Defending livelihoods in name of public service

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are dismantling vital public services in the name of combat­ing “inefficiency.” That’s meant abruptly — and often illegally — firing tens of thousands of workers like me.

The word “inefficiency” con­jures images of long lines at the D M V a n d p e n c i l pushing employ­ees. But as a fed­eral em­p l o y e e myself, I know the work we do is actually essential to the well-being of all Americans.

In my federal job, my cowork­ers and I will go to court to keep landlords in Alabama from dis­criminating against families for having children. We’ll stop another in New York from dis­criminating against a disabled veteran. And we’ll fight to keep bankers from denying home loans to families because of the color of their skin.

That’s just a tiny fraction of the crucial work done by mil­lions of public servants who work daily to improve and often save lives. Everybody benefits from these services.

Without us, nobody would be able to get their Social Security checks, or their Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Veterans wouldn’t get free, high qual­ity health care tailored to their specific needs. Discrimination wouldn’t be monitored and stopped.

Anything that the private sec­tor couldn’t squeeze profits out of simply wouldn’t get done — to the detriment of all Ameri­cans, everywhere. That’s why I didn’t accept Musk’s bogus res­ignation “buyout” offer — and it’s why I encourage all federal workers to speak out in defense of the services we provide to the American people.

Contrary to what critics like to suggest, the federal work­force is actually smaller relative to the U.S. population than it’s been in the past century. We’re paid about 25 percent less than our counterparts in the pri­vate sector for comparable jobs. And we’re spread out all over America: over 80 percent of us live outside the Washington, D.C. area.

The largest federal depart­ment in terms of employees is the Postal Service, whose more than half a million hard-work­ing employees serve every U.S. address, rain or shine, six days a week. Rural Americans that private shipping companies don’t find it profitable to serve will suffer the most if this ser­vice is cut.

The next is the Department of Veteran Affairs, which operates hospitals throughout the coun­try for veterans. As a result, a huge number of federal employ­ees — roughly 300,000 — are health care workers.

Some of the most unnoticed but most critical work federal workers perform is protecting Americans by making sure busi­nesses follow the law.

The Food and Drug Admin­istration ensures that the food businesses sell is safe to eat. The Department of Labor makes sure employers respect the rights and safety of work­ers, including paying them fairly. The Environmental Pro­tection Agency puts a check on corporate polluters, ensuring that our water is safe to drink and our air safe to breathe.

Without this work — and the workers who do it — our coun­try would plunge back into the dark days of the robber barons, who regularly took advantage of workers, consumers, and fami­lies.

Of course, the federal govern­ment can be improved like any large institution. But the best and only way to do that is by listening to the ideas and needs of federal workers, not abusing and firing them.

At a time when the cost of liv­ing has increased for working people, we know that people are angry and looking for someone to blame. But federal employees aren’t the root of our problems. We are a necessary part of the solution. Government services are often some of the most ef­ficient institutions because they’re operated to benefit ev­eryone, not turn a profit. We’re serving the public, not minting millionaires.

We ask our fellow Americans to take action with us in defend­ing our livelihoods — so that we can continue to serve you all.

Paul Osadebe is a federal worker, a union steward with AFGE Local 476, and an organizer with the Federal Unionists Network. This op-ed was produced for Inequal­ity.org and distributed by Other­Words.org.