Unions, civic groups launch effort to offer fired federal workers free legal support

The need for legal services for federal workers is expected to ramp up in the coming months as government staffing reduction plans are expected to go into effect. 

A coalition of unions and legal groups announced on Wednesday the formation of a new project to help provide federal workers fired by the Trump administration free legal support to protect their rights. 

The coalition includes unions like the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), as well as civic organizations like Democracy Forward and Civic Nation. The name of the project is Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network. 

The Trump administration has upended the lives of thousands of federal workers with a barrage of layoffs and attacks on worker rights since President Donald Trump began his second term in January. The cuts – and attempted cuts – to the workforce have spanned nearly every aspect of the federal government and have touched civil rights investigators, defenders of consumer rights, and public health researchers. 

There are about 320,000 federal civilian employees who live in Virginia, far more than most states. Local and state leaders are worried about the economic fallout, especially in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, which is home to 175,436 federal workers. 

Federal workers’ unions have led the charge in fighting back, with lawsuits challenging the legality of the Trump administration’s mass firings carried out by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. In some cases, the government has tried re-hiring workers that got laid off in Musk’s rush to eliminate vast swaths of the federal government. 

“Attacks on federal workers are attacks on all workers and on the essential services that our communities rely on daily,” Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a statement. “Getting these workers the justice they deserve in the face of this onslaught will take all of us.”

The goal of Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network will be to connect federal workers whose rights have been violated by the Trump administration with free legal services. The need for such support is expected to ramp up in the coming months as government staffing reduction plans are expected to go into effect. The project aims to mobilize and train thousands of lawyers to provide free legal guidance to individual federal workers. 

“The Rise Up Network will build on existing efforts to ensure federal workers have the legal support they need to fight back, continue to serve the American people and our Constitution, and support our communities,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. 

If you or someone you know is a current or former federal worker who wants to share what these past few months have been like please reach out to [email protected].