Mass layoffs at Kansas City-area IRS Offices, union confirms employees escorted out
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Layoffs at Kansas City’s IRS building are underway according to the Vice President of the Union that represents the employees.
Employees working for the IRS in Lee’s Summit and Overland Park are also being laid off Thursday, according to a union spokesperson.
The impacted workers said they were notified by email to meet with direct managers starting Thursday morning. The email told them to turn in all government-issued equipment. The employees were then escorted out of the building the union said.
The union said 59 people had been laid off as of 9 a.m. All of those workers were probationary employees. As many as 100 employees were expected to be fired by the end of the day.
The president of the union said the employees who lost jobs had been in charge of audits, compliance and collections. The cuts could impact WIC and school lunch programs.
The union is also concerned about tax returns and taxpayer personal information.
“We’re already understaffed and underfunded. Have been for 15 years. We’re already very much in need of all the employees on campus. For this to happen right before tax season, it’s just unacceptable,” Shannon Ellis, IRS Union Chapter President, said.
Union representatives said they don’t know how many people will be laid off at Kansas City’s IRS branch. As of Thursday morning a union spokesperson said they don’t even have an estimate of the number of people who will lose their jobs.
The union expects about 3,500 IRS employees to be laid off across the country.
The union president said about 6,000 people work at the Kansas City location.
The cuts are part of President Donald Trump’s effort to downsize the government. The IRS said the cuts are expected to be about 6% of the agency’s workforce.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Kansas) released a statement criticizing the layoffs of federal workers.
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