Latest news with #DavidSpero
San Francisco Chronicle
26-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: Antisemitism is real. A new state anti-discrimination bill won't protect against it
Regarding 'California anti-discrimination bill faces blowback' (Politics, May 21): While everyone agrees antisemitism is bad, few agree on what it means. AB715 expands the definition of antisemitism by defining 'nationality' as 'residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.' So, because Judaism is dominant in Israel, school lessons that reference accusations that it is an apartheid state or that its actions in Gaza are genocidal would be deemed antisemitic. AB715's lead author, Assembly Member Rick Chavez Zbur, says the bill doesn't define criticism of Israel as antisemitism 'as long as that criticism is consistent with how you would criticize any other government that's doing the same thing.' Nice try, but who decides? When Amnesty International and Oxfam call the Gaza massacres genocide, are they antisemitic? This bill will not protect Jews. It sets up Jews as a special class deserving protection denied to African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and other groups not mentioned in AB715. As a California Jew, I urge a no vote on this terrible bill. David Spero, San Francisco Charge for traffic Regarding 'N.Y. is using this controversial idea to fight traffic, fund transit and bring life back downtown. S.F. can, too' (Open Forum, May 22): Ned Resnikoff's op-ed is right on point. I have lived in San Francisco by the Bay Bridge on/off ramps at Harrison, Main and Bryant streets for 30 years. We residents put up with vehicular emissions, honking, shouting and general pandemonium as commuters come into and exit the city. We sometimes do not have access to our garages. Cabs and Ubers cannot get to us. Emergency vehicles cannot get to us. In the meantime, more housing is being built and proposed in this area. This will bring even more vehicles to the neighborhood. I, for one, cannot comprehend how this situation can continue. Katy Liddell, San Francisco Help all moms Republicans have raised the child tax credit to $2,500 in their 'Big Beautiful Bill.' They hope this will persuade more middle-class women to stay home with their kids. At the same time, the bill requires women too poor for tax credits but who receive Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program benefits to leave their kids and go to work. If they don't, they lose the $200 to $300 per month that SNAP provides. This raises two questions. Why do Americans who are better off to begin with get a much higher benefit? Why do Republicans only want to help middle-class moms stay home while they force working-class moms to go out and work no matter what their circumstances? Kristina Marcy, Woodland, Yolo County Secession would be bad Regarding 'Secession makes sense' (Letters to the Editor, May 22): The letter endorsed the idea of California's secession as a viable and 'sane' response to the current state of the country. What this ignores is that, unlike the European Union, the Constitution contains no legal means for a member state to leave. Consequently, California's secession would immediately trigger a justifiable response by the Federal government, including declaring war on the state, just as it did to the Confederacy secession in 1860. California could not win such a war. But even worse than a defeat, it would provide the President Donald Trump with an opportunity to don the mantle of Abraham Lincoln as a defender of the Union. Trump has currently juxtaposed his image with that of Lincoln on the Capital Mall. It would be a disastrous mistake to provide him with a concrete reason for this offensive comparison. John Rose, Ashland, Ore. Thanks to service members This Memorial Day, we remember those who gave their lives defending our country and the freedoms that make America the greatest nation on Earth. It is up to each of us as Americans to carry on their memory and uphold the values they sacrificed dearly to protect. May God bless the men and women in our armed forces, the families of those who have lost their loved ones in the service of our nation and the incredible United States of America for which they fought. Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Getting paid not to work: Federal probationary workers are being reinstated but put on paid leave
Days after a Maryland federal judge ruled that terminated probationary workers must be temporarily reinstated, multiple federal agencies have told their staffers that they are complying with the decision – but placing the employees on paid administrative leave. Workers at the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Food and Drug Administration, among other agencies, received emails that said they are being reinstated and placed on administrative leave – essentially being paid not to work. Separately, at least one US Department of Agriculture probationary employee who was terminated received notice late last week that they would be reinstated and placed on paid administrative leave initially. The agency told staffers it is developing a phased plan to return them to duty. This action stems from an earlier order by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which said that nearly 6,000 probationary workers who lost their jobs in mid-February had to be reinstated for at least 45 days. At the Federal Aviation Administration, workers were informed that they would be put on administrative leave through Wednesday and their supervisors would reach out about resuming their duties. They will receive back pay, and the termination will be removed from the personnel record. 