The Trump Administration continues to lay-off federal employees whose work doesn’t align with the President’s priorities as outlined in a string of executive orders.
This week, the President is directing agencies to cut career positions in addition to the probationary workers who’ve been laid off over recent weeks. Meanwhile, a union representing federal employees filed a lawsuit last week against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
The American Federation of Government Employees is saying the Trump Administration’s recent string of lay-offs was made on false pretenses and violates federal law.
The lawsuit, filed alongside the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the United Nurses Association of California alleges that the Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to use a standardized termination notice that falsely claimed staff were not adequately performing their duties.
“Normally, layoffs would come through the federal agencies and the heads of these agencies would be getting with their teams and making determinations on how many and what departments to cut from if needed," said Mario Campos, the National Vice President of the union’s District 12 office, which represents federal employees on the West Coast. "However, this time around that whole process is being bypassed by the White House.”
The lawsuit also says that new hires and staff who transition into new positions—including through promotions—are under probationary status. The unions allege that OPM is exploiting and misusing the probationary period to eliminate staff across the federal government.
The unions are asking for a stop to future terminations and to rescind previous termination orders.
