Fired USDA federal workers return to work.

A little over a month since federal employees with the U.S. Department of Agriculture were fired, workers have begun to return to the office this week in Monterey County.

The return to offices follows the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) decision on Wednesday, March 5, which ordered the temporary reinstatement of nearly 6,000 probationary workers at USDA.

At least six local workers were laid off, most of them biological research technicians working on things like disease prevention and specialty crop breeding programs. Most of these workers worked at the Agricultural Research Station, a research hub in Salinas that was expanded and reopened less than two years ago. 

At least two workers have been back at work starting this week. According to an announcement by the USDA on March 11, these workers are entitled to backpay and allowed back at their jobs for 45 days while the Office of Special Counsel continues to investigate the firings. A March 19 update to the USDA’s announcement states that a Northern California federal court ruled USDA’s firing of probationary employees was unlawful, though appeals are pending.

One of the reinstated workers was notified last Friday on March 21 that they would be reinstated the following Monday, March 24. They had not heard of any immediate details concerning the temporary stay, and had heard of two other USDA workers that were reinstated. 

“I mean, it’s nice to be working,” says the employee who spoke with the Weekly on the condition of anonymity, for fear of being targeted. “There’s been a lot of changes and people are trying to figure out how to do their jobs effectively.”

Another of the reinstated employees works at the Sam Farr U.S. Crop Improvement and Protection Research Center, which is run by ARS. The scientist accompanied U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, for a joint session in Congress earlier this month. Lofgren did not release the scientist's name out of concern of possible "retaliatory actions against the scientist's family and/or community members."

The termination letter this employee received in February read:

"The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment would be in the public interest. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position of [science technician] with the Agency and the federal civil service effective close of business February 13, 2025."

In response, the scientist wrote in a letter to Lofgren in February that they received an excellent performance appraisal in September 2024, a rebuttal to the termination letter. As a Vietnam-era veteran, this worker had sought an opportunity at the new research station to continue serving the public sector.

“I started my career as a public servant in the United States Air Force (I volunteered, I wasn't drafted!) and my desire was to end my career as a public servant at the USDA,” the letter reads.

For now, while these workers are back in the office, one reinstated worker says they are taking things day by day and unsure of what the future holds.

“No one knows what the plan is," the worker says. "Some employees are paid through grants and are still employed, but no one knows for how long.”