Posts tagged Agriculture Department
Union warns Trump’s rapid changes for wildland firefighters will be ‘disastrous,’
June 27, 2025 // The Forest Service said no full-time wildland firefighters were removed from their jobs as part of the Trump administration’s workforce reductions. But as wildfire season ramps up, the Forest Service is now asking 1,400 former employees with “red cards” — or those who are qualified wildland firefighters despite it not being their main job title — to come back to their jobs temporarily to help with response needs. In the meantime, NFFE is opening the doors to more feedback from its membership to better understand the pitfalls and the opportunities of consolidating the federal programs.
Court Rules Trump Move Ending Federal Worker Union Contracts Is ‘Unlawful’
April 27, 2025 // While preliminary, the injunction is significant because it could help to maintain worker protections enshrined in the contracts and enable covered workers to file grievances via processes laid out in them. Most of the nation’s more than two million federal employees are represented by unions. The ruling could also lead to the restoration of dues collection from members, which the NTEU says bring in $25 million annually. That is because follow-up guidance on Trump’s original executive order from the Office of Personnel Management stated that agency resources “should not be expended to facilitate payment of union dues.” Labor groups have filed dozens of legal challenges to Trump’s executive orders, which have led to pauses in firings of some federal workers who lost their jobs as part of the administration’s efforts to reduce government bloat.
Employees swarm to second ‘deferred resignation’ offer, though some are receiving unexpected responses
April 15, 2025 // Employees across the department had until April 8 to opt into the program. Widespread layoffs are expected shortly, followed by relocations into new hubs around the country. USDA has implemented a heavy pressure campaign to motivate employees to accept the extended paid leave offer as it seeks to minimize the number of employees it must lay off through reductions in force. Employees received as many as 20 emails from HR, agency leadership and their own supervisors during the week the DRP window was open encouraging them to take advantage of the offer. “We were being peppered like hot wings before grilling,” one employee who received the email barrage said.