Members of the Reno/Sparks Chapter of the IBEW 1245 Retirees Club protest at the Reno office of U.S. Representative Mark Amodei on Oct. 16.

Members of the Reno/Sparks Chapter of the IBEW 1245 Retirees Club made their voices heard at the Reno office of U.S. Representative Mark Amodei on Oct. 16.

The retirees were part of a labor-sponsored protest calling on Congress to reopen the federal government.

The protest, sponsored by the Nevada AFL-CIO, came a few hours before Congress finally acted to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. Failure to raise the debt ceiling, economists warned, could have left the U.S. unable to pay its bills and precipitated a global financial crisis.

The debt cushion now extends through February 7, with current spending levels being authorized through January 15.

The 16-day partial government shutdown, spearheaded by House Republicans seeking to overturn the Affordable Healthcare Act, came at a steep cost. Standard and Poor’s estimated it took $24 billion out of the economy. The possibility of a debt default spooked investors on Wall Street and hiked interest rates.