After Trump Retaliation, Epa Union, Reps. Casten, Garcia, Lt. Gov. Stratton Demand Employees Who Signed Dissent Letter Be Allowed to Return to Duty (Chicago, IL) – The union representing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workers in Chicago’s Region 5 headquarters held a press conference on Monday demanding that U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin restore to active duty all 31 Chicago EPA employees who were unjustly placed by the Agency on administrative leave last week after signing a letter of dissent against Trump administration efforts to politicize the agency. EPA placed 136 workers across the country placed on leave in total.
Joined by Congressmen Sean Casten and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, former EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore, and representatives from the ACLU of Illinois, Sierra Club of Illinois, American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 (AFGE) members gathered in Chicago’s Federal Plaza to speak out.
“By placing their name on a petition protesting those changes, these EPA employees are speaking out for you and your children. They are speaking out for thousands of people whose lives will be put at risk from increased pollution, toxic exposure, and climate-fueled disasters. They are speaking up for science guiding environmental policy, not politics,” said AFGE Local 704 President Nicole Cantello. “Trump’s dismantling of the EPA is not just an attack on EPA experts who were retaliated against here; it is an attack on all Americans who depend on clean air, clean water, and a livable future.”
The union has pledged to take legal action to defend their members.
“I believe in the value of public service and the right to speak truth without fear. Right now, public servants at the EPA–including 31 union brothers and sisters right here in Chicago, are facing retaliation for simply doing their job,” said Congressman Jesús Chuy García. “When workers are silenced and pushed away, we all pay the price. I’m calling on Trump to end the retaliation against our public agencies and their workers, and to respect the important mission they serve.”
“The employees of the EPA stood up and said that they need their administrators to honor the law and the mission of the EPA. They have watched as Administrator Zeldin prioritized politics over science and held himself to a lower standard than he holds his employees to,” said Congressman Sean Casten. “This is deeply offensive, unethical, and opposite of everything the EPA stands for. I’m proud to stand with these employees and thank them for their bravery.”
“Donald Trump doesn’t care about working people — he only cares about protecting his own political power and surrounding himself with those he can scare into silence,” said Juliana Statton, Lt. Governor of Illinois and US Senate candidate. “The men and women of organized labor have taught us what it looks like to lead with courage and without fear. In Illinois, we stand with labor and we always will.”
“Administrator Lee Zeldin seems to have forgotten the first rule of leadership: respect your staff because your success depends on theirs,” said former EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. “Instead he is seeking to stifle speech, erase history and sow fear. EPA does its work to protect air, water and human health because Congress directed them to with wide bipartisan support. What’s truly wasteful is placing highly trained scientists on administrative leave and prohibiting them from doing the work that the American people want and deserve.”
“I was put on administrative leave. I feel exasperated by yet again another remarkably inefficient action by the administration. I have work to do and colleagues counting on me to do it over the next two weeks,” said one EPA employee in an anonymous written statement, citing fear of further retaliation. “Prohibiting me from working places a greater burden on them, and will lead to further delays. This scare tactic is another waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“Being placed on administrative leave has been emotionally difficult. I feel a deep sense of guilt knowing that my absence has added extra pressure to my already overworked colleagues, especially during an ongoing response,” said another EPA employee in a written statement, again remaining anonymous due to fear of retaliation. “It’s frustrating to be sidelined from important field work. What’s most disheartening is knowing this situation stemmed from an avoidable conflict, rather than any failure in my professional duties.”
“I’m mad for a lot of reasons, but right now I’m most disappointed that for months they have been saying they listen to their staff and the latest science, but when confronted with the truth, they demonstrate our concerns in the letter even further and treat us like criminals” said a third anonymous EPA employee on leave in a written statement. “Investigating an email to our boss isn’t an investigation of wrongdoing. It’s a deeper attempt to intimidate us, a violation of our rights, and is wasting taxpayer dollars they claim to so deeply cherish.”
AFGE Local 704 represents some 1000 EPA employees in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
After Trump Retaliation, Epa Union, Reps. Casten, Garcia, Lt. Gov. Stratton Demand Employees Who Signed Dissent Letter Be Allowed to Return to Duty
