Voice of America (VOA) has rescinded layoff notices it had sent to employees after AFGE Local 1812 pointed out several violations of the law and negotiated labor-management contract.
The agency started sending reductions in force (RIF) notices to employees on Friday, June 20. Three days later, the local met the agency to discuss various violations, including its failure to complete bargaining with the local before issuing the layoff notices.
Another violation is related to the calculation of RIF retention credit for employees. Retention factors include tenure of employment, military preference, length of service, and performance.
“This could affect which employees are retained or released in competitive levels where they are competing for positions,” said AFGE Local 1812 Paula Hickey.
Because of these violations, the agency had to rescind the RIF notices in the Washington D.C. competitive area where most VOA employees work.
This is a win for VOA employees, but the fight is far from over as the administration has vowed to proceed with the RIFs again despite a pending lawsuit.
AFGE and other unions in March sued the Trump administration for illegally shutting down VOA, a congressionally mandated agency. A month later, Judge Royce Lamberth blocked the administration from dismantling VOA. In granting a preliminary injunction until the lawsuit was settled, the judge ordered the administration to restore its programming and reinstate employees and contract workers who were terminated or put on administrative leave.
But the administration appealed, and the court declined to block the administration’s efforts to RIF employees while litigation was ongoing. The agency then started sending RIF notices to the remaining 800 employees on June 20.
Stay tuned for updates on the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Trump Media is rolling out its streaming platform globally, and critics are voicing concerns that the closing of VOA and Trump Media’ global roll out “highlight the inherent conflicts posed by his ongoing business interests, which are ever expanding.”
VOA was founded in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda with accurate news and information and played a crucial role in curbing the spread of communism during the Cold War. It provides news, information, and cultural programming to a weekly global audience of more than 354 million in nearly 50 languages through radio, television, social media, and the Internet.
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