Many in the Bay Area woke up Wednesday bracing for what could be an extended government shutdown that began overnight, spurred by a deadlock on spending bills in the Senate.

Already, the effects are being felt.

When the shutdown started at 12:01 a.m., thousands of the region’s federal workers were furloughed and many government services ground to a halt.

MT Snyder, a San Francisco-based federal worker and member of the city’s union chapter representing employees at the National Labor Relations Board, woke up suspended from her job, per the board’s shutdown contingency plan. After going into work to set an out-of-office email response and cancel all upcoming appointments on her calendar, she said, she was no longer permitted to work.

For the NLRB, which ensures that private sector wor

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