Unions warn government workers not to trust Trump's offer to quit

By Tim Reid, Timothy Gardner and Leah Douglas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two of America's biggest federal worker unions told members on Wednesday not to trust a Trump administration offer to 2 million government employees to quit with eight months pay, while many civil servants expressed anger and defiance over the move.

In advice to its 800,000 members, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) - the largest federal employee union - questioned the legality of the offer, where the money would come from to make the pay-offs, and whether the administration "can or will uphold its end of the bargain."

In an email to federal workers on Tuesday, the Trump administration offered a "deferred resignation program" that would allow them to remain on the payroll through Sept. 30 but without having to work in person, or possibly risk getting furloughed and made easier to fire.

The email gave federal employees until Feb. 6 to decide whether to take part. It instructed those interested to reply from a government email account and type the word "resign."

Half a dozen government workers who spoke with Reuters said the email was provoking a backlash among many federal employees. Some said they had been thinking about resigning from government since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, but the offer had angered them so much they decided to dig in their heels and stay.

Laura Dodson, an economist with the U.S. Agriculture Department and a union representative is one of them.

"When that email came I felt rage and spite. I decided I am not going to be forced out. I'm going to stick it out. A lot of people are resolved to stay in the federal government because of this email."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump has pledged to cut the size of the 2.2 million-strong civilian workforce.

He is being helped in that effort by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who heads an advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency aimed at carrying out dramatic cuts to the U.S. government.

A career employee at the U.S. Department of Energy, who is not in a union and spoke on condition of anonymity, said many workers felt "pushed around" by the email and angered. "They don't want to make the job of decimating the workforce easier," the employee said. "Some people might dig in their heels and stick around longer."

An official at the U.S. Agency for International Development who received the offer said it "feels like a trap,” adding, "I think it's ridiculous.”

The subject line of Tuesday's email - "A Fork in the Road" - was the same one Musk sent employees of Twitter - now called X - after buying the company in 2022, when he told workers to sign up for "long hours at high intensity" or leave.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 employees in 37 federal agencies and departments, urged members to reject the offer.

"Make no mistake: this email is designed to entice or scare you into resigning from the federal government," the NTEU told its members. "We strongly urge you not to resign in response to this email."

Tim Kauffman, a spokesperson for AFGE, said union lawyers talked late on Tuesday to examine the legality of the offer, and that legal action had not been ruled out.

(Reporting by Tim Reid in Washington; Additional reporting by Leah Douglas, Ted Hesson, Timothy Gardner and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)