\u201cNo one with half a brain thinks that we are a national security organization. This is an attempt to just silence federal workers,\u201d said Nicole Cantello, an EPA lawyer and the president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 for the past six years.<\/p>\n
Almost 100 Chicago EPA employees and their supporters held a rally near the agency\u2019s Loop headquarters Tuesday afternoon to protest.<\/p>\n
Cantello and other union officials have warned that Trump is rolling back anti-pollution rules, and that should be a concern to anyone who cares about environmental protection, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEPA unionized employees are speaking up for you,\u201d Cantello said in an interview. \u201cThey\u2019re speaking up for your clean water and your clean air. They\u2019re speaking up for the health of you and your children and grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, the EPA said it\u2019s just following the president\u2019s directive.<\/p>\n
\u201cEPA is working to diligently implement President Trump\u2019s executive orders,\u201d the statement said. Trump himself has promised the agency will continue to protect air and water from pollution, while it loosens regulations<\/a> that he said inhibit businesses.<\/p>\n The environmental agency is just one of many federal bodies affected by the Trump order, however. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and multiple health and science-based organizations are also included.<\/p>\n The Department of Veterans Affairs has also canceled its union contract.<\/p>\n Unions have filed a complaint in federal court in California challenging the legality of what Trump is doing. In all, close to a million federal employees are affected by the order, according to a spokesman from the American Federation of Government Employees\u2019 national office.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is giving everyone a blueprint for taking down a union. It\u2019s illegal and we need to stop it,\u201d Cantello said.<\/p>\n Speakers at the Tuesday rally attempted to highlight positive actions by the EPA.<\/p>\n Luis Antonio Flores, an agency chemist, noted that a park in Little Village on the West Side was once a hazardous waste site until EPA cleaned it up more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n
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