Building Closures Guidance

We write to provide an update and advice in response to Associate Center Director Raymond Rubilotta’s recent email announcement of imminent office and laboratory moves that will severely reduce the Goddard campus footprint. We note that unlike what is implied in the Associate Center Director’s email these moves and closures go well beyond what agency leadership had approved in Goddard's 2019 20-Year Master plan. We are very concerned these moves are not being orchestrated in accordance with NASA and GSFC established policies regarding the moving and disposing of equipment and documents. We are also gravely concerned that the unstrategic processes being followed jeopardize human safety, flight hardware and expensive lab equipment, and will compromise GSFC core engineering and science capabilities.

GESTA had previously met and bargained in good faith with Center management on building moves given they constitute changes in employees' working conditions. Due to Executive Order 14343, management is no longer recognizing our Collective Bargaining Agreement, and these negotiations with management have been halted. However, we urge NASA management to ensure that if buildings must be closed due to budgetary reasons, these closures happen safely and strategically. We will be exploring other actions we may take to ensure this.

Our advice to employees is:

1. Charge your time as directed. If you haven’t already received explicit direction on which WBS to charge for your time spent packing and moving, ask your supervisor. Many of our members have been asked to charge their projects, sometimes in writing, sometimes verbally. In either case, email your project leads to inform them if you have been directed to charge their WBS for moves. This will enable you to put it in writing yourself as well as enable your project to push back on your management if they choose. Charge every minute - you deserve to be paid for your work. 
2. Report your concerns and any impacts (potential or realized) of these lab and office moves to your project leads and branch management so they can better advocate for you and your projects to minimize potential loss and disruptions.
3. Don’t try to be superhuman. Many people at NASA are high performing so it’s tempting to rise to the occasion, even if it’s unreasonable. Remember that our regulations prevent us from lifting items over 50 lbs. Anyone has the authority to call a safety stop at any time if they see something unsafe. Overtime requests require supervisor approval. If you’re asked to do things that are unreasonable, such as unrealistic timelines, timecard fraud, or misuse of government funds, or actions that may result in the waste or loss of expensive hardware, see the bullet point below on “report what you’re seeing”.
4. Keep Records. Record in real time the hours and dates you’ve spent working on moves. Since employees are being instructed to charge project WBSs to cover their time completing moves, there may be no record for posterity of how much money this move cost NASA, unless we track and report it ourselves.
5. Prepare doctor’s notes. Speak with your doctors about notes for reasonable accommodations (e.g. a visual fire alarm, a standing desk, access to natural light). GESTA is working on finding additional information on how to file reasonable accommodations requests. If you have experience with this and can share your guidance, we would appreciate your assistance - please contact us.
6. Get connected with your coworkers, including on Signal. There are Goddard group chats that were created to provide community support in the event of a RIF. They can also be used to help each other during short-notice moves - borrow boxes, get help moving boxes, emotional support, etc. Please contact us if you would like invitations to join the group. We can help with Signal setup if needed. Reach out to your colleagues and branch management in person for support in these areas as well!
7. Know the regulations. There are GPRs and NPRs that govern facilities utilization and planning, but GESTA has not had time to look into them. If you are able to help with this effort, please contact us. 
8. Report what you’re seeing. If you’re asked to do things that are unreasonable (or potentially unlawful), such as unrealistic timelines, unsafe actions, timecard fraud, or misuse of government funds, or actions that may result in the loss of government records or expensive hardware or equipment, in addition to reporting these through your management chain, you can send information to:

• Congressional whistleblower reporting websites - democrats-science.house.gov/contact/ whistleblower (GESTA has recent confirmation that this form is being monitored and responded to) and democrats.senate.gov/whistleblowers
• Government Accountability Office - gao.gov/about/contact-us 
• NASA Office of the Inspector General - oig.nasa.gov/hotline/ or 1-800-424-9183  
• Office of Special Counsel - osc.gov, [email protected] or 202-804-7000 
• Tell GESTA what you’re seeing so we can also better advocate for you. Use GESTA’s tipline email address, building moves survey, and mission impacts survey.