LARGEST EPA UNION HOLDS NATIONWIDE ACTION, MARCH AGAINST ATTACKS ON AGENCY
EPA workers held solidarity walks across seven cities, rallied public support for agency and workforce.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) civil servants from across the country, represented by AFGE Council 238, held a nationwide day of action on Tuesday as they marched in solidarity across seven cities in a show of force against the onslaught of attacks by the Trump administration.
The largest union representing EPA workers, AFGE Council 238 held simultaneous actions in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, and Anchorage to demonstrate unity and oppose recent efforts by the Trump administration to reduce the agency’s workforce, cut funding, violate its labor contract, and roll back the clock on regulations that protect the health of Americans and their environment.
“Today EPA workers and members of AFGE Council 238 demonstrated, in a unified front, our commitment to serving our communities and protecting human health and the environment,” said Marie Owens Powell, President of AFGE Council 238. “The American public overwhelmingly supports the work the EPA does, but we cannot do that work when the Trump administration is decimating our workforce, cutting our funding, and eliminating programs that ensure the health of every community is protected. Our hope is that, after decades of supporting our communities, that they will support us and demand Trump end his assault on our agency.”
A post-election poll shows overwhelming, bi-partisan support for the work of the EPA. It found that 76% of Trump voters and 86% of all voters oppose attempts to weaken the EPA, and 81% of Trump voters and 88% of all voters want Congress to increase EPA funding or keep funding steady. Despite this, the Trump administration has continued to take steps to dismantle the agency, laying off hundreds of EPA employees, eliminating environmental justice positions, violating AFGE Council 238’s collective bargaining agreement, and moving to eliminate dozens of environmental rules that protect the health of communities across the country.
Since Trump’s inauguration, AFGE Council 238’s membership has soared with more than 1,000 EPA employees joining the union, as the administration continues to attack the federal workforce. Last year, AFGE Council 238 won a historic union contract that includes a first-of-its-kind scientific integrity provision to safeguard the scientific principles that guide the EPA’s work. The union is continuing to demand the administration follow the law and respect their legally binding contract, and has filed grievances over contract violations thus far.
The EPA workforce is made up of biologists, engineers, chemists, lab technicians, scientists, and more who work everyday to protect human health, ensure clean air and drinking water, enforce crucial regulations, respond to climate disasters, manage hazardous waste and more.
