Union Sounds Alarm on President's Plan to Reorganize Federal Government

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the American Federation of Government Employees submitted a statement for the record (available on www.afge.org/ReorgHearing) before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's hearing, "Examining the Administration's Reorganization Plan."

The hearing follows the Trump administration's June 21 announcement of a "Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations," that was immediately rejected by the nation's largest federal union as a "scheme to gut federal services."

In the statement for the record from AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr., Cox said, "AFGE objects to many recommendations of this plan, as implementation will result in inefficient allocation of agency resources and workload and politicization of the civil service."

Cox went on to discuss how the Trump administration ignored an April OMB memorandum that said agencies "should consult with key stakeholders including their workforce." Instead, Cox said, "With a few rare exceptions, national AFGE bargaining councils and AFGE locals were not consulted or even informed of reorganization plans."

"Federal employees understand what is needed to improve the internal workings of their agencies far better than private consultants," said Cox. "Federal workers and their representatives should play an important role in the development of organizational changes involving federal agencies and the services they provide. Neglecting to seek input from employee representatives in the development of government-wide reorganization plans is counterproductive to any genuine effort to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government."

Highlighting the recommendations that contemplate privatization of programs like the Postal Service and aspects of the Department of Energy Power Marketing Administrations, Cox said such actions, in conjunction with the use of "streamlining" and consolidation of "shared services" could "result in less responsive government and will have a negative impact" on federal agencies.

Cox concluded his statement by saying:

"AFGE strongly supports examining effective approaches to accomplishing government work. While AFGE supports initiatives to improve delivery of government services, the Administration's reorganization plan is a thinly veiled attempt to devolve federal involvement in everything from education to postal delivery to energy research and development. AFGE would welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Committee and Congress to identify ways in which we can improve the delivery of our important public services."

To read the statement in full, visit www.afge.org/ReorgHearing

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 700,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

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SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees