March 31, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

Washington, D.C. — American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents more than 2,000 current and former employees at the U.S. Department of Education, has filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about working conditions at the U.S. Department of Labor offices.

The OSHA complaint concerns about 60 Education Department employees from the career technical and postsecondary education offices that the Trump Administration has forced to move to the Labor Department building under unlawful and inefficient interagency agreements. At least another 130 workers from the Education Department’s elementary and secondary education office could move to the Labor Department in the coming months under another interagency agreement.

“The Labor Department offices are unsafe and in disrepair, with water leaking from ceilings, mold in kitchens, extreme temperatures from a failing HVAC system, insect traps filled with dead bugs and live insects in lactation rooms and work areas,” said AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman. “These interagency agreements have sown chaos for states and grantees, preventing Congressionally mandated funding from going out on time and hamstringing federal employees who are trying to do their jobs on behalf of the public. This isn’t efficiency — Education Secretary Linda McMahon is creating confusion, eroding public trust, and harming students and families.”

So far, the Education Department has purchased new printers and a refrigerator for the Department of Labor, a waste of taxpayer dollars when the Education Department offices have functioning equipment and facilities. Education staff at Labor also have inconsistent internet access and do not receive safety alerts, which led to staff not evacuating the Labor building in a timely manner when there was a suspicious package.

“We call on the Departments of Education and Labor to immediately address these hazardous conditions and ensure employees have a safe, healthy workplace. We also call on Secretary McMahon to end these unlawful interagency agreements and return Education Department employees to their agency instead of continuing to defy Congress and federal law,” Gittleman said.

View video and photos of building conditions at the Labor Department:

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The American Federation of Government Employees Local 252 is the labor union representing more than 2,000 dedicated public servants at the U.S. Department of Education employees—fired, retired, and still fighting. 

March 26, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents more than 2,000 current and former employees at the U.S. Department of Education, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman:

“For more than a year, the Trump Administration has traumatized federal workers, eroded public trust, harmed students and families, and wasted tens of millions in taxpayer dollars by dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, despite explicit direction from Congress and multiple courts that Education Secretary Linda McMahon does not have the authority to do so. Now, the Secretary plans to move what’s left of the Education Department staff from its longtime and recently renovated headquarters in Washington, D.C., to a privately owned building that formerly housed USAID nearby, under the guise of saving money. The message the Secretary’s announcement sends to our staff and the American public is clear–education is next on the chopping block. But after more than a year of fighting back against this unlawful and unprecedented gutting of a Congressionally created agency, we know that the will of the people, congressional intent, and the law is on our side. If the Secretary was truly interested in guarding taxpayer dollars, she wouldn’t have wasted up to $38 million on paid administrative leave for Office for Civil Rights workers, who returned to their jobs after she unsuccessfully tried to fire them last year. AFGE Local 252 will continue fighting to hold this Administration accountable and to stand with the professionals who work every day to ensure every student is treated with dignity, fairness, and respect.”

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March 19, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents more than 2,000 current and former employees at the U.S. Department of Education, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman:

“The Trump Administration continues to unlawfully dismantle the Education Department by moving programs and offices to other federal agencies despite clear warning from Congress that Education Secretary Linda McMahon lacks the authority to do so. Today’s announcement attempts to transfer the administration of the entire student loan system, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to the U.S. Treasury Department. Since Secretary McMahon took over, the agency has fired or pushed out nearly half of Federal Student Aid’s workforce, leading to the Government Accountability Office warning that the majority of federal student loan servicers running the government’s $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio have been repeatedly breaking the law without staff oversight.

So far, the interagency agreements moving both career and technical programs and postsecondary education programs to the Department of Labor have sown chaos for states and grantees, preventing Congressionally mandated funding from going out on time and hamstringing federal employees who are trying to do their jobs on behalf of the public. This isn’t efficiency — Secretary McMahon is creating confusion, eroding public trust, and harming students and families. This is an insult to the nearly 43 million Americans with federal student loan debt and to the taxpayers who depend on federal oversight to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.”

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March 12, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents 2,000 U.S. Department of Education current and former employees, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman about proposed changes that further erode civil service and weaken protections for federal employees: 

“These proposals concentrate extraordinary power over federal employment decisions in a single agency, the Office of Personnel Management, and remove the external checks provided by independent bodies like the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board and the federal courts. The system is set up to prevent political influence over employment decisions for federal civil servants, but these proposals dangerously remove that wall. AFGE Local 252 strongly opposes these proposed rules.”

Here are the two comments that AFGE Local 252 submitted to OPM about these proposals:

• The sustainability rule
• The reduction-in-force appeal rule

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