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Congressional advocacy has been an increasingly necessary and powerful tool over the last 18 months given the direct attacks on federal agencies and federal employees from the Administration. We want to highlight one streamlined Congressional whistleblowing avenue for federal employee issues and federal workers. The Federal Workforce Caucus, led by Representative James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11), Representative Steny Hoyer (MD-05), and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are a caucus of congressional members with a strong interest in fighting for federal employee issues. Their caucus has setup up a streamlined portal for receiving whistleblower concerns which can be accessed at the link on their website.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and NASA have made changes to Performance Management policy since evaluations were issued last year. We want to ensure you understand these changes so you have the best chance of receiving a fair rating.
This Labor Day, we were reminded of the unions that built America and the power of collective bargaining. Although our collective bargaining rights were stripped away a year ago, our members have remained steadfast as we continue to advocate for fair treatment while honoring the contributions of workers at the Goddard Space Flight Center and highlighting the worldwide impacts of our work. Members of GESTA showed solidarity by participating in the annual Greenbelt Labor Day Festival on Labor Day and after the parade met and discussed the areas in which our diligent efforts have been helpful to employees during the past year.  Members representing GESTA marched in the Greenbelt Labor Day parade. In late May, The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed a new rule that would formally insert political appointees directly into the approval chain for the solicitation and awarding of grants from federal science funding agencies, and also limit grantee’s ability to publish and share their scientific findings at conferences. In response, in June, a broad national campaign came together across the US scientific community, with journals, individuals, and scientific advocacy groups all organizing and speaking out against these rule changes. More than 496,769 comments were submitted to OMB on this rule change, with the overwhelming majority of the comments (in some reports more than 90%) critical of these changes, and drawing further attention to the issue from Congress and the media. OMB must now respond to these comments before making this rule change. In addition, on September 1st, both houses of Congress passed a continuing resolution which also included language prohibiting the implementation of these proposed rules through December 11th.
Exercising our right to vote is one of the most fundamental ways we participate in our democracy and shape the future of our country. Our vote impacts who will lead our local and national stage, and the policies, funding and legislation that directly impact federal agencies and our federal workforce. We strongly encourage our membership to make plans to vote in the upcoming nationwide general elections which will take place on November 3rd. To find information on your options for casting your ballot and your voter registration status you can consult the non-partisan Vote 411 site: https://www.vote411.org/ which provides a one-stop location to access information on voting for voting eligible residents of all 50 states. We also want to also bring your attention to your ability and limitations to take administrative leave as a NASA federal employee in order to vote.
During our May Day 2026 lunchtime gathering, GESTA members and friends took some time to share reading recommendations. The recommendations spanned books related to national and international labor movements and the human experience, and included many books with both a historical and/or NASA-focus. We wanted to share some of them with you here:
Members of GESTA/IFTPE Local 29 participated in IFTPE’s 2026 Legislative Advocacy Conference at the Hilton Capitol Hill in Washington DC February 9th-12th. While GESTA representation included seasoned GESTA leadership, it also included first-time participants. The summary below provides the perspective of one first-time participant during the week. GESTA also organized another very successful day of Congressional visits in May, bringing early career NASA employees to visit with Congressional staff members, and highlighting the issues impacting the NASA early career and term employee workforce and NASA workforce pipelines. If you have an interest in joining GESTA during future Congressional advocacy efforts please contact us.
An ongoing bipartisan congressionally-mandated National Academies (NASEM) Study is collecting information and will report out their findings and recommendations for strengthening Goddard’s technical and scientific capabilities. In July, the study committee contacted GESTA with a request that our union participate directly in the study by providing a public response to their questions. You can read GESTA’s public written response to the committee here. GESTA President Trysh Moton, Secretary Alyssa Barlis and Area Vice President Margaret Samuels also spoke in person at the National Academies in Washington, DC on August 4th, and you can view the recording of the committee meeting via the NASEM committee website. A note that the other open sessions of the NASEM committee meetings, including those with testimony by Center management are also publicly viewable from the study webpage. In responding to the committee’s questions, GESTA pulled from the broad perspectives and experiences we have heard from our members and Goddard’s workforce over the last year and half. We want to give a big thank you to the Goddard community and members who have courageously provided this feedback which allowed us to provide the committee with a clearer view of the recent impacts to Goddard’s workforce and facilities, and of our community's recommendations for rebuilding Goddard’s future.
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