Army Set to Eliminate Nearly 2,500 Jobs - IFPTE Responds
The United States Army notified IFPTE on February 7th of their intention to eliminate nearly 2,500 federal employee positions and cut their budget by 1.2%. In doing the so, the Army also stipulated that moving forward they intend to invest more resources towards Artificial Intelligence (AI).
IFPTE sent a joint letter signed by President Matt Biggs, Secretary-Treasuer Gay Henson, and Western Federal Area Vice President, Jamie Uyeunten, committing to work with Congress to block any job downsizing and budget cuts, while also saying that the “proposed budget reduction is misguided and will do a disservice not only to our military readiness and service to the public, but also to the rank-and-file workers employed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
Separately, IFPTE Local 561 Steward Michael Arendt responded to the Army’s notice and stated Local 561’s concerns. The letter reminded the Army of the requirement to follow reduction-in-force (RIF) procedures and utilize voluntary early retirement authority, and voluntary seperation incentives to manage any loss of jobs due to budget cuts. The letter further states that the Army must engage in pre-decisional involvement, as required by President Biden’s recent Executive Order 14119, which calls for federal agencies to reestablish labor mangement forums and allow pre-decisional involvement.