March 5, 2025 — Federal employees have been responding with anger and action to cuts, layoffs, and other measures being taken by the Trump Administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), which is run by unelected billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk and President Trump claim that DOGE’s efforts focus on eliminating government waste and fraud. To date, more than 20,000 workers have been fired due to DOGE’s efforts, across several agencies, including the USDA, the Department for Veterans’ Affairs, the Education Department, and more.
The Federal Unionists Network (FUN) is a conglomerate of workers who have united to call for an end to the practice of cutting and potentially dismantling critical civil services that Americans rely on and putting the livelihoods of career civil servants at risk.
On Feb. 19, FUN organized protests across the United States to demand an end to the cuts and “Save Our Services.” PEF, along with other unions like UUP, AFGE and CSEA, joined FUN for a rally at the Leo O’Brien Federal Building in Albany, N.Y.
Adam Pelletier, the organizer for the Save Our Services rally in Albany, said FUN has been busy gathering members inside and outside of the federal workforce for some time, but the recent threats have seen more people join the cause.
“We are just sort of coming out of the shadows as an organization,” he said. “We’re at about 500 strong so far. That includes the dozens and dozens of federal employees who have been fired for no reason other than they have a job that somebody doesn’t like.”
Union leaders, community members, and workers were all invited to speak during the rally, including PEF Vice President Bruce Giddings, who reaffirmed PEF’s stance on the issue, stating that civil service matters for New York State and for our nation and that the people who count on PEF members also count on federal employees and deserve access to the quality services they provide.
“There is more to the U.S. Constitution than just the first two amendments,” Giddings said. “Our republic kicked the king to the curb a long time ago. The U.S. Constitution vests the power to establish and fund programs with the people acting through their elected representatives in the U.S. Congress.
“Neither the President nor his appointee, Mr. Musk, have the constitutional authority to suspend spending or eliminate programs or agencies unilaterally and without congressional approval,” he said. “This blatant misuse of power must end now.”
Mickey Dobbin, a PEF Executive Board member and Steward and Treasurer for PEF Division 194 at the New York State Museum, believes that this is the greatest assault on the working class in recent history.
“The Federal Civil Service is only the first of their targets,” Dobbin said. “We, as state workers, will be next. Municipal workers, county workers, we are all their targets, and it is not just about our jobs, it is about our missions. We have to stop this here and now.”
Albany’s Save Our Services rally ended with a call to action, to continue to spread the word and fight back against the culling of jobs and services across the country.
“Rallies are good, and we will continue to do as many of them as we need to, but we cannot lose sight of why we’re here,” said Pelletier. “We need to keep calling and emailing and shouting until we do not need to anymore and then keep doing it anyways. So much depends on what we do here and now.”
There are a variety of ways PEF members can be heard on the issue.:
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- You can use this service from the NYS AFL-CIO to have your cell phone auto-connected to your U.S. congressional representative.
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- You can send a letter using Action Network to tell your New York Representative to not cut the amount of federal dollars used to support public programs.
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- Or you can dial directly and enter your zip code to be connected to your elected representative: (866) 426-2631.
PEF President Wayne Spence is also holding a Telephone Town Hall on March 6 at 6 p.m. to inform all members about what the union is doing and how they can help. The personal phone numbers of members will be dialed at that time. If you need to change your number, you can register, here.
