February 24th, 2025: President's Message

After all the cameras left Tuesday's rally, a young woman who was one of the government workers inexplicably fired without even being given written notice came up to me to tell me her story. She’s a union member. She worked for the National Park Service, specializing in highlighting the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to our country. And she’s a naturalized US citizen.

That makes three targets on her back in the Trump/Musk war on democracy and working people.

Anneliese, a 28-year-old from the Rochester area, was fired by President Trump and Elon Musk along with a thousand other Park Rangers and thousands more federal workers on February 14, in what is now known as the Valentine’s Day Massacre.

In spite of all that, this proud member of AFGE 3432 stood in the bitter cold outside Syracuse City Hall last Tuesday. She joined hundreds of members of our CNY union family and Rep. John Mannion, who vowed to fight for the restoration of these illegally fired workers that provide our nation’s people with much needed services.

"(Mannion) said wonderful things and I really appreciated the energy in the crowd,” said Annaliese.

“People may not realize, all that gets lost when they let us go. Programs close down, trash cans overflow, trails are closed down. We do search and rescue, protect animals and public lands. Public safety is going to be affected – people should be more outraged.”

Her union and others representing federal workers are taking their fight to the courts. If the courts and the Congress can’t protect us, she reminds us that we have to help ourselves. “I’m going to speak out and protest in solidarity with federal workers everywhere. And I’ll keep supporting my union and paying dues even if they don’t represent me in the workplace.”