Federal Workers Organize to Counter “Deferred Resignation” Memo

In the wake of a January 28 government memo titled “Fork in the Road” encouraging federal workers to resign their positions, and mounting warnings of mass layoffs (including the threat to lay off over 10,000 US Agency for International Development workers), unions and their members are increasingly going public. A union-backed demonstration is planned for outside the Capitol on Tuesday, February 11.

This upcoming demonstration follows a two-week whirlwind of activity. On January 28, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent more than two million federal workers a so-called “deferred resignation” email memo offer, with a deadline of February 6, as part of an effort to reduce the size of the federal workforce. In theory, workers agreeing to deferred resignation would get full salaries and benefits until September 30; however, sample federal agreements indicate that agency heads can unilaterally rescind the deal, making these federal promises less than ironclad.

A union-backed lawsuit questioning the legality of the entire scheme was rapidly filed in federal district court in Massachusetts. In response, US District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. issued an order on February 6 that extended the deadline until February 10, when the judge will hold a hearing on the merits of the case.

“This is so legally dubious….[There is] no legal authority for anything they are doing there.”

How are workers themselves responding to this tumult? To find out more, NPQ interviewed two federal workers: One is co-president of an independent federal union local, based in California; the other works for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, DC, and serves as a shop steward for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) local. Both asked to remain anonymous for this story.

Unions Respond in Real Time

Federal workers and their unions are, by the numbers, a formidable force. All told, as of the end of 2023, over one million federal workers (about one-quarter) were union members and almost one-third had union contracts. The AFGE is by far the largest federal union, with over 800,000 members organized into more than 900 locals across the country. This makes the federal government one of the more highly unionized sectors in US society.

How are unions and workers responding in the present moment? Both workers interviewed by NPQ noted that emergency union local meetings were held shortly after the memo was issued. The California union local leader noted, “We were sitting in a staff meeting when we got the email. We called an emergency meeting for the local. We talked about how this is so legally dubious and how there was no legal authority for anything they are doing there.”

The January 28 memo may be getting most of the press attention, but it is not the only memo workers have received.

The AFGE member said reactions in his workplace to the memo varied. Most of the receptiveness, he said, came from people who were about to retire. For the rest, the response was a mix of “anger, confusion, derision, and a desire to stick it out and keep our jobs.”

At the meeting held by his local, the AFGE shop steward indicated that there was an extraordinary “influx of new members,” and that “the president and OPM have recruited for us.” One of the messages coming out of the meeting, he emphasized, was one of ownership and solidarity, that “the union isn’t something that is separate from people. We are each the union.” He added “I think we will have a lot more participation in meetings going forward.”

Not Just One Memo

The January 28 memo may be getting most of the press attention, but it is not the only memo workers have received, the California union local leader told us. “Every day we’ve been getting new emails with new information,” she explained. As she noted, the appearance created by daily memos and so many changes “has all of the markings of a scam.”

For example, this union local leader related that it was only on February 4 that an agreement was sent out, “two days before the deadline.” The following day, an updated agreement was sent out.

One of the major questions, she added, concerns the fact that funding for federal agencies is presently under a continuing resolution that expires on March 14. It’s unclear how the federal government can legally promise to pay salaries to workers taking deferred resignation through September 30, when spending is not authorized past mid-March. The union’s legal complaint in federal court also raises this issue.

Internal Organizing

Ultimately, the strength of a union comes not from the courts, but from its members. Both union activists we spoke to indicated that organizing their own membership has been a core priority. The California local leader noted that the national union has been sending out daily emails to communicate with members: “Our union has been active, I would say. This is definitely a new level of engagement with membership.”

The AFGE member also expressed a hunger to see more local mobilizing. “Part of what I want to be involved in is getting more local grassroots action. Things like informational pickets.” Federal unions cannot go on strike, but, he noted, “We can form a picket line and say this is what is going on.…Those are some of the collective actions we can take.”

He added, “We can fight every single little thing if we get the collective buy-in to do that. That’s what we need to be working on. The big unions are more focused on the bigger picture stuff, but I think it will be important to marry that with more rank-and-file stuff.”

Ultimately, the strength of a union comes not from the courts, but from its members.

Both union members highlighted the importance of the February 11 rally. The union local president noted that, “We really need allies to come out and show up. It is a public event. We really need people to show up.”

The AFGE shop steward agreed, saying that the rally would be “a good chance for a mass show of solidarity—federal workers, DC workers, and private sector workers can all come together and say we do not like what is going on. None of this should be happening. We need our lawmakers to step in and protect the public and public services.…I really want that to be a model action.”

Broader Stakes

Federal employees may be on the front lines, but both workers argued that the impacts will extend far beyond the federal sector. The California union local leader noted that the federal government is considered a model employer; as a result, any declines in worker standards for federal workers are very likely to lower the bar for all workers.

“What [Elon] Musk and [President Donald] Trump are doing is sending a message that no workers should expect to have stability in their job or good benefits. That is what they are doing right now by targeting federal workers.”

The AFGE shop steward who works at HUD noted that his agency’s work is “directly tied into civil rights laws” such as fair housing laws. It is “very important those [laws] get enforced,” he said. Because civil rights enforcement is really a partnership of nonprofits and the federal government, there is a high degree of interdependency: “If one goes away, the other goes away and there is no protection.”

Allies can support federal workers through advocacy, he emphasized. “There are lists of how many federal workers there are in each district. You can find out how close elections were in purple districts and contact the legislators.” Federal workers can do some advocacy too, “but we need other people saying it.”