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."
Now he KNOWS who to “relocate” first. If this weren’t government “workers” they would be out on their loser a**es before the meeting was over. What LIB slubs. To top it off, most in the worthless department don’t earn their pay anyway. The look on their faces demonstrates that they are mainly spending their time watching porn while the taxpayer pays these parasites.
Rinse and repeat.
Just how damn heartless are you people?
How do you expect these people to have the contacts to get those high-paying lobbyist and contractor jobs after the 20 year full retirement, if they are stuck in Des Moines or Twin Falls??
President Eisenhower said of the Agriculture Department :” It’s hard to be a farmer when you are 2000 miles from a corn field and your plow is a pencil!”
Screw these people. Obviously not interested in farmers.
Not a damn thing wrong with that.
“Screw these people. Obviously not interested in farmers.”
Just another Federal Jobs Program! Like they all are!
“I would put up a “temporary” office for them in Death Valley.”
Midway or Wake Island
Every government department and agency needs to do the same. Let’s break that unholy concentration of bureaucrats in WDC.
After the Coca Cola Fair Oaks/Fairlife calf torture came to light, seems to me feds could stand some on-site work.
That would be a great Trump legacy.
This has so many great possibilities. The federal government would do wonders for local revitalization by leasing office space in depressed areas throughout the country. If the federal civil servants want those guaranteed jobs working “for” America,they should be happy to actually participate in some of the America they are supposedly serving, but everyone knows that was all a sham. Trump could make a great case for doing this throughout the government and throughout the nation.
A lot of agencies in DC should be relocated to places like Oklahoma, or Alabama. Anywhere but DC. Let the members of these agencies have neighbors who are NOT in politics!
And if they would rather quit than move? All the better! Hire new people, from states where crops are gown and livestock is raised. WHAT A CONCEPT!
Move the headquarters to Bismark, N. Dakota, the Texas/Oklahoma Panhandle and Boise, Idaho.
Then, give them two weeks to get there or to take early retirement.
I am sure that there are people who love their jobs.
Would be a great start to downsizing.
End the G-damned unions in government. If I was the Secretary of Agriculture, I’d inform the group that their services were no longer needed and then advertise in the Kansas newspapers that there are jobs to be had in Kansas.!
Screw those damn government unions, they have no place in government.
They don’t want to deal with FARMERS! Not the actual people they are regulating! They want to deal with fat, spoiled, soft handed LOBBYISTS! Lobbyists know Agriculture “Washington DC style”! Farmers are Deplorable! Farmers voted against HER!
I saw a movie where people paid to hunt humans...
Fatness seems to be common....slovenly, yes indeed. A person who doesn’t take care of his appearance, dress and weight is not going to be a good employee. No pride = no effort nor loyalty to the employer.
Look sharp, you work for the taxpayer, you slovenly bastards.
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