The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to fire 22 more of its staffers, a union representing agency employees said Thursday.
Justin Chen, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 238, which represents EPA staff, said that the agency issued reduction in force (RIF) notices to 22 people who work on “environmental justice,” meaning they tackle pollution in overburdened or underserved communities.
“AFGE Council 238 is outraged by the EPA’s decision to issue RIF notices to 22 environmental justice employees whose work ensures that communities disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards receive the protections they are entitled to,” Chen said in a written statement.
“The gutting of our workforce, which has already been reduced by an estimated 30 percent, has stretched remaining staff to the breaking point and weakened our ability to respond to mounting environmental and public health threats. There is no justification for further cuts: funding levels have remained steady and these are needed, well qualified workers, and the agency should be strengthening our workforce, not shrinking it,” he added.
He urged the EPA to “immediately withdraw these notices.”
