Union Calls On Pentagon to Cancel Workforce Cuts

American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley today issued the following statement in response to reports that the Department of Defense has paused plans to fire tens of thousands of civilian workers:

“About 46% of DoD workers are veterans who joined the civil service to continue serving their country. This proposed layoff would directly affect tens of thousands of veterans and their families. This is a slap in the face to veterans and military families everywhere that will not soon be forgotten.

“Firing tens of thousands of civilian employees at the Department of Defense would greatly diminish our nation’s military readiness. Civilian employees perform mission-critical tasks and support our nation’s military in myriad ways. They are tank and aircraft mechanics, commissary workers, ship inspectors, factory workers who manufacture artillery and weapons for our service members, auditors, electricians, firefighters, police officers, and more. Cutting their jobs would push their work onto soldiers, taking them away from their critical warfighting missions.

“Civilian employees are less costly than either service members or contractors, so if the administration is actually serious about saving money it will put a stop to any civilian workforce cuts.

“Title 10 of U.S. Code requires the Pentagon to analyze the effect that any civilian workforce cuts would have on military readiness. It’s clear that this analysis has not taken place.

“This week, AFGE joined with other unions in filing a lawsuit challenging the mass firing of probationary federal employees.

“As the union representing more than 800,000 federal employees – including 250,000 in the Department of Defense – I call on the administration to put an immediate stop to these across-the-board cuts.”