U.S. judge in San Francisco will hear request by unions to halt mass firings of probationary workers
Demonstrators protest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention layoffs in front of CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Feb. 18. Credit: AP/Arvin Temkar
SAN FRANCISCO — Labor unions are asking a federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday for an emergency injunction blocking the mass firings of probationary federal employees by President Donald Trump’s administration, saying officials not only lack the authority to order terminations but that notices to workers were premised on a lie of poor job performance.
On the other side, attorneys for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management will argue before U.S. District Judge William Alsup that the office did not create a “mass termination program” as plaintiffs say, but asked agencies to review and determine whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment.
“Agencies were responsible for deciding which probationary employees to keep and to terminate,” said Charles Ezell, acting director of the personnel office in a declaration filed with the court, adding that a determination of fitness must “take into account the existing needs and interests of government."
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