San Francisco (AP) – A federal judge of San Francisco noted on Thursday that mass dismissals of probation employees were probably illegal, granting temporary relief to a coalition of unions and organizations which continued to stop the massive reduction of the Trump administration of federal labor.
US District Judge William Alsup ordered the personnel management office to inform certain federal agencies that he did not have the power to order the layoffs of probationary employees, including the Ministry of Defense.
“The OPM has no authority, under a law of the history of the universe”, to hire or dismiss employees except its own, he said.
Alsup made the order on a temporary prohibition order requested by unions and non -profit organizations in a trial brought by the coalition filed last week.
The complaint filed by five unions and five non-profit organizations is part of multiple prosecution pushing the efforts of the administration to considerably shrink the federal workforce, which Trump called inflated and sloppy. Thousands of probation employees have already been dismissed and its administration now targets those responsible for the public service protection.
The complainants say that the staff management office did not have the power to terminate the jobs of probation workers who generally have less than a year of work. They also say that layoffs were based on a poor performance by workers.
Find out more: The Trump administration features federal dismissals on a large scale
Government lawyers say the staff management office has not directed dismissals, but asked agencies to examine and determine whether employees in probation were able to continue continuous employment. They also say that probation employees are not guaranteed and that only the most efficient and critical employees of mission should be hired.
There are around 200,000 probation employees – generally employees who have less than a year of work – between federal agencies. About 15,000 are employed in California, providing services ranging from fire prevention to veterans care, according to the complaint.
Find out more: The CDC should lose a tenth of the workforce under the Trump administration.
The unions have recently put the turn with two other federal judges in similar prosecution that try to stop the Trump administration’s objective to considerably reduce the federal workforce.
Alsup, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, a democrat, presided over many very publicized cases and is known for his frank speech. He supervised Pacific Gas & Electric criminal probation and qualified the largest public service in the country “continuous threat to California”.