Unions, groups launch pro bono legal network for federal employees

By Daniel Wiessner

April 16 (Reuters) - A coalition of labor unions and left-leaning groups on Wednesday announced an initiative aimed at providing free legal advice to federal employees who lose their jobs or believe their legal rights were violated amid the Trump administration's purge of the government workforce.

The project led by the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation, and We The Action, which connects volunteer lawyers with nonprofits, will recruit and train thousands of lawyers to consult with federal employees about their legal options, the groups said in a joint release.

Lawyers will take 20-minute screening calls and refer eligible workers for free one-hour consultations, according to a website created for the project, called Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network. Workers can then decide whether to retain lawyers they meet with on terms set by the parties, according to the website.

President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, a top advisor, have engaged in an aggressive campaign to downsize the federal government. Federal agencies have fired thousands of recently-hired workers and in recent weeks began mass layoffs of other staffers, and tens of thousands more have taken buyouts to quit their jobs.

Unions, nonprofits, and Democratic state officials have brought a series of legal challenges to the Trump administration's efforts, and in some cases have won temporary victories as the litigation plays out.

But individual workers having access to legal services is critical to them being able to fully vindicate their rights, the groups behind the Rise Up initiative said.

“As this current administration continues to lead with lawlessness and cruelty, there's a need for humanity and action to assist the people being affected," said Zinelle October, interim president of the American Constitution Society, a progressive legal group participating in the initiative.

Others involved in the project include three unions that collectively represent more than 1 million federal workers and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 240 civil rights groups.

They did not say how many lawyers have already signed up for the project or whether they will recruit from private law firms, many of which have been under scrutiny by Trump.

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