Washington—National President John Gage of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents largest number of civilian defense workers, asked for a meeting with Department of Defense (DoD) officials to discuss plans to close military facilities around the country. Gage recently requested the meeting in response to DoD’s plans regarding civilian employees who will be affected by closures and realignments associated with the BRAC process.
In a letter to DoD officials dated March 29, Gage wrote, “We are interested in discussing plans for all BRAC-related policies and programs, including voluntary early retirement authority, voluntary separation incentive programs, re-employment opportunities and programs, relocation procedures, reductions-in-force, and any other initiatives that may be presented to the civilian workforce.”
AFGE represents more than 200,000 civilian DoD employees, and thousands of those workers will be affected by BRAC over the next several years. Additionally, AFGE represents civilian employees at almost every installation identified by the BRAC for closure or realignment.
DoD announced plans to close or realign more than 60 facilities last spring.