President Trump Ends Collective Bargaining for Majority of Federal Government
The Trump Administration takes additional aim at federal labor unions, eliminating collective bargaining for any agency or agency subcomponent that deals with national security issues. All told, that amounts to a majority of federal agencies banned from collective bargaining.
The president accomplished this through an executive order, using authority granted under the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA), to do away with bargaining rights. The president cited a clause that allows him to suspend bargaining rights if they “cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements.”
Agencies affected include the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of State, the Department of Justice (DOJ) (minus certain components of the U.S. Marshals Service), and the Department of the Treasury (excluding the Bureau of Engraving and Printing).
It also includes subcomponents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Subcomponents of the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Health and Human Services are also affected, as are other agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In accompanying guidance, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Acting Director Charles Ezell writes that “covered agencies and subdivisions are no longer subject to the collective-bargaining requirements” under federal law.
“Definition of Union-Busting”
The news prompted swift reaction from labor organizations.
“This administration’s bullying tactics represent a clear threat not just to federal employees and their unions, but to every American who values democracy and the freedoms of speech and association,” said American Federal of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley.
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) President Liz Shuler called the executive order the “very definition of union-busting.”
Administration Sues AFGE
But the administration is trying to get a jump on legal action. DOJ filed suit in the western district of Texas on behalf of eight agencies against AFGE affiliates. The plaintiffs want to terminate their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), saying such agreements hamper their national security missions.
“We are taking this fight directly to the public-sector unions,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “By affirmatively suing in Texas, we are aggressively protecting President Trump’s efforts to ensure unions no longer interfere in the national security functions of the government.”
