AFGE Council 238 Calls Out Lack of Legal Basis, Demands All Investigatory and Disciplinary Actions to Be Ceased; Letter Comes Amid Worker Actions Demanding End to Retaliation
AFGE Council 238
July 10, 2025
Washington, DC – AFGE Council 238, representing more than 8,000 EPA employees nationwide, issued a forceful demand yesterday for the immediate return to work of 139 employees placed on administrative leave following an act of illegal retaliation by the administration. In a letter issued to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, AFGE Council 238 President Justin Chen notes the lack of legal basis for the agency’s action and called for all investigatory and disciplinary actions against EPA workers to cease and be rescinded.
The workers were placed on administrative leave after signing an open letter to Administrator Zeldin on June 30, 2025. The “EPA Declaration of Dissent” called on Administrator Zeldin to uphold the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment and raised concerns over the implementation of measures by the agency that stand to harm the public. Following its release, 139 signers received notices that they were placed on administrative leave and would be investigated by the agency.
“The agency’s decision to place these employees on administrative leave and to threaten further employment actions is a blatant act of retaliation,” writes AFGE Council 238 President Chen in the letter to Administrator Zeldin. “These employees engaged in protected speech on a matter of significant public concern, and their actions are fully protected by federal law and our collective bargaining agreement. We will not stand idly by while our members are unjustly targeted.”
“Consequently, there is no valid legal basis for the agency’s actions,” Chen continues. “AFGE Council 238 will therefore protect its members to the fullest extent of law and our collective bargaining agreement.”
The letter follows actions by EPA workers and members of AFGE Council 238 across the nation this week including key demonstrations in Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle and New York City. Workers, alongside elected officials, allied organizations, and community supporters rallied together to demand an end to retaliation, reiterating their call for Administrator Zeldin to honor his oath and EPA’s statutorily-mandated mission of protecting human health and the environment.
“Trump’s dismantling of the EPA is not just an attack on EPA experts who were retaliated against here; it is an attack on all Americans who depend on clean air, clean water, and a livable future. EPA is putting corporate polluters’ profits ahead of people’s lives and recklessly trying to silence those people who keep our air and water clean,” said Nicole Cantello, President of Local 704 (Region 5) in Chicago.
“Zeldin is forcing the taxpayers to spend how many tens of thousands of dollars every day for people to not do their jobs and not protect the American public because they’re barred from the office?,” Harper Stanfield, Vice President of Local 3911 (Region 2), told Gothamist at a rally held by EPA workers in New York City.
“This letter condemned the politicalization of the EPA – the world’s premier environmental protection agency – and called on Lee Zeldin to work with his staff, and with the dedicated career federal employees to make the EPA work for Americans,” said Hannah Sanders, EPA scientist and union official with Local 238, at a press conference in Philadelphia. “Administrator Lee Zeldin instead responded by placing 139 of the 620 employees on paid administrative leave. Employees were given moments notice that they needed to sign off of work, leave their offices, and stop communication with their supervisors.”
“The politicization of the federal workforce in the way it exists now is something I have never seen, ”said Brad Starnes, President of AFGE Local 3631. “The rhetoric that comes from Lee Zeldin to the workforce, in his name, is unbelievable.”
Media Contact: Emily Orlich, emily.orlich@berlinrosen.com