CNN
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The American Federation of Government Employees is planning to lay off more than half its staff, as the largest federal employees’ union reels from President Donald Trump’s move to end collective bargaining rights for many federal workers.
AFGE, which has filed an array of lawsuits against the Trump administration, is set to shrink its own workforce to about 150 employees, down from 355 staffers, according to a union spokesperson. The layoffs, which will affect organizers, national representatives, support staff and others, could take place as early as June.
But the union, which represents more than 800,000 federal staffers, vowed to continue fighting.
“The President’s elimination of elective membership dues and the resulting layoffs are a setback, but they are not the end of AFGE – not by a longshot,” the union said in a statement. “We will not be deterred, silenced, or intimidated into submission.”
The downsizing was first reported by the Associated Press.
AFGE, along with other federal employee unions, have been hobbled by an executive order Trump signed in March aimed at stripping collective bargaining rights from a sizable share of government employees across more than a dozen agencies. AFGE alone represents about 660,000 workers in the affected departments, according to its lawsuit challenging the order.
The president said the action would strengthen national security, but a White House fact sheet also said the move was aimed at stopping federal unions who have “declared war on President Trump’s agenda.” It specifically cited “the largest Federal union,” which is “widely filing grievances to block Trump policies.”
A federal judge paused Trump’s executive order late Friday afternoon in a lawsuit brought by the National Treasury Employees Union, the second largest federal workers’ union. It was not immediately clear whether the judge’s ruling will impact AFGE’s planned layoffs.
The biggest financial blow to the unions stems from a March Office of Personnel Management guidance directing agencies to stop deducting union dues from employees’ paychecks. Payroll deductions are the main source of funding for unions. NTEU has already lost $2 million in dues revenue and warned it will soon be unable to recover, according to a court filing.
AFGE has been preparing for such a move from the Trump administration, pushing members to sign up for its E-Dues system, where they can submit their dues directly to the union. However, the majority of members still use payroll deductions.
Although AFGE has seen a surge in employees signing up for membership since Trump took office, the president’s drive to rapidly downsize the federal workforce has cost it members. More than 100,000 government employees have lost their jobs, with more reductions planned.
The union has taken the administration to court over several of Trump’s actions, including the firing of probationary workers and the executive order ending collective bargaining, and has also organized numerous protests nationwide.
