USDA Ordered to Rehire Laid-Off Probationary Workers

After much hue and cry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is temporarily rehiring all probationary workers let go last month at the behest of the Trump administration.

Effective Wednesday (March 12), these employees will be reinstated with back pay from their termination date, as specified in a terse USDA press release.

The department says a return-to-duty plan is being drawn up. The plan will play out in phases. Impacted employees shall receive compensation in the meantime.

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This is locally relevant. You'll recall that dozens of employees were relieved from the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in mid-February.

The reaction in Wenatchee was anything but docile. Some cheered the lay-offs as an overdue jolt of reality; these folks believe the USDA has regressed into what a New York Times columnist calls a "dysfunctional behemoth."

But on Feb. 17, hundreds of demonstrators spilled into Memorial Park and along Chelan Ave., some hoisting signs that read, "Protect federal workers!" (Check out KPQ's on-the-scene reporting here.)

Rep. Kim Schrier feared for the future of the U.S. Forest Service, telling KPQ,

These cuts are particularly impactful for the Northwest because we have vast expanses of national forest and public land...we're taking away people who do what we call 'wildfire mitigation': they do the work that thins the forests to prevent catastrophic wildfires. They do that year-round so we aren't choking on smoke all summer.

 

It's also, potentially, taking away the people who monitor the radar, the weather system, and communicate with firefighters to keep them out of danger. It may take away the rangers who keep our trails safe and clean - who crack down on people who build campfires during a burn ban.

Then came some backtracking on the part of our federal overseers. On March 5, the Merit Systems Protection Board issued a 45-day stay on the lay-offs. This coincided with a deluge of unemployment claims: 190, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department.