CNN
—
President Donald Trump took his most consequential action against federal employee unions yet late Thursday, signing an executive order aimed at ending collective bargaining for government employees whose work include national security aspects.
The expansive order applies to workers across many federal agencies, including the departments of State, Defense, Justice and Health and Human Services. It also impacts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Communications Commission, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A fact sheet released by the White House said, “The President needs a responsive and accountable civil service to protect our national security.”
The order is aimed at stopping federal unions who have “declared war on President Trump’s agenda,” according to the fact sheet. It noted that the largest union – the American Federation of Government Employees – has filed many grievances to “block Trump policies.”
“President Trump refuses to let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests,” the fact sheet said, noting that the president is using authority granted by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
A guidance issued Thursday by the Office of Personnel Management said that the agencies and divisions covered by the executive order no longer need to collectively bargain with federal unions. It noted that the agencies can conduct the widespread reduction in force, or RIF, that Trump had previously ordered without regard to provisions in terminated collective bargaining agreements. Likewise, any procedural restrictions on agencies’ return-to-office mandates won’t be in effect after the agreements are terminated.
AFGE, which represents more than 800,000 employees, condemned the move in a statement Thursday evening, noting that it affects the collective bargaining rights of more than 1 million federal employees.
“President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants—nearly one-third of whom are veterans—simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in the statement.
“AFGE is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks,” Kelley said.
Since taking office, Trump has sought to reshape the federal workforce. In one of his earliest moves, he ended remote work for government employees and agencies were provided guidance on how they can override union collective bargaining agreements on telework and remote work.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced moves to rescind the collective bargaining agreement covering tens of thousands of transportation security officers at airports.
Federal unions have fought back, filing multiple lawsuits in federal court – several of which have succeeded in stymieing Trump’s agenda, at least for a short time. Lawsuits filed by AFGE and other unions have temporarily reversed the administration’s laying off tens of thousands of probationary workers at certain federal agencies and blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive Social Security data, among other consequential rulings.
