MILWAUKEE — On Monday, several Milwaukee Veterans Affairs employees went into work with a job and left the building without one.
It was the latest effect of sweeping federal job cuts that have impacted employees nationwide, including in Wisconsin.
James Stancil said that within minutes of beginning his shift at Zablocki Veterans Affairs Hospital, his supervisor pulled him and a coworker aside to share what he described as shocking news.
"'Check your email, you might have been terminated,'" he recalled being told. "I'm sorry, what? Wait, what?"
A veteran himself, Stancil worked as a supply technician at the hospital for nearly a year. He was in charge of ordering and organizing medical materials for staff.
He was nearing the end of his role's probationary period, which the federal government describes as the 12 months following an employee's start date that allows an agency to assess their performance, before being abruptly fired on Monday.
Watch: Fired VA employee, local union rep react to federal terminations at Milwaukee VA
The termination email he received was from a federal employee Stancil said he has never met.
The email said, in part: "The agency finds that your performance has not met the burden to demonstrate that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest."
It's an allegation that doesn't sit well with the 61-year-old. All of his performance reviews have passed with flying colors, Stancil told TMJ4.
"Do not question my performance. I'm not cheating anybody. I'm there to do a job and to do a job well."
The union that represents Zablocki employees, Local 0003 AFGE, confirmed with TMJ4 that Stancil is one of three veterans and 10 employees to lose their jobs this week, with no severance and little clue what to do next.
Union President Michele Malone said other employees are now scared the same will happen to them.
"My office has had constant visitors, people that have never come into the union before," Malone shared. "They're terrified, asking if they're next."
Malone says the sudden loss of positions will quickly overwork the staff that remains and impact services for veterans.
"It might start here, but it's going to affect everybody eventually," she told TMJ4.
As government employees navigate next steps in what seems to be a constantly changing environment, Malone said VA workers and the union will be supporting each other.
"The union is there for you, and we are standing behind these people."
The national branch of AFGE has filed a lawsuit against the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM)for what they allege are illegal mass firings of probationary employees which is in violation of federal law.
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