Union members at USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration – formerly the Food and Nutrition Service, or FNS – are pushing back against criticism by the Ag Department’s deputy secretary that their demands during relocation negotiations are unreasonable.
As part of its reorganization, USDA is closing the national FNA office in Alexandria, Virginia, and moving people to either the Yates Building in Washington, D.C., or the George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland.
In a letter Thursday to Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., a member of the House Agriculture Committee, and other congressional Democrats, Vaden addressed negotiations over the relocations within the D.C. metro area.
“It appears some union leaders are prioritizing their own interests and needs over the agency’s mission, despite their public claims to be primarily interested in American citizens’ need of food assistance,” he said in the June 4 letter, which he posted on X.
In the letter, he said the union has sought, among other things: “grieving periods for employee strain; allowing employees to choose from which office they work, regardless of the agency’s needs; sunlight access or so-called ‘happy’ lamps to mimic the sunlight; single occupant restrooms; coffee machines; auditory dampeners; onsite food vending; shuttle buses, and more
Chapter 226 of the National Treasury Employees Union responded in kind. The local’s statement said Vaden’s comments came as “no surprise.”
“He’s the face of forced relocations that surveys consistently show would likely compel over 75% of employees to quit and would devastate” the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Women, Infants and Children program, school meals, “and more,” the statement said.
“If Deputy Secretary Vaden cared about the FNS mission, he would not be wasting taxpayer money rearranging the FNS office structure and shuffling jobs across the country. NTEU Chapter 226 remains committed to bargaining in good faith and protecting the public servants who, regardless of politics, ensure that Americans don’t go hungry.”
Hayes brought up Vaden’s letter at Thursday’s House Agriculture Committee meeting in telling Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins she had more questions about the reorganization.
She said she and 47 Democratic colleagues had written to USDA May 11, and that in his reply, Vaden said lawmakers were raising questions that had not been brought up at a May 13 roundtable he held with members of Congress.
Hayes, however, said at the hearing that at the gathering, members had not been allowed to speak and that Vaden had a “hard stop” for the meeting.
“The letter that I sent highlighted concerns about FNS losing nearly 30% of its workforce since the start of this administration, and this reorganization leaving critical nutrition programs dangerously short-staffed at precisely the moment where they are needed most,” Hayes told Rollins.
Vaden’s response “does not address any of the concerns that I listed, so I feel the department should be able to talk about them in full public view. … I am open to hearing your thoughts on this reorganization, and it should not be behind closed doors.”
Hayes asked the secretary how many employees would be affected by the organization, “and how will the USDA fill vacancies resulting from the reorganization orders? There’s a hiring freeze, and … one of my primary concerns is, how do you intend to maintain regional program expertise and relationships with state agencies under this new hub’s structure?”
“Our goal is that this actually becomes even more effective, because we’ll be out in the country with the very people that we’re serving, versus here in Washington,” Rollins said.
Referring to the transfer of some employees to regional hubs outside of D.C., she said, “We’re doing several of the hubs in the middle of the country, we have some on the west coast and some on the east coast, and no … employees have been cut in that reorganization. No food aid has been compromised. This is really an effort to get closer to the people that we serve and out of the Washington, D.C. area.”
“I apologize if there was a hard stop and not everyone got their questions answered. We’ll reschedule,” Rollins said.
The hubs will be located in Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Kansas City, Missouri. Regional operations and program support will be located in Los Angeles, Dallas, New York City and Atlanta.
A union representative told Agri-Pulse that in a survey, 34% of the approximately 400 staff who have been at the headquarters in Virginia would not move if relocated to Beltsville. More than 80% have already said they don’t want to be relocated to a regional office outside of the D.C. area.
The rep also said although USDA management “haven’t told us this officially … it sounds like ultimately they only want to keep about 100 people at Yates,” in Washington, D.C. The approximately 300 employees relocated to Maryland “at some point would get moved out to the hubs, dependent on their role and which program they’re associated with,” they said.
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.