Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6) brought forward a letter today in support of federal workers threatened or targeted by layoffs. All seven of his Council colleagues in attendance at the inaugural meeting of the Council’s Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes added their names to the letter.

The text of the letter can be found below:

_____

To federal workers impacted by layoffs,

Thank you for your service to our nation. Over the past month, thousands of people in Seattle and across the country have rallied to show their appreciation and support for your work. We, at the City of Seattle, stand with you and denounce this indiscriminate attack on the federal civil service.

Over the past month, due to reckless federal actions, it’s estimated around 200,000 federal employees have had their roles threatened or terminated. According to recent reports, federal agencies have been asked to prepare for many more layoffs soon.

Federal workers, the services you provide keep our economy running, they keep our community safe, and they keep our entire country moving forward. While these attacks on the civil service are dire, we know they are not insurmountable. As we ask you to hold the line and protect the integrity of our democratic institutions, we know we have a role to play as well.

Your work directly and indirectly benefits the people of Seattle. We need only to look at the impacts of these layoffs on our city and our region to understand how critical your work is. Without you at your stations, our city is at risk:

• Bonneville Power Administration: The City of Seattle purchases approximately 40 percent of our electricity annually from the BPA, which has now reportedly lost around 14 percent of its workforce, hundreds of workers, in the past six weeks. Those workers keep the lights on for our entire region, from the largest Democratic cities to some of our most rural Republican communities. Hydroelectric facilities require focused attention on maintenance and operations to ensure the steady flow of clean, reliable energy. Agency insiders have said these actions needlessly increase the risks of blackouts and rate increases.

• Homelessness Response: Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Community Planning and Development is slated to lose 84% of its staff. Seattle has long received insufficient federal assistance to combat homelessness and build affordable housing. These cuts, to both staff and financial resources, will hurt service providers across our region and only deepen our crisis.

• Department of Veteran Affairs: More than 80,000 VA employees serving America’s veterans are at risk of being laid off. These indiscriminate cuts will result in longer wait times and more confusion for veterans. While it’s unclear how many of these laid off employees are located in Seattle, they will make it harder for veterans to access care and for medical researchers to do their life-saving work.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Nearly 900 workers at NOAA have been laid off. NOAA has employed around 860 workers in Washington State, mostly in Seattle. Losing them risks destabilizing our fish populations, hurting our commercial fishing fleets, and disrupting weather monitoring that keeps us safe.
• Hanford Nuclear Site: Layoffs have impacted nuclear safety engineers, scientists, and other employees working to cleanup radioactive and hazardous chemical contamination at Hanford, the most polluted place in the United States. Hanford’s workforce was already understaffed. Now, they have lost an additional one-sixth of their remaining employees. This puts water quality, wildlife and environmental protections at greater risk.

• Bird Flu and Food Prices: The U.S. Department of Agriculture fired employees working to respond to the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, hindering our ability to monitor the spreading virus and address its impacts on our economy. Costco and other retailers are consistently out of eggs, prices are out of control, and these indiscriminate firings are contributing to rising grocery prices.

• National Parks and Forests: Thousands of workers at the National Parks Service and U.S. Forest Service have been fired forcing the agencies to close popular trails. That includes trails in our own backyard like Franklin Falls and Denny Creek. Employees tasked with preserving delicate ecosystems and helping hikers in places like the Enchantments have also been fired.
• Airports: Between the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration, hundreds of employees have been fired, including around 25 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Our ports are the backbone of Seattle’s economy. These actions put their efficiency at risk.

We do not agree with these indiscriminate actions toward the federal workforce. We thank you for your service. For our part, the Seattle City Council has convened a Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes. We will continue to do what we can to support you, provide city services, and protect the American people from federal overreach.

To our Congressional delegation, now is the time for bold action. We thank you for your ongoing efforts and urge you to continue fighting for our federal workers. We need you to do everything within your power to protect the federal civil service and safeguard the services all of us depend on.  

In partnership,

Councilmember Dan Strauss
Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck
Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth
Councilmember Robert E. Kettle
Councilmember Cathy Moore
Council President Sara Nelson
Councilmember Maritza Rivera
Councilmember Mark Solomon