President Donald Trump has moved to strip collective bargaining for a host of government agencies, stepping up his battle with the federal workforce.
The move, announced late Thursday, will affect hundreds of thousands of workers and the unions that represent them at the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs Department, Health and Human Services Department, National Science Foundation, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Justice, and Department of State, among others.
Trump, citing the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, says he has the authority to make the move owing to national security concerns. The American Federation of Government Employees, however, disagrees and says the matter will quickly end up in court.
“AFGE is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
The union released its own fact sheet saying that federal unions cannot negotiate over pay, benefits, or hiring and firing decisions. They can instead bargain only over conditions of employment. Federal employees are also prohibited by law from striking, the union said, and nearly a third of federal employees are veterans.
Police and firefighters, whose unions are more friendly toward Trump, are exempt from the executive order and will maintain collective bargaining rights.
Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have been warring with the federal workforce since Trump’s second term began on Jan. 20, moving to slash jobs and shutter entire federal agencies with thousands of layoffs.
UAW praises Trump auto tariffs and end of ‘free trade disaster’
Federal workers unions are fighting back with public statements, rallies, and court actions that have impeded the administration’s wishes.
While public sector unions are warring with Trump, he is making inroads with some in the private sector. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters remained neutral during the campaign, bucking a decadeslong trend of endorsing Democrats, and the United Auto Workers praised his tariffs, celebrating the end of the “free trade disaster.”