More Than Two Million Federal Workers Live And Work In Every State In America – Embodying The Ideals Of Nonpartisanship And Integrity

Americans Are Joining Together To Defend And Support Civil Servants Who Are Facing Increasing Attacks 

Washington, DC – Today, a broad coalition of civil society institutions and organizations launched  Civil Service Strong, a new effort and public resource center that houses information to support the American people, including the 2.2 million federal government civil servants across the country who work tirelessly to make our country stronger. 

Civil Service Strong is an effort by civil society, non-partisan good government and watchdog organizations, lawyers, unions who are joining together to ensure our nation’s civil service is able to continue to serve the American people and our Constitution, deliver for our nation, and support our communities. Our nation’s civil servants, government employees, help keep our food, medicine, transportation, and water safe; secure our public safety and our national security; deliver our mail; support our education and health care systems; ensure our financial system operates and that small businesses and business owners have access to credit; and work in our court houses, our airports, our national parks, and so much more. 

According to recent data, 95% of Americans believe government workers and civil servants should be hired and promoted based on their merit rather than their political beliefs. Yet, there are now increasingly alarming threats against the civil service and individual civil servants themselves — ultimately threatening the ability of the government to work for the people and democracy itself. In today’s environment, civil servants are already experiencing harassment, and many are considering whether to leave public service or endure firing, reassignment, and retaliation. 

Civil Service Strong is committed to supporting a well-functioning government that works for the American people, which includes supporting career, non-partisan civil service and the people who power it. Civil Service Strong is supported in part by the following organizations:

  • American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
  • American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
  • American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
  • Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
  • Democracy Forward
  • Government Accountability Project
  • National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE)
  • Project on Government Oversight (POGO)
  • State Democracy Defenders Fund

The Civil Service Strong website will serve as the most comprehensive one-stop-shop for educating the public regarding threats to the civil service and containing information regarding resources available for civil servants facing harassment by private individuals, or fearing firing, reassignment, or retaliation on the job, including:

  • Legal Response Network: Following inauguration, Civil Service Strong will house information on how to access legal resources for civil servants who may be harmed or in need of legal representation  
  • Employment Rights: Federal employees’ rights and methods for recourse are housed across a number of federal agencies, websites, and forms. Civil Service Strong centralizes those resources for immediate access 
  • Tracking: Civil Service Strong will monitor and publish ongoing attacks on the civil service as well as other changes, including Reductions in Force (RIFs) to specific agencies or departments, which would hinder the government’s ability to protect and deliver for people  
  • Research: Civil Service Strong will provide publicly accessible research and resources regarding the civil service and the ability of the government to work for people 
  • Union Support: Civil Service Strong will help to connect those civil servants seeking union representation to their appropriate contact

 

Quotes from Coalition Members:

“The federal civil service is made up of 2.2 million patriotic individuals, a third of whom are veterans, who provide vital services to the American people including ensuring clean air and water, securing our borders and our communities, supporting our military at home and abroad, protecting our skies, combating health care crises, caring for our veterans, providing social security benefits, inspecting our food, upholding our civil liberties, and so much more,” said American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley.  “Federal employees are the backbone of our society, delivering upon the promises made in the U.S. Constitution. On behalf of the 800,000 civil servants we represent, AFGE is proud to be a part of the Civil Service Strong initiative, standing up against attacks on the federal workforce and the essential services they provide to our nation’s citizens.”

“The civil service makes our nation function and serves the American people, the backbone of our democracy,” said Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman. “Each day, in every state, civil servants are on the front line to ensure that the government works for everybody. We are more than proud to join with the many organizations dedicated to protecting the civil service in order to serve as a resource and support for the men and women who pledged to uphold the United States’ Constitution and do this work everyday.”

“For more than 45 years, we’ve protected courageous civil servants during every administration whose decisions to blow the whistle on wrongdoing, corruption and illegality have saved taxpayers millions of dollars; prevented nuclear disasters and environmental harm; protected consumers from unsafe food and drugs; exposed unconscionable treatment of children and adults in immigration detention; and held agency officials accountable who abuse their power to serve political rather than public interests in violation of their oath of office,” said Government Accountability Project’s Senior Director of Advocacy & Strategy Dana Gold. “We are now seeing an avalanche of understandable fear from federal employees whose job it is to implement the law. No one deserves to be targeted for doing so. We intend to inform as many federal employees of their rights as we can reach, and to protect the civil servant whistleblowers who protect all of us.”

For information on how to join the effort, email info@civilservicestrong.org

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