[[{“value”:”Higher education workers joined federal employees at the Tip O’Neil Federal Building during the back-to-back rallies. Photo by Vanessa B/Working Mass.
By Chris Brady
WEST END – More than 300 federal workers, union members, and community supporters rallied in Downtown Boston on Wednesday in front of the Tip O’Neill Federal Building to protest the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts to public services and illegal mass terminations of federal workers. The rally was a part of a national ‘Save Our Services’ day of action with coordinated protests in thirty cities across the country.
The rallies were coordinated by the Federal Unionists Network, an informal group of federal workers across agencies and unions working together to strengthen federal unions and build solidarity across the labor movement. Boston’s action was sponsored by federal unions including the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the American Federation of Government Employee (AFGE), and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), as well as the Greater Boston Labor Council, Boston Building Trades Union, and the MA AFL-CIO. It followed immediately after the higher education labor rally against federal funding cuts earlier at Government Center
Protesters formed a picket line outside of the O’Neill building, chanting, “Get up, get down, Boston is a union town!” before consolidating on the steps to listen to speeches from federal unionists, illegally-terminated workers, and Representative Ayanna Pressley.
Claire Bergstresser was illegally terminated from Housing and Urban Development, is a member of AFGE Local 3258, and spoke at the rally.
“I became a federal worker committed to public service. I worked hard every day to enforce rights, listen to the community, and improve the well-being of our community. Today I am no longer a federal worker, but I am not relieved of my duty to serve the American people.”
Claire worked in the Fair Housing office, ensuring compliance with housing discrimination laws and enabling disadvantaged people to access housing programs.
DOGE front-man and world’s richest man Elon Musk has claimed that federal workers are “getting rich at the expense of the taxpayer”. However, on average federal workers make 24 percent less than their private sector counterparts. Thousands of federal workers have been fired, with hundreds of thousands of workers included in the crosshairs of future proposed cuts.
Federal Unionist Network organizer and Boston DSA member Ellen Mei addresses rally. Photo by Vanessa B/ Working Mass.
Ellen Mei is the chapter president of NTEU 255, and works in the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services, emphasized the vital public services at risk due to staffing cuts.
“At my agency, we are giving money to kids and families so that they have food to eat. We wouldn’t have to do this if companies paid their workers enough to buy three square meals a day. But now, the wealthy are deciding that not only do they want to keep paying workers peanuts, they’re saying that peanuts are all that us workers get to eat.”
Mei is also a member of Boston DSA, as were the majority of the organizers of the FUN rally in Boston.
DOGE has wrought wanton destruction onto the day to day functioning of the U.S. government. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), a fierce consumer finance watchdog created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has stopped all work and laid off 95% of its staff. The National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Forest Service, have all hemorrhaged staff, leading to questions regarding the maintenance of American natural resources. 400 staff at the Federal Aviation Administration were fired after the deadliest plane crash in sixteen years. Meanwhile, DOGE is currently trying to rehire employees they fired from the National Nuclear Security Administration because they didn’t realize these workers were essential to keeping the nuclear stockpile safe.
Federal workers are the canary in the coal mine. The name of Wednesday’s national day of action, “Save Our Services” (S.O.S.), is to signal to the broader labor movement – this is not just a crisis of federal employment but a crisis of public services and labor rights. The Trump administration has shown no intent to stop after federal workers, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has already been kneecapped, and the basic compromises labor has won from capital – Medicaid, food stamps, and environmental regulations – are on the precipice of annihilation.
A united labor movement is the only tool the left has available to defend against these attacks on workers rights and public services. It is critical that workers, both public and private, organize and push our unions to think creatively and radically. Boston is demonstrating that we are ready to fight back.
Chris Brady is a member of Boston DSA and a writer for Working Mass. He is also involved in the Federal Unionists Network.
Dogs vs. DOGE. Photo by Patrick P/ Working Mass.”}]]