At least eight U.S. Forest Service employees in Sitka were fired over the weekend, amid a national wave of terminations for federal employees.
A local union representative who declined to be named told KCAW that the eight employees were in roles that included trail and cabin work, tribal relations, and subsistence fish monitoring work. He said along with their dismissals, employees received a generic memo citing “unsatisfactory performance.”
The recent wave of federal firing has targeted “probationary” employees, which refers to employees hired within the past one or two years or those who have recently changed positions within an agency. Probationary employees have fewer legal protections. The union representative said all eight Sitka employees were classified as “probationary.”
In a February 15 memo, the National Federation of Federal Employees – Forest Service Council, a labor union representing Forest Service employees, called the weekend a “Valentine’s Day Massacre.” In a separate memo, the union advised fired employees to submit public information requests to access performance reviews and internal communications about their firings.
