Reprehensible Dismissal of Probationary Employees
 
Today, several federal agencies terminated thousands of employees in their probationary period. These callous removals – many via a terse email – were based on nothing more than the administration’s extreme anti-employee agenda designed to gut federal agencies of the staffing needed to deliver critical services. 

Following the firing of dozens of CFPB probationary employees earlier this week – and in anticipation of more – NTEU led a coalition of unions in filing a lawsuit yesterday challenging these unlawful terminations. We requested that the court stop these removals from taking effect and return employees to their positions. We will keep you updated as the litigation unfolds.

Make no mistake, if allowed to remain in effect, these actions will have a devasting impact on agency missions and government operations. Many federal agencies are severely understaffed due to years of frozen or slashed budgets that prevented them from replacing retiring employees. Terminating probationary employees after the agencies’ heavy investments of time and resources in their training is fiscally irresponsible. And certainly not “efficient.”

The American people count on federal employees to continue providing necessary public services. These probationary employees are our colleagues, our friends, our family, and our partners in maintaining a dedicated civil service that delivers. We are going to fight hard for them and will have more information to share soon on what you can do to join us in that fight.