ARLINGTON, Va. (DC News Now) — Some fired federal workers found their way into an Arlington library, where the Arlington Democrats hosted a town hall to provide answers and advice.
Arlington Dems requested that attendees were not shown on-camera, as some did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. Inside the auditorium, upwards of 100 people – a mix of politicians, advocates and federal workers – both current and former. They spent the evening listening to industry experts about their rights, potential next steps and available resources.
“So they know how to fight back,” said panelist Alissa Tafti, who is the president of her federal employee union. “[We want to tell them] where are the cases that they can get involved so that they can be part of these actions.”
Among the questions attendees asked were what’s going on in the courts, and what documents fired federal workers should be holding on to.
“This is a popular uprising of regular people who aren’t used to this kind of thing, but see the necessity for it,” said Chris Dols, a federal worker. “It’s been traumatic. But I’ve mostly been impressed by how resilient and committed my coworkers are.”
The town hall took place as a new report found U.S. employers cut more jobs this February than any other month since July 2020, and the DOGE effect was the biggest reason why – accounting for more than one-third of the roughly 172,000 job cuts.
“We are going to have to address the job loss, the housing crisis that’s going to subsequently impact us,” said Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield County).
The push to provide fired federal workers with resources will continue on Saturday with a resource fair at noon at Wakefield High School. For more information, click here.