'They will be able to get back to their important work on behalf of the American flying public,' David Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents FAA employees, said in a statement. CNN has viewed the emails from multiple agencies. Most agencies specified that the workers will receive retroactive pay from their termination date. While the IRS' email to employees did not mention back pay, a separate email sent to agency managers said the probationary workers will receive it. As part of its efforts to downsize the federal workforce, the Trump administration has dismissed tens of thousands of probationary workers, who have typically been in their positions for only one or two years. The MSPB and two federal judges have issued various orders and rulings regarding their reinstatement, at least temporarily. The second federal judge, who last week ordered the reinstatement of probationary workers at certain agencies, asked the Department of Justice to explain to the court on Tuesday why the staffers were being put on administrative leave. 'This is not allowed by the preliminary injunction, for it would not restore the services the preliminary injunction intends to restore,' the judge wrote in a brief order. Workers interviewed by CNN said they were pleased that they are being reinstated and getting paid again, but they expressed frustration that they cannot return to their jobs. Many, if not all, had to return their work laptops and phone, had their work emails suspended and have been told not to go to their offices. 'I'm ready and raring to go. I don't like to get paid not to do my work,' the USDA probationary worker told CNN. 'The whole fraud, waste and abuse thing, it's kind of hilarious now, because they're wasting money by paying us all to not work.' Employees CNN interviewed said they are in a holding pattern. Two said they have applied for scores of jobs but haven't gotten any interviews. Some are also wary that the courts may ultimately rule in the Trump administration's favor or that they may lose their job anyway through the sweeping reduction in force, or RIF, that is underway across the federal government. Andy Hazelton, a hurricane hunter with NOAA who was fired as a probationary employee, told CNN the letter he received left him with 'a lot more questions than answers.' While Hazelton said he's relieved to be getting back pay, the letter notes he could be re-fired at any time, depending on how the court case goes. 'We're not back to work yet, which is unfortunate,' he told CNN. 'It's kind of at the mercy of the court system now. Definitely some initial relief but a lot of uncertainty.' At the same time, probationary employees are hearing from their former colleagues that the work is piling up. 'They are burning the candle at both ends and a mystery third end, and I'm on my fifth week of paid vacation,' said one FDA probationary worker who was initially put on administrative leave for a month and has now been extended. 'I want to get back to my job.' A number of enforcement officers and attorneys in the EPA's enforcement group were initially fired and now are being placed on leave, said Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238's Local 704, representing EPA workers in Michigan and the Upper Midwest. Their work focuses on the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other laws. 'Most of these inspectors do about 10 inspections per year. If they are on leave, inspections are not being done,' she said. 'With less enforcement, industrial polluters will go unchecked.' Same is true at the USDA, where a union local president told CNN that losing the probationary workers is disrupting their team's ability to provide services to the public. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers, called the administration's action 'chaotic' and 'disrespectful.' 'While paid administrative leave still deprives the agency of much-needed staffing during tax filing season, it allows these mistreated employees to continue to receive their pay and benefits as the legal battle continues,' the NTEU said. But not all laid-off probationary employees are so eager to return to their agencies. One IRS worker on the audit team said that the office has become so toxic and abusive under the Trump administration that they must carefully consider their next step. 'A good part of me says this is not viable. I can't go back to work under these conditions,' the worker, who is a certified public accountant, told CNN. 'It was almost inhumane. You knew something was coming down, and there was just a complete vacuum of information.' This story has been updated with additional reporting. CNN's Devan Cole contributed to this story.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Getting paid not to work: Federal probationary workers are being reinstated but put on paid leave
