AFSCME, UNAC/UHCP and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) sued the administration to stop the mass firings of probationary federal workers and give fired workers their jobs back.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last week ordered federal agencies to begin firing employees in their probationary period, which is usually the first one or two years of their employment. Up to 200,000 federal workers could be affected.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a San Francisco federal court, alleges that the federal workers were illegally fired. Their termination represents “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country,” according to a press release sent by the unions.
The plaintiffs include AFSCME, AFGE, AFGE Local 1216, and the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP, AFSCME).
AFSCME President Lee Saunders said the termination letters cited “performance issues” without any explanation or reasoning.
“These mass firings are yet another unlawful attempt by this billionaire-run administration to gut public services without regard for the health and safety of our communities,” Saunders said. “Federal workers are qualified professionals who make our nation stronger — supporting our schools, parks, hospitals and vital infrastructure.
UNAC/UHCP represents employees who were fired at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Loma Linda, California, which provides primary care and specialty health services, including mental health care, to U.S. veterans. Their termination comes at a time when health care facilities across the country are already short-staffed.
Charmaine Morales, a registered nurse and the president of UNAC/UHCP, said the mass firings are a reckless act that may cost lives.
“New hires are crucial as our country continues to face nurse staffing challenges,” she said. “Indiscriminately firing these nurses, who are essential to the care their units provide, could truly cost lives.”
The lawsuit says the firings were based on false pretenses and violate federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act. OPM acted unlawfully by directing federal agencies to use a standardized termination notice falsely claiming performance issues.
Congress, not OPM, controls and authorizes federal employment and related spending by the federal administrative agencies, and Congress has determined that each agency is responsible for managing its own employees, according to the lawsuit.
“We will keep fighting these attacks on their freedoms that threaten everything from food safety to national security to health care,” Saunders said.
AFSCME’s Get Organized campaign seeks to stop anti-union extremists and their billionaire friends from destroying the public services we provide and rolling back laws that protect our health and safety at work, our job security and even our freedom to join our union.
It’s time for workers to Get Organized. It’s time to GO.