NASA employees and advocates rally against significant budget reductions and staff diminishment
In the heart of Washington D.C., NASA employees and supporters gathered outside the agency's headquarters on Monday, voicing their concerns over proposed funding and staffing cuts, as well as the potential loss of collective bargaining rights.
The Trump administration's recent executive order aims to cancel collective bargaining agreements at multiple federal agencies, including NASA. This move impacts thousands of NASA scientists, engineers, and technicians, stripping them of union rights that have protected half of the agency's workforce for decades.
The administration argues that the roles these workers perform are tied to national security. However, Monica Gorman, area vice president of Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association, counters this claim, stating that NASA workers have been collectively bargaining for decades with no harm to national security.
Gorman further argues that the loss of union rights would make her and her colleagues less likely to provide independent cost estimates for NASA missions without fear of retaliation. She believes that stripping worker's union rights will put NASA's mission at risk since it would make the agency's employees less likely to speak up and bring up inconvenient concerns.
The proposal targets NASA's entire satellite program and its fundamental science research, such as astrophysics, planetary science, and heliophysics. Protesters criticized these proposed budget cuts, which could reduce NASA's funding by nearly 25%, and President Donald Trump's executive order stripping NASA workers of their collective bargaining rights.
Many speakers at the protest called on Congress to pass a "fighting" continuing resolution that includes protections for scientific federal agencies. Mollie Manier, an employee at the National Institutes of Health, urged Congress to insist on a fighting CR for the long-term benefit of the nation and is willing to suffer short-term pain to get it.
The House and Senate appropriations committee have advanced their versions of the annual spending bill that funds NASA. The House voted to keep NASA's budget the same as last year, while the Senate bill would give the agency a slight increase in spending.
Meanwhile, House Republicans have unveiled legislation to keep the government open through Nov. 21, but it is unclear if they have the votes to pass the bill. The deadline to avoid a government shutdown is fast approaching, with lawmakers having until midnight on Sept. 30.
In a significant development, Matthew Biggs, International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers president, stated that NASA will be added to an ongoing lawsuit challenging the termination of collective bargaining rights later this week.
Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, called the proposal "an extinction-level event." Colette Delawalla, executive director of Stand Up for Science, stated that dismantling NASA is a travesty and a threat to the American dream.
As the deadline approaches, the future of NASA's collective bargaining rights and funding remains uncertain, with protests and legal challenges continuing to mount.
Read also:
- Norway set to allocate proceeds from sales of tickets for a soccer match against Israel to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro admitted to hospital with kidney disease and skin cancer.
- Born Josephine Steadman in Dawson, NM on November 7, 1944, she...
- Suspect resists granted freedom following allegations of peddling counterfeit medicines
