Saunders on the federal court ruling federal probationary employees were wrongfully fired: This is a major victory for AFSCME members and our communities

WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement on the summary judgment granted to AFSCME by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, affirming that the Office of Personnel Management lacked the authority to fire federal probationary employees:

“This is yet another significant victory in our continued fight against the Trump administration's attacks on our jobs and livelihoods, providing relief to AFSCME members who have been targeted and to our communities that rely on strong, dependable public services. The billionaires running this administration have waged an unrelenting assault on working people, illegally trying to eliminate our jobs while using their yes-men in Congress to strip away our health care and essential services nationwide. But AFSCME’s 1.4 million members are fighting back. Thanks to this case, brought earlier this year by a coalition led by AFSCME and AFGE, wrongfully terminated AFSCME members at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Agriculture were ordered reinstated in their jobs, along with thousands of other wrongfully fired public servants across the federal government.  This latest ruling mandates that the government must now set the record straight that these illegally terminated probationary employees were not fired for their performance, as the Trump administration falsely claimed when it fired them en masse.

“As the administration continues to dangerously cut federal workers and attack their freedom to collectively bargain, we will continue to use every resource at our disposal to fight this anti-worker agenda.”