EPA’s biggest union is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s mandate that federal employees return to the office full time, setting up a long-anticipated battle over telework.
On Friday, American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents more than 8,000 EPA employees, filed two grievances with the agency — one on telework, the other on remote work. The union claims EPA violated its latest collective bargaining agreement, which was reached last summer and locked in workplace flexibilities for about half of the agency’s staff.
The Trump administration’s demand for in-person work is part of its campaign to pare down the federal workforce, believing government employees would rather leave public service than work from the office five days a week.
That effort is beginning to take shape at EPA, which has already fired employees or put hundreds of them on paid leave or fired them. Many agency employees are expected back in the workplace on Feb. 24 under a staggered return plan announced last week that also rescinded their telework and remote work agreements.
