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Civil Rights for Civil Servants
Hear Shaun Southworth and Lydia Taylor explain federal employee rights, public service, workplace systems, and the people navigating them.
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BLS Firing Raises Alarms for Federal Employee Protections
Late Friday, Presidentially appointed economist Dr. Erika McEntarfer was removed as head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)—just hours after releasing a jobs report the White ...
VA Union Purge: What the Directive Means for You
On August 6, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a sweeping order that voided every collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) covering its workforce—except for roughly...
VA’s Union Contract Termination and the Legal Crosshairs
In a sweeping move, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has unilaterally terminated every major collective bargaining agreement (CBA) covering 377,000 employees. This action wa...
VA Union Contracts Eliminated Overnight—Why It Matters Beyond the VA
Late last night, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) canceled every major union contract covering more than 377,000 employees—nurses, doctors, benefits processors, and research...
MSPB Deadlines in Reduction-in-Force (RIF) Cases — Don’t Miss Yours
If you are a federal employee impacted by a reduction-in-force (RIF), the clock is already ticking to protect your rights before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Missing ...
BREAKING: VA Slashes Union Rights for 377,000 Workers
Late on August 6th, VA Secretary Doug Collins took sweeping action that immediately undermines bargaining rights for over 377,000 VA employees—including nurses, doctors, claims rep...
What the End of the Luévano Decree Means for Federal Hiring
On August 5, 2025, the Department of Justice quietly terminated the Luévano consent decree—a 44-year-old safeguard that scrapped the PACE exam, a civil-service test proven to disad...
OPM Just Killed the “Five Things” Email. Here’s Why That Matters.
For months, federal employees were trapped in a Sunday-night ritual: condensing their entire workweek into five bullet points for leadership’s inbox. Born from a top-down directive...
How to Challenge a RIF at the MSPB Using the 3-Layer Error Hierarchy
If you're facing a Reduction in Force (RIF) and appealing to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)—especially on your own—there’s one legal insight that could change everything...
FBI Whistleblower Bill to Help Strengthen Protection for FBI Agents
On July 29, 2025, a rare piece of bipartisan legislation dropped that deserves your attention—even if you’ve never set foot inside the Hoover Building. The FBI Whistleblower Protec...
Ninth Circuit Ruling Revives Trump-Era Union Limits
A significant legal shift occurred last Friday. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily lifted a lower court’s injunction that had been protecting federal employees’ collect...
IRS Rescinded 80% of RIFs Given to Civil Rights & Compliance Staff
In a rare but dramatic pivot, the IRS has rescinded nearly 80% of its Reduction in Force (RIF) notices to Civil Rights and Compliance employees. The agency issued a one-sentence re...
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