Unions, Attorneys General Warn Federal Workers Against Trump Admin’s Buyout Offer

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks during a news conference, outside of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office in Flint, Mich., on Sept. 19, 2022. Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP

Two large labor unions and a dozen state attorneys general are warning federal employees not to accept the deferred resignation offer proffered by the Trump administration on Jan. 28.

The email offer from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) gives employees until Feb. 6 to agree to resign, effective Sept. 30, and receive full pay and benefits in the interval.

Exempted from the offer are people working in immigration enforcement, national security, postal workers, and military personnel.

In a Feb. 4 press release, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said the offer was “misleading.”

Nessel urged the 29,000 non-military Michigan residents who work for the federal government to “read the fine print before signing and be cautious, as certain benefits may not be guaranteed.”

“Employees who are represented by a union should work with their labor representatives before entering into any contract changes,” she wrote.

Signing on to the warning were the attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Washington, and Michigan.

In a statement released on Jan. 30, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) President Randy Erwin described the offer as a “maneuver ... intended to panic civil servants into accepting what seems like a sweet deal but is probably a scam.”

Erwin called the offer “a scare tactic” to pressure federal workers to quit in return for what he called “an illegal and unenforceable agreement to pay them until October.”

On Jan. 29, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), said in a two-page warning that the offer is “riddled with inconsistencies and uncertainties” and that it rests on questionable legal authority.

The union also said it was still unclear if accepters of the offer could be required to work during the intervening weeks between Feb. 6 and Sept. 30 or if they could be fired after accepting.

The AFGE also said impending budget battles and possible funding disruptions could affect accepters of the offer.

OPM’s Response

The worries expressed by the unions and Nessel are addressed by the Office of Personnel Management online.

According to the OPM’s frequently asked questions page, an accepting worker is not expected to work at his or her government job during the deferred resignation period and is free to work a second job or leave town on an extended vacation if desired.

An accepting worker will continue to accrue annual leave and sick leave and will be paid a lump sum for accrued but unused annual leave upon separation, and eligibility for voluntary early retirement will not be affected.

Should a worker elect to retire either early or at the normal time before the resignation date, his retirement election would override the deferred resignation. Also, the employee would continue to receive retirement service credit until the final separation date.

According to the OPM, in the event of a government shutdown, a pay disruption may occur. However, an accepting worker would still be entitled to back pay.

To resist the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the government, AFGE also urged its locals to consider filing a grievance or unfair labor practices complaint over the way the union apparatus was bypassed when the Office of Personnel Management emailed the offer directly to the rank-and-file.

The locals may also consider filing a grievance over a possible violation of their collective bargaining agreement, according to the AFGE warning.