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Late last night, President Trump signed an executive order «to end collective bargaining with Federal unions» at more than two dozen government agencies. In theory this puts an end to collective bargaining for more than half of all federal workers.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday evening abolishing union rights at more than two dozen federal agencies and offices, in a major expansion of the administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government.
The White House cited national security concerns for terminating workers’ ability to bargain collectively, but the order applies at agencies with both direct and indirect links to national security. Those include the entirety of the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, State and Justice, and parts of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Interior, Energy and Commerce, among others.
Hours later, eight federal agencies sued a group of unions in federal court in Texas, asking a judge to declare the union contracts void under Trump’s executive order.
Trump invoked his authority under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 to cancel the union contracts, taking a sweeping view of what constitutes national security. The administration also moved to end union rights for workers at the Treasury Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communications Commission and the National Science Foundation, among many other agencies.
In a coordinated move, OPM also released guidance saying that agencies impacted by the new order no longer need to bargain with unions and can carry out reductions in force.
Trump’s executive order, published after 10 p.m. Thursday, was accompanied by guidance from the Office of Personnel Management informing agencies that they are “no longer required to collectively bargain with Federal unions” and to stop participating in grievance procedures — the formal complaint mechanism used by unionized workers. OPM also “advised” agencies that they no longer have to comply with laws that require advance notice and other procedures when implementing layoffs.
This is a bombshell to say the least. The government worker unions have been fighting the Trump administration from day one.
