Thirty probationary staff members were recently terminated from the EPA's regional campus at Research Triangle Park. This comes as thousands of federal employees across the country are losing their jobs as a result of President Trump's cost-cutting efforts.
"People are scared. There's no rhyme or reason to these firings," said one EPA employee who spoke under the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. "It's heartbreaking. It's not just us losing our jobs 鈥� it's about the work we do that is for the betterment of our country."
Most of the 30 staff members who were recently terminated at the agency's RTP campus worked in the Office of Research and Development, according to Holly Wilson, president of the local union representing EPA RTP employees.
"Some employees were on leave and returned to find themselves locked out of their computers," Wilson said in an email to 吉彩网网站. "Some employees who had completed their probationary period were still terminated. We are actively working to identify and reinstate those individuals as quickly as possible."
Wilson expressed concerns about several issues, including possible breach of contract and unlawful termination of probationary employees.
"The rationale cited for these terminations were performance issues, which does not align with the facts. In several instances, some employees were too new to have been evaluated accurately, (while) others have documentation from their supervisors praising their work performances," Wilson said.
Wilson leads the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3347, which has a bargaining unit size of about 1,000 members. According to the , more than 2,000 people work at the EPA RTP location.
The federal job cuts are the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tearing through agencies looking for suspected waste. Other federal agencies that have been impacted in North Carolina include the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Park Service.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
