Federal Workers to Hold Public Actions in Multiple US Cities on Wednesday

Three weeks after a January 28 memo titled “Fork in the Road” encouraged federal workers to accept “deferred resignation” and leave their positions—and one week after a union-backed demonstration held at the Capitol—federal government union members are gearing up to hold demonstrations in cities across the country on Wednesday, February 19. Organizers are calling the coordinated events Save Our Services Day of Action.

The demands…are clear: no cuts to vital services; no mass layoffs: respect union workers’ contracts; and end the funding freeze.

This effort comes on the heels of an unsuccessful legal case. A union-backed lawsuit had questioned the legality of the entire deferred resignation scheme. Initially, US District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. issued an order on February 6 that paused the program and effectively extended the deadline for workers to respond to the offer until February 10. But ultimately, after hearings on February 10, O’Toole permitted the Trump administration to go forward with the deferred resignation offer. In his ruling on February 12, O’Toole did not determine whether the program was legal but contended that the unions lacked standing to pursue their legal claims.

Undeterred by this legal setback, workers and unions are seeking to build a broader network of support. The demands motivating the upcoming demonstrations are clear: no cuts to vital services; no mass layoffs: respect union workers’ contracts; and end the funding freeze.

Ongoing Workplace Pressure

Paul Osadebe is a federal attorney and shop steward in the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union. He spoke on the record with NPQ but said he was speaking as an individual and not in his government or union capacity.

Osadebe described the tense atmosphere at work: “They will tell you that you are safe but you’re not safe. You may get an email at 12:38 am telling you that you are fired. Or sometimes in the middle of the workday you’ll lose access to your computer, and they’ll escort you out.” In such circumstances of radical uncertainty, he noted that it is difficult to be an effective public servant—in other words, to do your job.

“They will tell you that you are safe but you’re not safe. You may get an email at 12:38 am telling you that you are fired.”

Similarly, another worker told WBAL in Baltimore, “It’s like a dystopian novel right now. We don’t know when the assaults of emails are going to come. We definitely feel like we’re being pushed out, and we know that if we’re not around, people will not get what they need.”

Taking the Protests National

At the same time, holding events to build public support remains important. One key message Osadebe and other union members hope is generated by this week’s national protests is that the federal government does not just exist in Washington, DC. Maintaining federal employment and stable public services, he said, “is a nationwide problem with nationwide effects.”

Osadebe noted that there are local organizing committees across the country and each local committee is free to choose its own form of action. As of press time there were over 30 Save Our Services events planned nationwide, including in Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, New York, Dallas, and more. Some demonstrations, Osadebe indicated, will happen in front of Tesla dealerships to highlight Elon Musk’s involvement; others will happen in front of government buildings.

In Washington, DC, two events are happening on Wednesday. One will focus on the funding freeze, higher education, and defending science and will take place at noon in front of the US Department of Health and Human Services near the Capitol.

The second action will occur at 5:30 pm in front of the Space X building in Washington’s Federal Triangle district. As Osadebe puts it, the idea is to provide an open invitation for people in Washington, DC, to come after work and “join with federal workers and community” and communicate that “ordinary people want their services and will fight to defend them.

Organizing for the Long Haul

A lot of organizing work, Osadebe emphasized, is behind the scenes and involves “helping [fired federal workers] get resources. Job banks, resume help.” Workers are also organizing a mutual aid event and mutual aid groups. Mutual aid, he noted, is “not charity. It’s people helping people so we can survive all the things that are coming.” 

The federal government does not just exist in Washington, DC.

“Right now,” he added, “we are trying to focus on organizing all the people that have been fired. We don’t want them to just leave the movement and think that everything is over and there is nothing that can be done.”

“We want people to come tell their stories and organize together to put pressure on the administration and Congress. To block all these illegal firings. To reinstate everyone and to actually fund our services that need to be funded,” Osadebe said. “That’s our goal for everyone.”