Labor unions that represent federal workers in Maine say they're bracing for more upheaval, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to proceed with its plans for large-scale layoffs.
"There's a lot of uncertainty," said Andy O'Brien, spokesperson for the Maine AFL-CIO. "And we don't know how this is going to play out as far as what exactly the president's administration has in mind for how many cuts, and who will be impacted."
O'Brien said the labor union is most concerned about potential layoffs at Social Security offices in Maine and at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced this week that it would pare back plans to lay off some 80,000 federal workers this year. The VA said it's on track to reduce the size of its workforce by about 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year through attrition and deferred resignations and retirements, "eliminating the need for a large-scale reduction in force."
Alana Schaeffer, local president of Metal Trades Council, said she has not heard whether there will be mass layoffs at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
Her union, which represents just more than 3,600 workers, has lost about 300 employees already this year through early retirements and resignations, as well as firings of probationary workers.
Schaeffer said she worries the shipyard will be unable to meet the Navy's demands and may turn to private, short-term contractors to do the work instead.
"I'm concerned about the employees I represent and their focus at work, when the anxieties of what's to come is constantly looming over their heads," she said.
O'Brien said across the board, there's a general sense of anxiety among federal workers in Maine. Many of the employees at Social Security offices in Maine are older and are trying to "hang on." And some probationary workers who were initially laid off and were allowed to return are now worried they'll lose their jobs again.
And he acknowledged that as legal challenges to the Trump administration's large-scale workforce reductions continue to play out in the lower courts, the situation could change again.
