DOGE Lays Off Probationary Employees at Portsmouth Shipyard

Six probationary civilian employees at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard were laid off Tuesday morning as part an effort by DOGE to cut the workforce of the Department of Defense. The decision to fire workers did not come from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard management, but the Department of the Navy. The workers were administrative staff who performed secretarial duties for department heads at the shipyard. All of them were represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2024.

“There are people making decisions who are not educated about the business end of what we do and what the impact will be of cutting all of these employees,” said Bill Webber, President of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2024.

“Every position has a purpose whether it's a secretary or an administrative assistant and they each have important duties," he added. "We already have a hiring freeze, so when they get rid of those positions and urge people to take buy-out offers, the work doesn’t disappear. It just means the workload gets shoved off to somebody else who has to do more work for the same pay. These cuts are not being made thoughtfully or with any regard to the mission these dedicated employees perform.” AFGE represents between 500 to 600 shipyard workers, including those in administrative positions, training instructors, travel assistants, shipyard police department officers and secretaries."

Webber said that the Navy has been making calls every day inquiring how many probationary workers are at the yard, how long they have been there and how they are performing. The Department has also inquired about the unions, how much time they are allotted to represent workers, how much office space they use and what their assets are. During President Trump's first term, he attempted to weaken federal unions by limiting the official time they could use to represent members.

"This time what is going to happen is going to be more calculated," said Webber. "They’ve already been in my building and all the other union buildings to see how many computer drops there are etc. They’re already sizing it up."