Days after a Maryland federal judge ruled that terminated probationary workers must be temporarily reinstated, multiple federal agencies have told their staffers that they are complying with the decision – but placing the employees on paid administrative leave. Workers at the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Food and Drug Administration, among other agencies, received emails that said they are being reinstated and placed on administrative leave – essentially being paid not to work. Separately, at least one US Department of Agriculture probationary employee who was terminated received notice late last week that they would be reinstated and placed on paid administrative leave initially. The agency told staffers it is developing a phased plan to return them to duty. This action stems from an earlier order by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which said that nearly 6,000 probationary workers who lost their jobs in mid-February had to be reinstated for at least 45 days. At the Federal Aviation Administration, workers were informed that they would be put on administrative leave through Wednesday and their supervisors would reach out about resuming their duties. They will receive back pay, and the termination will be removed from the personnel record. 'They will be able to get back to their important work on behalf of the American flying public,' David Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents FAA employees, said in a statement. CNN has viewed the emails from multiple agencies. Most agencies specified that the workers will receive retroactive pay from their termination date. While the IRS' email to employees did not mention back pay, a separate email sent to agency managers said the probationary workers will receive it. As part of its efforts to downsize the federal workforce, the Trump administration has dismissed tens of thousands of probationary workers, who have typically been in their positions for only one or two years. The MSPB and two federal judges have issued various orders and rulings regarding their reinstatement, at least temporarily. Workers interviewed by CNN said they were pleased that they are being reinstated and getting paid again, but they expressed frustration that they cannot return to their jobs. Many, if not all, had to return their work laptops and phone, had their work emails suspended and have been told not to go to their offices. 'I'm ready and raring to go. I don't like to get paid not to do my work,' the USDA probationary worker told CNN. 'The whole fraud, waste and abuse thing, it's kind of hilarious now, because they're wasting money by paying us all to not work.' Employees CNN interviewed said they are in a holding pattern. Two said they have applied for scores of jobs but haven't gotten any interviews. Some are also wary that the courts may ultimately rule in the Trump administration's favor or that they may lose their job anyway through the sweeping reduction in force, or RIF, that is underway across the federal government. Andy Hazelton, a hurricane hunter with NOAA who was fired as a probationary employee, told CNN the letter he received left him with 'a lot more questions than answers.' While Hazelton said he's relieved to be getting back pay, the letter notes he could be re-fired at any time, depending on how the court case goes. 'We're not back to work yet, which is unfortunate,' he told CNN. 'It's kind of at the mercy of the court system now. Definitely some initial relief but a lot of uncertainty.' At the same time, probationary employees are hearing from their former colleagues that the work is piling up. 'They are burning the candle at both ends and a mystery third end, and I'm on my fifth week of paid vacation,' said one FDA probationary worker who was initially put on administrative leave for a month and has now been extended. 'I want to get back to my job.' A number of enforcement officers and attorneys in the EPA's enforcement group were initially fired and now are being placed on leave, said Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238's Local 704, representing EPA workers in Michigan and the Upper Midwest. Their work focuses on the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other laws. 'Most of these inspectors do about 10 inspections per year. If they are on leave, inspections are not being done,' she said. 'With less enforcement, industrial polluters will go unchecked.' Same is true at the USDA, where a union local president told CNN that losing the probationary workers is disrupting their team's ability to provide services to the public. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers, called the administration's action 'chaotic' and 'disrespectful.' 'While paid administrative leave still deprives the agency of much-needed staffing during tax filing season, it allows these mistreated employees to continue to receive their pay and benefits as the legal battle continues,' the NTEU said. But not all laid-off probationary employees are so eager to return to their agencies. One IRS worker on the audit team said that the office has become so toxic and abusive under the Trump administration that they must carefully consider their next step. 'A good part of me says this is not viable. I can't go back to work under these conditions,' the worker, who is a certified public accountant, told CNN. 'It was almost inhumane. You knew something was coming down, and there was just a complete vacuum of information.'
