IFPTE Responds to Trump Administration EOs Impacting Federal Workforce
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC – International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) President Matt Biggs and Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson released the following joint statement in response to a series of Executive Orders signed by President Trump yesterday:
“President Trump’s day-one Executive Orders (EO) on the federal workforce miss one simple fact that is unmistakable to IFPTE members who work for the federal government: federal employees and their unions are necessary partners in any successful effort to improve government services, achieve efficiency gains, and identify problems and put forward solutions to make sure government works for the American public.
With respect to the implementation of the EO on Returning to In-Person Work and the Hiring Freeze EO, our union seeks to work with agencies to ensure federal workers are able to support their agency's mission to the highest standards possible. While we appreciate that the language in the Hiring Freeze EO excludes agencies with national security and public safety missions, and seeks to avoid adverse impacts to Social Security, Medicare, or Veterans benefits, the Administration should aim to make sure that no government services, functions, and missions are adversely impacted. The way to do effectuate that is through collaborative engagement between agencies and federal unions.
IFPTE is continuing to evaluate these EOs to determine the best course of action moving forward. In the meantime we continue to remind the Trump Administration and the public that our nation’s federal employees are dedicated and highly skilled public servants that do everything from protecting our homeland and national security to supporting our economic security and global competitiveness to making sure that our Veteran’s receive the care that they need. Working together in a collaborative manner with these workers and their Unions will only help to improve public services.”
IFPTE is a labor union representing 90,000 workers throughout North America in the public, private and federal sectors, including upwards of 30,000 federal employees.
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