Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
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Fourth Circuit Refuses to Pause the Reinstatement of Probationary Employees Who Were Fired from Federal Agencies
The appeals court defers to the disctrict court which found that the terminations were illegal.
Impact:
25,000 workers have the right to be reinstated to their jobs.
Thousands of federal workers are reinstated per the terms of a federal judge’s ruling that their terminations were illegal
The Trump administration has taken steps to reinstate 24,000 probationary federal workers at 18 federal agencies after U.S. District Judge James Bredar orders rehiring of the wrongly terminated federal workers, though most have been put on administrative leave.
Impact:
Judge Bredar’s ruling is the second of two recent rulings that deemed the firings of probationary federal workers illegal. The majority of the 24,000 probationary workers reinstated have been put on administrative leave instead of rehired to full employment. This will continue to put those workers at risk if an appeals court rules against Judge Bredar’s reinstatement.
Federal Judge Rules that the Dismantling of USAID is Likely Unconstitutional
U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang of Maryland blocks the administration from making any further cuts to the agency and orders the administration to resintate computer and email access to all fired employees.
Impact:
The order stops short of requiring the employees to be rehired and there will be further judicial proceedings to determine what happens next.
Trump Signs an Executive Order to Close the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
The FMCS works with employers, workers and unions to reach consensus and avoid strikes, impasses, and litigation during labor disputes.
Impact:
Experts have long praised the cost-effective services that the FMCS provides in helping to maintain labor peace and successful resolution of labor disputes.
Trump Administration Mandates that Federal Agencies Detail the Costs of Negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements with Federal Sector Unions
The administration continues its attack on the legally and duly certified federal sector unions who help make sure that public servants have good terms and conditions of work.
Impact: The information gained could be used, without providing appropriate context, to make the case that agencies should not bargain with federal sector unions any longer, which would be illegal.
United States Postal Service Agrees to Work with DOGE to Cut 10,000 Jobs
These cuts in personnel will undermine the ability of the USPS to deliver mail in a timely fashion, not to mention the harm to those who lose their jobs.
Impact:
The Trump administration wants to privatize the USPS and this is one of the first steps in that process.
Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Reinstate Thousands of Federal Workers
U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ordered the Trump administration to offer probationary employees who were fired last month by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs the opportunity to return to their jobs. The judge ruled that OPM did not have the authority to direct mass firings of federal workers. The judge also said he was open to expanding the order to employees at other agencies.
Impact:
Probationary employees at federal agencies are generally workers who were more recently hired by the government, transferred between agencies or offices, or promoted into new roles. There is no relationship between probationary status and employee performance or whether their role contributes to so-called “government efficiency.” By reinstating these workers, agencies will be able to resume critical services and law enforcement that were haphazardly halted by their firings. But so long as the Trump-Musk effort to hollow out the federal government continues, workers, families, and communities remain at risk, and the administration will almost certainly appeal the ruling.
Trump Admin Fires Half of Department of Education Workforce
As part of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, more than 1,300 of the agency’s workers are being fired.
Impact:
The Department of Education is charged with enforcement of civil rights for students, including students with disabilities, in addition to managing federal student loans and distributing Pell grants for low income families. Trump has long vowed to shut down the Department of Education, despite only Congress having authority to do so.
Mass Firings Planned for Over a Thousand Federal Workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
As part of the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on federal agency workforces, plans are being made to fire over a thousand more workers from NOAA.
Impact:
The plans for NOAA lay out the termination of 1,029 workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration following 1,300 who have already been fired from the agency. NOAA is charged with providing daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, climate monitoring, and conducting other scientific research.
Trump Admin Issues 25K Buy Out Offer In Latest Attempt to Shrink The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Workforce
HHS workers supposedly have until March 14th to accept or reject a $25,000 buy-out offer to resign, as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signals plans for deep cuts to the department.
Impact:
The offer was sent to over 80,000 workers across HHS, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and comes after the Trump administration’s previous executive order aimed at an aggressive and seemingly at times illegal “reduction in force” of the entire federal government and it’s workforce.