CNN
18-03-2025
- Business
- CNN
Getting paid not to work: Federal probationary workers are being reinstated but put on paid leave
Days after a Maryland federal judge ruled that terminated probationary workers must be temporarily reinstated, multiple federal agencies have told their staffers that they are complying with the decision – but placing the employees on paid administrative leave. Workers at the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Food and Drug Administration, among other agencies, received emails that said they are being reinstated and placed on administrative leave – essentially being paid not to work. Separately, at least one US Department of Agriculture probationary employee who was terminated received notice late last week that they would be reinstated and placed on paid administrative leave initially. The agency told staffers it is developing a phased plan to return them to duty. This action stems from an earlier order by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which said that nearly 6,000 probationary workers who lost their jobs in mid-February had to be reinstated for at least 45 days. At the Federal Aviation Administration, workers were informed that they would be put on administrative leave through Wednesday and their supervisors would reach out about resuming their duties. They will receive back pay, and the termination will be removed from the personnel record. 'They will be able to get back to their important work on behalf of the American flying public,' David Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents FAA employees, said in a statement. CNN has viewed the emails from multiple agencies. Most agencies specified that the workers will receive retroactive pay from their termination date. While the IRS' email to employees did not mention back pay, a separate email sent to agency managers said the probationary workers will receive it. As part of its efforts to downsize the federal workforce, the Trump administration has dismissed tens of thousands of probationary workers, who have typically been in their positions for only one or two years. The MSPB and two federal judges have issued various orders and rulings regarding their reinstatement, at least temporarily. Workers interviewed by CNN said they were pleased that they are being reinstated and getting paid again, but they expressed frustration that they cannot return to their jobs. Many, if not all, had to return their work laptops and phone, had their work emails suspended and have been told not to go to their offices. 'I'm ready and raring to go. I don't like to get paid not to do my work,' the USDA probationary worker told CNN. 'The whole fraud, waste and abuse thing, it's kind of hilarious now, because they're wasting money by paying us all to not work.' Employees CNN interviewed said they are in a holding pattern. Two said they have applied for scores of jobs but haven't gotten any interviews. Some are also wary that the courts may ultimately rule in the Trump administration's favor or that they may lose their job anyway through the sweeping reduction in force, or RIF, that is underway across the federal government. Andy Hazelton, a hurricane hunter with NOAA who was fired as a probationary employee, told CNN the letter he received left him with 'a lot more questions than answers.' While Hazelton said he's relieved to be getting back pay, the letter notes he could be re-fired at any time, depending on how the court case goes. 'We're not back to work yet, which is unfortunate,' he told CNN. 'It's kind of at the mercy of the court system now. Definitely some initial relief but a lot of uncertainty.' At the same time, probationary employees are hearing from their former colleagues that the work is piling up. 'They are burning the candle at both ends and a mystery third end, and I'm on my fifth week of paid vacation,' said one FDA probationary worker who was initially put on administrative leave for a month and has now been extended. 'I want to get back to my job.' A number of enforcement officers and attorneys in the EPA's enforcement group were initially fired and now are being placed on leave, said Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238's Local 704, representing EPA workers in Michigan and the Upper Midwest. Their work focuses on the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other laws. 'Most of these inspectors do about 10 inspections per year. If they are on leave, inspections are not being done,' she said. 'With less enforcement, industrial polluters will go unchecked.' Same is true at the USDA, where a union local president told CNN that losing the probationary workers is disrupting their team's ability to provide services to the public. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers, called the administration's action 'chaotic' and 'disrespectful.' 'While paid administrative leave still deprives the agency of much-needed staffing during tax filing season, it allows these mistreated employees to continue to receive their pay and benefits as the legal battle continues,' the NTEU said. But not all laid-off probationary employees are so eager to return to their agencies. One IRS worker on the audit team said that the office has become so toxic and abusive under the Trump administration that they must carefully consider their next step. 'A good part of me says this is not viable. I can't go back to work under these conditions,' the worker, who is a certified public accountant, told CNN. 'It was almost inhumane. You knew something was coming down, and there was just a complete vacuum of information.'
