76% of USDA Researchers Tell Union They Won’t Relocate

Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman reported that “for the second time in seven years, USDA is looking to move D.C.-based employees at the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to Kansas City. USDA relocated hundreds of ERS and NIFA positions to Kansas City in 2019, but about 85% of impacted employees quit their jobs or retired, rather than relocate.”

“The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, which represents USDA researchers, expects to see similar results this year. An internal survey conducted by the union found that 76% of its members have indicated they are not planning to relocate,” Heckman reported. “AFGE Local 3403 said in a statement that these relocations, which are expected to go into effect by the end of the summer, will trigger a ‘brain drain’ within the department.”

“The union said diminished staffing at NIFA would lead to longer grant processing timelines and delays in funding for universities and research institutions. Fewer researchers at ERS, the union said, could increase the risk of research error that could impact economic planning,” Heckman reported. “‘ERS and NIFA are the intellectual and financial engines of American agriculture,’ AFGE Local 3403 said. ‘By forcing this move on an accelerated timeline, with no promise of financial help or job security, the USDA is effectively dismantling decades of institutional knowledge, jeopardizing the very data and funding that farmers, policymakers and land-grant universities rely on.'”

“AFGE Local 3403 said it is calling for ‘immediate congressional intervention’ to halt these relocation plans,” Heckman reported.

Food and Nutrition Service Relocation Sparks Employee Concerns

Government Executive’s Eric Katz reported that “the Food and Nutrition Service will relocate most of its staff to new hubs USDA has established around the country, including to Indiana, Texas, Missouri and North Carolina. The relocations are part of a larger reorganization of FNS, which will now go by the Food and Nutrition Administration, that a union representing the agency’s workforce said would lead to closures of regional offices in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco.”

“The National Treasury Employees Union chapter that represents FNS workers questioned USDA’s claim that no programs would be affected by the changes, suggesting that a large number of employees would refuse the relocation and the resulting loss of staff would have catastrophic impacts on operations,” Katz reported. “‘SNAP, WIC, and school meals depend on FNS employees,’ said Amy Rosenthal, the chapter’s president. ‘Our workers have built their lives in the communities across America where they live. Asking them to make the impossible choice between uprooting their families and losing their jobs will force most of them to quit.'”

“SNAP administration will (now) be based in Indianapolis, while Child Nutrition Programs will be relocated to Dallas. A facility in Denver will house Emergency Management and Continuity of Operations, while some staff will also go to Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York,” Katz reported. “‘If this reorganization moves forward, these programs simply will not function—ultimately risking access to food for mothers, infants, students, children, and elderly people across the country,’ NTEU’s FNS chapter said.”

The Washington Post’s Steve Thompson reported that “federal employees who administer food stamps, school lunches and nutrition programs for pregnant women packed into a conference room in Northern Virginia this month to confront their bosses about a relocation they hoped would never come.”

“‘Everybody in this room knows that most staff will leave because of this announcement,’ one employee told Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services at the Agriculture Department, according to a transcript of the meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, reviewed by The Washington Post,” Thompson reported. “‘So I’m curious, how does the departure of most staff equal better customer service and continued good work?'”