Employees of the Economic Research Service voted in a landslide to unionize on Thursday in balloting that was an unofficial referendum on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan to move the agency out of Washington in the coming months. A vote on unionization is scheduled for June 11 at the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, a sister agency also slated for relocation, and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) expects the measure to pass there, too.
“We will work with this group of employees just as we work with all USDA employees,” said Perdue in a statement after the 138-4 vote among ERS staff workers for union representation. He said relocation of the ERS and NIFA would “move our resources closer to our customers.”
A week ago, the USDA said Kansas City, on the Missouri-Kansas border; the “research triangle” of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and an undisclosed number of sites in Indiana were finalists to become the new home of the ERS and NIFA. St. Louis and Madison, Wisconsin, were named alternatives in case the finalists prove unsatisfactory. By some accounts, the winner could be named as early as next week.
“The employees clearly don’t want to move out of the Washington area,” said AFGE representative Peter Winch. “I think both agencies should stay here.”
Together the ERS, which studies food, agriculture, natural resources, and rural development issues, and NIFA, which awards more than $1 billion a year in competitive grants, employ about 700 people. Most of them would be required to move under Perdue’s plan; a minority would stay in Washington. Opponents are hoping to get Congress to block the relocations —lawmakers have suggested slowing down the project and have requested “a detailed analysis of any research benefits” that would result from relocation — but the new USDA funding bill won’t be passed for months.
When he announced the relocation plan last August, Perdue said it would save money on rent and salaries, make it easier to recruit workers, and put the agencies closer to “stakeholders.” One ERS worker said the relocations would force employees to accept a pay cut of more than 10 percent because federal wages are tied to office location. On top of that, the Trump administration repeatedly has proposed halving the ERS workforce and slashing its funding. Its budget package for fiscal 2020 would limit the ERS to farm and agricultural analysis.
“It looks like the Trump administration is trying to rip apart this agency,” said Winch. Asked about the upcoming vote among NIFA workers, Winch said he hoped for “a big vote there.”
More than three dozen ERS workers burst into prolonged applause when an official from the National Labor Relations Authority announced the referendum results. When the agency certifies the results, the USDA will be obliged to negotiate with the public employee union, said Winch.
The USDA has hired a London-based consultant, Ernst and Young, to advise it on site selection. Perdue has said he wants to complete the relocations by the end of this year.
A handful of House Democrats filed legislation to block the relocation. Two of them also requested a review by Inspector General Phyllis Fong of the USDA, requesting that she look into whether Perdue exceeded his authority by unilaterally deciding on relocation. Perdue has insisted that choosing the home of the ERS and NIFA is an internal matter.