WATCH: Employees turn their back on Trump's Agriculture secretary as 'cold-hearted' move sparks staff revolt

Department of Agriculture employees this week turned their backs on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue after he forced them to move from Washington, D.C. all the way to Kansas City.

CNN reports that employees at the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture were up in arms this week after Perdue announced he was moving all of them to Kansas City in a move purportedly aimed at saving taxpayer dollars.

However, employees at those two institutions tell CNN that the move is a way to disrupt their research into climate change.

Kevin Hunt, acting vice president of the ERS Union, slammed Perdue's move as "cold-hearted" and said that it "highlights his disregard for the rights and well-being of employees."

When Perdue addressed the Department of Agriculture employees during a meeting Thursday, the workers turned their backs on him as he spoke to them about the move.

Despite this, Perdue kept talking to them and assured them that "moving you out of the capital area in no way lessens your importance." At the end of his address, he left without taking any employees' questions.

Watch the video below.