The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union for federal employees, is warning against accepting a buyout offer from the Federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM), where employees would receive pay through late September.
On Jan. 28, OPM sent an email to more than 29,000 federal civilian workers in Ohio offering eight months of pay if they resign from their jobs. The offer is not being extended to those working for the U.S. Postal Service, military personnel or employees working in immigration. Ohio is home to 55,487 federal civilian workers.
The offer is part of a plan outlined by the Dept. of Govt. Efficiency, which is run by billionaire Elon Musk.
The subject line on the email from OPM is “Fork in the Road,” and is the same as the email Musk sent out in 2022 with a similar offer to X (formerly known as Twitter) employees. Musk also fired many of X's employees as others quit.
OPM is referring to the deal as a "deferred resignation" program which offers to pay employees through Sept. 30.
There is currently no funding allocated by Congress to pay out employees and the union fears that there may never be.
“The union's position is that you shouldn't take this,” said Arnold Scott, the American Federation of Government Employees' 6th District National Vice President. “If you do, if you decide you want to do it, you need to be careful because there's no guarantees in it and you can wind up getting a bad deal.”
The AFGE's 6th district represents Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
Scott also said that federal agencies haven’t been growing to meet public needs. “The number of federal workers has grown by 6% in the last 50 years. The population served has grown by 57%,” he said. “The government workforce is struggling right now.”
Scott also expressed frustration that the OPM did not consult the union before issuing their offer.
“The problem is if this went through the normal process, what would happen is that this resignation [offer] would come out to the agency,” Scott said. “The agency would have submitted it to the union for the union to bargain it. The union has a right to bargain this.”
The email sent out to federal workers also did not guarantee that workers who did not accept the offer would remain in their jobs. The email stated, “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency."
Scott encouraged employees who are considering the offer to meet with their local union representatives before making a final decision. “What we're telling our people is that before you agree to any deal, you need to consult with your local (representative),” he said.
OPM has given federal workers until Thursday to accept the offer.
