Public Health Can’t Wait for Half Measures

AFGE Local 2883 stands with every public health worker affected by the reckless Reduction in Force (RIF) at CDC. This RIF was rushed, with no planning, no transparency, and no understanding of who was being let go or why. While dismantling critical CDC programs, the political appointees in charge failed to consider the immediate and long-term consequences to our nation’s public health. The result has been constant chaos, with lack of a plan or vision for the future.

This crisis was manufactured by this administration and its political appointees. From behind closed doors, they attacked CDC’s mission, gutted programs, and dismantled teams doing critical work.

Reinstating about 400 employees only underscores how flawed the original decision was. Still, thousands of other public health professionals from CDC remain sidelined from continuing vital public health operations that keep this country healthy and safe.

This is not a resolution; this is damage control. A stark reminder of the damage already done and proving what we’ve said all along—these people were never disposable. This is what happens when decisions are made by those unaware of the agencies’ critical services and the consequences of dismantling them.

Communities lost essential services. Public health infrastructure was shredded. People will suffer—some will die—because of these decisions.

Here’s the truth:

• More than 2,400 CDC workers were callously fired—many without warning or cause.

• Entire programs vanished overnight. Surveillance stopped. Grants stalled. Community partnerships were broken.

• All of it haphazardly planned behind closed doors before Secretary Kennedy was even in the building. No communication from the agency, no transparency, and no regard to the will of Congress, or the will of the people who elect them.

  
  

These firings happened without clear communication, transition plans, or the handoff of critical work. Now, some workers are being called back. But the rescission notices are vague—just two lines long. No plan. No apology. No accountability.

Those reinstated yesterday have been benched for months, kept from protecting the public while still on the taxpayer’s dime. It’s as wasteful as it is dangerous.

AFGE Local 2883 is focused on securing full accountability and lasting protections for the CDC workforce. We demand transparency. We demand a plan to rebuild CDC’s capacity. And we demand protection for public health work from political whims. This can only be accomplished by rescinding the remaining RIF notices.

Let our people do what they do best—utilize science to protect our nation’s health.

To our members: We see you. We fight for you. We won’t stop until your jobs are secured from ill-informed political meddling.

Solidarity, always.

AFGE Local 2883

Protecting Those Who Protect the Public