those with nonemergency responsibilities--have been furloughed.

Gage, who coordinated the demonstration at the Social Security Administration’s headquarters building in Baltimore, said that the workers met in the auditorium before they were ordered to leave by managers and security guards. The group left peacefully about an hour after it arrived. Police reported no incidents.

“We have no quarrel with the management at Social Security,” Gage said. “Any blame we have can be shared by the Congress and the White House. I would guess that most of our members, however, blame the House Republicans for holding out” on a budget deal.

He said workers became outraged “when Congress recessed last week without resolving this. Well, that’s what set us off.” Congressional leaders have indicated that furloughed workers eventually will be paid for the missed days.

Kitty Peddicord, a spokeswoman for the union’s national headquarters, said that besides concern about their salaries and the paperwork piling up in their absence, union workers are fearful of being targeted for any layoffs that might occur in the future.

“The frustration of those not being allowed to work is off the Richter scale,” she said. “They know that when they go back to work the demands are going to be even more than they were when they left.”

So many members called on the union to do something, Gage said, he felt compelled to act. “They have a sincere desire to get back to work,” he said. “So I told them, let’s just go back to work and see what happens.”

While few union officials expected that the workers actually would be allowed to perform their jobs, since federal law prohibits employees from working without pay, they thought that the demonstration would allow members an emotional release. Another “work-in” is planned for Saturday at a federal government office in downtown Baltimore and, if Congress has not resolved the matter, a third is being planned for Tuesday.

“People want to do something to express their anger and frustration,” Gage said during an interview from his Baltimore office. “We just don’t understand this situation and why we’re involved in it.”

About 6,000 of the 13,000 Social Security Administration workers in Baltimore--the largest concentration of Social Security employees in the country--have been furloughed, including those in support roles, policy and budget jobs. Those dealing directly with the public--about 7,000 in the Baltimore area--processing applications and claims are still on the job. Gage said most of the furloughed workers participating in the “work-in” earn salaries between $15,000 and $20,000 a year and many have told him that they have mortgage deductions and health benefits paid directly from their paychecks.

There were no discussions Tuesday between the White House and Congress on resolving the budget deadlock. But staff-level talks are to resume this afternoon, according to White House spokeswoman Ginny Terzano.

“There’s nothing going on here today. Zilcho,” Terzano said.

She said lawmakers and senior administration staff are scheduled to resume meeting on Thursday. Those talks will include House and Senate Budget Committee leaders Sens. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and J. James Exon (D-Neb.), Reps. John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) and Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn.), White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Alice Rivlin and Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin.

On Friday, President Clinton is scheduled to meet with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). No time has been set for the meeting.

Times staff writer John M. Broder contributed to this story.