Bartering is an everyday practice for members of the ITEX network, a way to trade goods rather than trading money for goods.
The ITEX network makes it easy to find the goods and services you need and trade ITEX dollars for them.
But government workers are people who are not generally used to bartering for goods and services. But that’s exactly what the U.S. Government’s Office of Personnel Management suggested that some federal workers do during the partial government shutdown, CBS News reported.
More than 800,000 government workers are furloughed and are entering a second week without pay, and some are worried about being able to meet financial obligations like paying their rent if the partial government shutdown continues long-term.
So the Office of Personnel Management provided sample letters to furloughed workers if they can’t pay their rent on time, suggesting that they would be willing perhaps to barter handyman services in exchange for rent money.
“I would like to discuss with you the possibility of trading my services to perform maintenance (e.g. painting, carpentry work) in exchange for partial rent payments,” the letter says.
The Office of Personnel Management also suggests that renters ask their landlords for a temporary partial rent reduction for the duration of the government shutdown.
The partial government shutdown entered its 22nd day at midnight on Saturday, making it the longest gap in American government funding ever. The previous record of 21 days was under President Bill Clinton in 1995.
There have been 21 full or partial government shutdowns since 1976.
1981, President Ronald Reagan ordered the furlough of 241,000 government employees, and the two-day shutdown cost taxpayers between $80 million and $90 million, The New York Times reported, including administrative costs associated with figuring out who could and couldn’t work and paying workers who didn’t work. Shutdowns in 1984, 1986 and 1990 cost taxpayers an estimated $128 million.