Federal workers slam DOGE’s closures of Social Security offices and other cuts in NC
Triangle-area federal union workers and labor activists rallied Sunday against the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce and cut the government’s size and scope.
Union leaders representing workers at the Social Security Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Postal Service decried the efforts of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — led by Elon Musk and championed by President Donald Trump — to identify federal spending that can be cut, saying the group’s actions so far have been haphazard and rash.
Rally-goers standing in front of the Terry Sanford federal building in downtown Raleigh sang the decades-old song “Roll the Union On” and held up signs ranging from “stop the war on America’s workforce” to one that called Musk a “terrible president” and another that said “Nixon and McCarthy weren’t this bad.”
Amid Trump and Musk floating the possibilities of privatizing the Postal Service or moving it under the control of the U.S. Commerce Department, rally-goers also held signs expressing their support for postal workers and declaring post offices “a community right.”
“I want everyone to know, I want the public to know, that the post office is the people’s post office,” said Tonya Freeman, the president of American Postal Workers Union Local 1078 in Raleigh. “It belongs to the people, it doesn’t belong to Trump or Elon Musk.”
Meanwhile, cuts recently announced by DOGE at the Social Security Administration, which sends Social Security benefits to more than 70 million retirees and other beneficiaries every month, include closures of 47 of the agency’s roughly 1,200 field offices, the Associated Press reported.
Four field offices in North Carolina, in Elizabeth City, Roanoke Rapids, Greenville, and Franklin, are on the list of leases that DOGE has said are being terminated.
Heather Hughes, the president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3509, which represents Social Security field offices in the Southeast, including all 37 offices across North Carolina, said the closures will make it harder for people in eastern North Carolina and in the far-western part of the state to find the nearest open office.
The office in Franklin, among those being closed, is the only one west of Asheville. For residents in Macon County, it has raised concerns of having to travel to the office in Asheville — which is 68 miles away, the Smoky Mountain News reported earlier this week.
Other federal agencies with leased office space on DOGE’s list for closure in North Carolina include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Small Business Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Hughes said that while the Social Security Administration has provided benefits to a growing number of people over the years, staffing at the agency remains at a 50-year low.
The agency is currently planning to cut its workforce by more than 10%, the AP reported.
“The federal workforce, yeah we do work. At least the frontlines work,” Hughes said during the rally. “Now, is there waste? Yes, there’s always waste everywhere, right? But again, you’ve got to take the correct approach, you’ve got to take the wise approach.”
“You don’t go in for the weight loss surgery and have your legs amputated,” Hughes said. “You look for (waste) and then you figure out a way to do it that doesn’t damage everything else.”
Addressing the office closures, the Social Security Administration said most of the leases not being renewed were used for in-person hearings and are no longer needed because most hearings are now held virtually, the Associated Press reported this week.
An agency spokesperson also noted some of the field offices had already been identified for closure, or were being consolidated, as officials worked to “review our leases and ensure they are used efficiently.”
Many speakers and supporters in the crowd during Sunday’s rally focused on the prominent role Musk has been given as the administration aims to cut down the federal government’s workforce and footprint.
Hughes said the Trump administration has been “trying to turn the American public against” federal workers by portraying them as “lazy” and unwilling to work, and said workers need to “educate people” about the services they provide.
“We have people calling the Social Security office, for whatever help they need, and then saying, ‘I can’t wait till you get fired,’” Hughes said. “What? You just called because you needed something that you can’t get anywhere else, and you just told me you can’t wait till I get fired?”
“Well, who’s going to help you next time then?” Hughes asked.
The AFL-CIO’s Triangle Labor Council, which helped organize Sunday’s rally, is holding a legislative breakfast in Raleigh on Saturday, during which union members from around the Triangle will meet with state lawmakers.
Another rally is scheduled for Saturday in Wilmington.
This story was originally published March 9, 2025 at 6:48 PM.
