Gathering in solidarity with colleagues in the federal workforce, a group of more than 50 union leaders and supporters held a “Rally to Save the Civil Service” Friday at the Virginia State Capitol.
The event, organized by a cross section of federal worker unions and other labor groups, took aim at President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk as they seek to significantly shrink the federal government through the elimination of jobs and agencies that do not align with their ideological views.
“Think about who this is really impacting. DC wants us to think there’s not a human component to everything that’s going on,” said Doris Crouse-Mays, president of the Virginia AFL-CIO. “All of these workers are with us in our daily lives, protecting us all. It is time that we stand up, fight back and protect them.”
Shortly after taking office, Trump tasked Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to slash federal programs and spending. (DOGE, a well-known internet culture reference, is formally an initiative that renames and refocuses the United States Digital Service, a team inside the Executive Office of the President.)
While Republicans and other Trump allies have celebrated the chainsaw approach, the policy moves have led to lawsuits and judicial rulings that have halted or delayed some of the announced reductions.
At Friday’s rally, current and former federal workers described how the cuts could harm people throughout Virginia, including teachers, children, parents and veterans. Virginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Richmond), who is also running for lieutenant governor, spoke in support of the unions during the event.
“Today, we're here to make it very clear that we're not going to be silent, we are not going to be intimidated, and that we are absolutely not going to back down,” Hashmi said. “These are not just attacks on unions. They're attacks on Virginians, on our families and on the values that we hold dear.”
A few speakers said they are already noticing major problems at the local level. Mintina Minto, president of the Richmond-based American Federation of Government Employees Local 2145, said the US Department of Veterans Affairs is struggling to staff a new health care facility in Fredericksburg after the Trump administration fired 2,400 agency employees and froze unfilled positions.
According to a report in Fredericksburg Free Press, the agency held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month to celebrate the opening of the agency’s largest outpatient clinic in the country. “We have a facility that’s pretty much empty, because we don’t have the manpower to get veterans the service that they need,” Minto said in an interview with VPM News. “They’re being turned away.”
Other speakers, many representing different AFGE chapters across Virginia, also spoke about how cuts to other federal agencies, are at risk of losing the money and staff needed to safeguard the public. Those include the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Security Administration.
The Associated Press last week reported that the EPA is poised to fire more than 1,000 employees, including a wide range of scientists responsible for safeguarding the public from toxic pollution and other environmental harms.
Earlier in March, AFGE filed suit against the Trump administration after it terminated a union contract covering 47,000 TSA employees. The suit alleges that the decision violates the constitutional rights of the workers and their union.
AFGE Local 448 President Scott Robinson, who represents TSA employees, said in an interview with VPM News that eliminating union contracts could make it easier for the federal government to reduce the size of the agency.
“If it begins to target the workforce, you will see a degradation in service,” he said.
Robinson said the Trump administration has exempted security officers from potential layoffs, but added that the confusion and uncertainty over the full scope of the administration’s plans makes him wonder if there could still be staffing shortages at airport checkpoints, which “increases the likelihood of security incidents.”