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘We're your neighbors, friends and family': Oklahoma City FAA workers axed in federal layoffs feel betrayed, concerned by rhetoric
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Former FAA employees in Oklahoma City, now among those laid off as part of the federal government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) job cuts, say they feel betrayed and abandoned, and that they are not faceless bureaucrats, but everyday people—your friends, your neighbors—who are now without a federal government laid off more than 300 employees from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over the weekend as part of its ongoing efforts to increase efficiency under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. LOCAL NEWS: Lawmakers wants Oklahoma absentee voters to explain their absence Many of those affected work in Oklahoma City at the FAA's Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, a hub for the agency's training operations. The layoffs come amid rhetoric about streamlining federal government functions. But one employee who lost their job, speaking to News 4 anonymously, says the focus from Washington and supporters of the initiative has failed to account for the real-life consequences for the people affected.'We're all just too, I think, in shock and just taking it in,' the former Oklahoma City-based FAA employee told News was 10:35 p.m. on Friday when the employee got a message.'I got an email sent to my personal email letting me know that my employment was terminated,' the former employee were one of hundreds of FAA workers—still under their probationary employment period—who the federal government decided last week, were no longer needed.'Effective immediately,' the former employee came just as the employee was preparing to return to in-person work following an executive order from President Trump.'I was actually just shopping for clothes to go back into the office,' they said. 'I had childcare set up for that reason. And then it was actually, 'you don't need to go in the office, because you no longer have a job.''Beyond the shock of being fired over email late on a Friday, something the termination email said in particular stood out to the former employee.'It was due to performance, which was the most shocking part about it,' the former employee employee, who worked as a contractor with the FAA for nearly a decade before joining the agency as an employee last fall, told News 4 they hadn't been with the FAA long enough to have any performance evaluation done. The former employee said, as far as they and their manager knew, they were doing an excellent job.'I had gotten nothing but positive feedback,' they said. 'The practice of using the probationary period as a tool for quick termination, and without proper evaluation or due process, it really undermines both like the principles of good governance and basic workplace fairness.'David Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union, spoke with NBC News on Monday, calling the firings a 'hastily made decision' that would put more work on an already stretched workforce.'You have to do it in a thoughtful way, you can't introduce risk into the national airspace system,' Spero told NBC news. 'There's no way you can ever just take a shot at and go.'The federal layoffs were ordered by President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is helmed by billionaire Elon Musk.'We do need to delete entire agencies,' Musk said of the DOGE initiative in a previous interview with NBC Trump applauded the layoffs while speaking with NBC News reporters after the Daytona 500 over the weekend.'This country has made more progress in the last three weeks than it's made in the last four years,' Trump former FAA employee News for spoke with said, Trump wasn't the only person they saw celebrating. 'I see family and friends that are sharing, you know, basically applauding what's going on and they're happy about this,' the former employee the former employee, that may be the hardest part—'Many of us took these positions accepting lower salaries than we probably could have if we had gone into the private sector,' they said.—The divisive rhetoric, the armchair quarterbacking. LOCAL NEWS: Protesters take on President Trump's policies 'This narrative—that federal employees are just wasteful or crazy—it couldn't be further from the truth,' they said. 'My colleagues and I work very hard to serve our communities and uphold our agency's missions.'The feeling was hard to put into words.'I never knew that there was this outlook on federal employees, that we're these evil, you know, lazy people that don't work hard or care about what we do,' they feeling—the former employee says—that comes when your own neighbors take glee in seeing you down.'I would just ask that you would, you know, look at us as regular people,' the former employee said. 'We're not faceless bureaucrats. We're your neighbors, friends and family members who—we chose public service because we believe in the mission.'With President's Day being a federal holiday, News 4 was unable to get in touch with the FAA for any comment on NBC News has been attempting to reach out to the FAA for the past few days. They have also not heard back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
