(ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT: SEE UPDATES BELOW)
It will not be a happy day at 16th Street and its satellite offices. I’ll be posting whatever information comes my way about the massive layoffs expected to be announced this morning.

NOON UPDATE!!!

Looks like, from first sketchy reports, that field staff are almost all going out the door. Regional offices will be closed, too. And the organizing institute is being completely stripped, as previously reported.

LAST NIGHT: this came over the wire, again, unsolicited from someone I do not know (whose name, like everyone else, I will not divulge)–“Are you aware of the two-page letter sent to AFL-CIO staffers signed by Sweeney and timed to arrive the day before the layoffs (dated April 29)? Its basically a [Public Relations Director Denise] Mitchell PR piece.

Paragraph 11 states that:

We are committed to handling this difficult transition period with as much sensitivity and support for all employees of the Federation as we can possibly muster. Whether you personally will be facing difficult decisions about your work future or not, we know the Federation will not be the same after the wrenching that this re-organization will cause. It is already not the same. And for a while, we know it will feel like it is a change for the worse…

What an understatement…”

Oh, and have yet to hear back on my questions for John Sweeney.