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The information below is based on GESTA’s understanding of recent events as of this date. Since management has put very little information in writing, some of this information also comes directly from employees who have been personally involved in the building closures or who have received verbal information from management. We acknowledge the disruption or loss of these facilities represent decades of our colleagues’ work and may carry deep personal and institutional impacts. The brevity of these updates is not meant to reflect the depth of the impacts. We are also aware indirectly of impacts to multiple laboratories and buildings not mentioned here. If you have a (non-controlled) status update or information you would like to provide GESTA regarding the closures or moves of a building or lab for a future bulletin, please feel free to send it to our tipline email or share it via our Survey on this topic.
GESTA and our international union IFPTE have been collecting impacts and concerns about the ongoing building closures at the Goddard campus. We are sharing here a briefing document of our understanding of the status of these closures as of November 14th and our continuing concerns, including more details of some of the missions and capabilities impacted:
GESTA IFPTE Goddard Building Closure Brief NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is the largest group of scientists, technicians and engineers in the US who develop Earth and space science flight missions. Below is GESTA's understanding of the situation at Goddard as of November 1, 2025. GESTA members and Goddard employees deserve better treatment from their employer.
On October 15th, a judge in the US District Court ruled in a lawsuit brought by federal labor unions, that recent layoffs by the Trump administration during the shutdown were illegal, and placed at least a temporary halt on those actions and any future Reduction and Force (RIF) actions across the federal government impacting employees under those unions during a shutdown. In response to this ruling, NASA Chief Human Capital Officer, Kelly Elliot made a declaration in court on October 17th that NASA would abide by this ruling. On October 21st the lawsuit was amended to add additional unions and plaintiffs, including IFPTE, the international union under which GESTA is a local. And on October 22nd, the judge in the case ordered that the temporary restraining order be expanded to include those additional agencies and unions. The restraining order was extended by the judge “indefinitely” on October 28th. The bottom line is that under this amended lawsuit and restraining order, NASA is now prevented from carrying out RIF actions impacting GESTA or other NASA IFPTE employees during this shutdown. Note the direction by the judge in this case is that this ruling applies even though NASA and other agencies may no longer be recognizing union bargaining rights. If interested, you can follow this case on Court Listener.
On October 8, 2025, our parent union, IFPTE, filed a lawsuit in District Court against the Trump Administration’s August 28th executive order which targeted NASA and other federal agencies, revoking union bargaining rights for GESTA and other NASA unions by claiming that NASA’s primary purpose was national security. This IFPTE lawsuit argues that not only is NASA’s purpose clearly not primarily national security, but that NASA unions were illegally targeted in retaliation for pushing back against the administration's actions. The lawsuit names as plaintiffs, President Trump and Acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy and asks the implementation of the Executive Order be halted and for NASA union rights to be restored. You can read the full complaint here and IFPTE’s press release on the lawsuit here. The lawsuit has also been covered in the press. We will keep our members posted on this ongoing litigation which directly impacts their rights. Members can also track the status of this case on Court Listener, where many of the case documents, including any future rulings will be posted.
As the federal government shutdown carries on and we miss our paychecks, we understand this creates financial strain and anxiety for many. We encourage our members and other impacted federal employees and contractors to explore the following resources compiled below. Many of these provide avenues to receive financial support (personal loans, delays on utility payments, unemployment insurance, food support) until back pay is provided at the end of this shutdown:
We want to pass on information on how to submit a request for Reasonable Accommodations. This information may be especially relevant given the widespread office moves occurring across NASA Goddard and the unsubstantiated changes to the implementation of the Agency’s telework policies. This is information from the Goddard Disability Program Office as shared with a GESTA member:
We have not received any indication of an imminent Reduction in Force (RIF) including involuntary separations by the NASA agency and as noted above any potential RIFs during a shutdown are paused by court. However, we want to provide updated guidance on your rights during a RIF, specifically regarding your appeal options for any RIF actions (see our prior blog post). Prior to the August executive order abrogating NASA’s unions rights, the only option for appealing an improper RIF notice (unless discrimination is involved) was to file a negotiated grievance through our bargaining agreement grievance procedure. Now that the agency is no longer recognizing our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the primary channel instead is to file an appeal through the Merit System Protection Board. Keep in mind that Merit System Protection board appeals must be filed 30 calendar days from the date of the effective action or termination date. Representation during the appeal process is also allowed (and encouraged by GESTA). Note free and reduced cost legal advice for federal employees is available through the Rise Network. GESTA is also available to help connect you with a lawyer if you need help. Note if there is any injunction or ruling in IFPTE's pending lawsuit and the agency recognizes our bargaining rights once again, the proper appeal method would switch back to negotiated grievance procedures, which have a deadline of 15 work days from the date of the effective action. Although we hope they will not occur, in the event RIFs do occur at NASA Goddard, GESTA will be in touch to provide more guidance and host training opportunities for our members on the details of RIF appeals.
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