Posted on 06/13/2019 2:18:42 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Members of the American Federation of Government Employees turned their backs on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday, apparently over plans to relocate them from Washington to the Kansas City area.
Perdue announced Thursday that two of the Department of Agriculture’s research agencies, the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will be relocated to be closer to major farming regions.
While Perdue has justified the relocation as a way to improve customer service and save taxpayers up to $20 million per year, some ERS employees have said it is a political move, according to the publication.
Specifically, some ERS staff have expressed suspicions the relocation is an attempt to shrink the agency and weaken its ability to conduct research that does not align with the Trump administration’s policy agenda.
The department retreated on another proposal to shift ERS within the department’s organizational structure to place it under the Office of the Chief Economist.
"While we believe there is considerable synergies and benefits to a realignment, after hearing feedback from stakeholders and members of Congress, USDA will not move forward with the realignment plans," the department said.
Employees at both agencies voted to unionize after the relocation was announced, according to Politico. They are expected to receive relocation letters Thursday and will be given 30 days to make a decision, according to the American Federation of Government Employees.
Union reps said employees were not given advance notice of the announcement and that they learned of the site selection via media reports despite Perdue’s assurances he would provide notice.
The relocation has divided Congress along partisan lines as well, with the four Republicans who represent Kansas and Missouri in the Senate issuing a joint statement praising the move.
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), who hold key positions on House subcommittees with jurisdiction over the agencies, have said the process has lacked transparency, according to Politico.
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), who has co-sponsored legislation to halt the relocation, said a USDA inspector general review “examining the viability of this relocation is not complete."
Buncha a**holes
But if Obama had done it, they would have been hunky-dory with it.
No truer words have been written. They are used to riding roughshod over farmers dictating what the farmers are supposed to do whether it or not it is logical, practical, or economical. They are only interested in their mounds of paperwork to show they have a job.
Cut every federal agency payroll by five percent.
Do it again.
And the beauty of it all is that nobody actually has to get fired. Offer them a reasonable moving packages and 30 days to make a decision. If they don't take it, then the position becomes vacant and they actually get to decide if they even need to fill it.
This is TWO agencies of ONE department. Get it done and then expand the program to more.
FWIW, I have meetings with colleagues in multiple countries on a regular basis. Skype (or comparable software) and an internet connection is all you need.
Fire them today. In fact maybe even give them the Stalin staff meeting treatment.
If nothing else, he has found his first volunteers for relocation.
Too bad they just can’t turn them over to a ‘pool’ and get them reassigned to an agency that has an opening.
A new twist on RIF....
‘Sharkboy’ is correct, do that in private industry and you have just qualified for the unemployed ranks and the company wouldn’t care if you got relocated or not, you would just be off their payroll...
Unions for ANY government employee should be outlawed.
They call themselves ‘dedicated servants’ yet act more like tyrants with great job security.
Time for a MAJOR CHANGE, and yes ALL Government Agencies should be placed where they best serve the people they are trying to help.
The only thing growing in DC is manure...and it’s getting deep.
We need to abolish it entirely.
How long have federal jobs been a babysitting program for overgrown children? I’m no farmer, but I get the impression Kansas City is closer to more American agriculture than DC.
It’s outrageous to think the Department of Agriculture would be forced to relocate to where they actually practice agriculture. It’s inhumane, I tell you. Why, there’s probably not even a Starbucks nearby. Those people in Kansas live like primitives!
Fire the lot.
well, that’s one way to downsize a bloated department . . . .
A lot of the guys in that pic look overweight, lazy and self important. Fire ‘em.
Relocate, sure ... But Kansas City? I’d turn my back too. Des Moines, or Omaha, or Knoxville or Athens, ok ... But KC is a punishment drill, and SP knows it.
May I suggest that the agency be abolished, to see if there are any negative effects on the farmers or the economy?
Let’s try that for a while.
5.56mm
I would make sure EVERY ONE STANDING would be on the transfer list.
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