The union that represents just under 500 Environmental Protection Agency employees in Colorado rallied Wednesday outside of the agency’s downtown Denver headquarters against President Donald Trump’s threats to cut workers.

Members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3607 and other supporters marched around the EPA Region 8 headquarters near Union Station to urge the Trump administration to “let us work” as it continues to undermine federal workers. 

Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has been tasked with reducing the size of the federal government and targeting “waste, fraud and abuse,” which has led to mass firings of probationary federal employees among other cuts the administration claims will reduce federal spending. Two federal judges, deeming the firings illegal, have ordered the Trump administration to reinstate probationary employees.

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AFGE Local 3607 Secretary Greg Lohrke told the crowd that a contract that took the union years to negotiate was “ripped apart in days” by the Trump administration. He said the administration has ignored civil service protection laws meant to “ensure a stable, nonpartisan federal workforce.”

Miles Batson, vice president of AFGE Local 3607, said the chants the group led its march with — “Let us work” and “You’re going to miss us when we’re gone” — are the key points the union wants the administration to understand. The Office of Personnel Management directed each federal agency to develop “reduction in force” plans to cut their staffing, and while there hasn’t been any specific guidance on what this will look like yet, Batson said it won’t make anything more “efficient.” He said blindly cutting federal workers “under the guise of efficiency or fraud is really insulting.”

“It’s going to be really devastating to see us all go, and we don’t want to wait until the anvil drops to say that,” Batson said. “Federal workers are for better and more efficient work. We want to do our work better.”

Batson said his involvement with the union started as a way to help federal workers with work conflicts or contract negotiations. Now, he said, the entire structure of that work is “completely under attack” as the Trump administration continues efforts to cut the federal work force. 

“I’ve turned into a fighter much more so than I expected, but we’re up for the fight,” Batson said. “I’m not backing down in any way shape or form.”

Emily Bedell, a union steward for AFGE, said losing probationary workers is “a disservice to the American people, public health and the environment.” She said she’s worried about maintaining clean drinking water in the region, as well as underserved communities after the Trump administration cut environmental justice programs. 

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“We’re here today to tell the administration that we have been beaten down by the policies that they’re enacting,” Bedell said. “We’ve all felt super depressed … like things are out of our control, and we’re here to take that power back and show the administration that we will be here no matter what they do to us, and we’ll keep working hard to serve the American people.”

Support from the union has been essential, Bedell said, especially as the federal government has violated worker contracts by firing probationary employees and mandating a return to in-person work. That has been especially hard for working parents, as they’ve had to search for spots in daycare for children, and Bedell said office morale is down overall. 

“The austerity that’s coming from the top is making it really hard to then put that aside, come into the office and do our good work that we’re all passionate about,” Bedell said. “We’ve been treated deplorably by the administration and by DOGE, and we don’t deserve it. We’re here today to stand together to protect our jobs, our rights and the future of federal service.”

Commerce City Councilmember Renée Chacon said environmental justice is a human right, and she asked EPA workers to keep fighting to ensure people in underserved communities like hers have access to clean air, land and water. She said she’s fighting for the same water rights in Commerce City that her grandmother was.

“I’m asking for your help and your profession and your medicines to come back to my community and never go away,” Chacon said. “That’s how we beat people like Trump. He thinks he can bully us.” 

A Suncor Energy oil refinery in Commerce City is frequently flagged for violations of environmental regulations. In July, the EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment served the refinery with a 140-page list of alleged violations. 

“What I would say to the Trump administration is that isn’t government efficiency,” Ean Tafoya, Colorado state director of GreenLatinos, said about federal worker cuts. “Efficiency is when our people can wake up and breathe clean air, clean water and live the American dream. They are stealing the American dream from my community with missed days of school, with lower property values, with your inability to save and send your kids to college.”