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Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

Millions of federal workers were ordered to return to offices across the country in recent weeks. Many have come back to workplaces that weren’t ready for them.

Department of Education employees at an office in Dallas returned to ethernet cords in piles around the floor, random wires sticking out of walls, and motion-sensor lights that weren’t working correctly, leading to dark workspaces. In the three major EPA offices around the country that make up the agency’s headquarters — Washington, Cincinnati and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina — health units were closed and in-office mail delivery was cut back, according to a memo obtained by CNN. However, many union members at the Department of Housing and Urban Development who were previously able to telework on certain days had to return to the office full time in late February, said Antonio Gaines, president of the AFGE Council 222, which represents 5,300 employees at the agency.

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