Trump Administration Sues to Void Union Deals Across Government

Donald Trump’s administration moved to invalidate contracts between a swath of US government agencies and the largest federal union representing their employees, marking a sweeping attack on collective bargaining rights as the president aims to lay off government workers.

In a lawsuit by the Justice Department, the Defense Department and other US agencies, the administration said that collective bargaining agreements reached with local chapters of the American Federation of Government Employees before Trump took office are impeding his efforts to reform the government and pose a threat to national security.

The legal move late Thursday came shortly after Trump signed an executive order directing agencies across the executive branch to cease collective bargaining with federal unions.

Read More: Trump Bars Collective Bargaining Talks with Federal Unions

Other components of the government that filed the complaint in federal court in Texas include the Homeland Security Department, Agriculture Department, Housing and Urban Development Department, Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to AFGE’s website, the union represents represents over 820,000 workers in nearly every agency of the federal and DC governments, spread across over 900 local unions.

“Public servants, appointees, and officials come to work every day advancing the public interest, serving the American people, and furthering the President’s agenda with energy,” Justice Department lawyers said in the complaint. “When inflexible CBAs obstruct presidential and agency head capacity to ensure accountability and improve performance, all citizens pay the price.”

‘Bullying Tactics’

AFGE issued a statement denouncing what it called “bullying tactics” by the administration.

“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,” according to the statement from AFGE National President Everett Kelley.

The president’s executive order encompasses agencies not known for their national security portfolios, including the Environmental Protection Agency and units of the Interior Department that govern energy production. A fact sheet issued by the White House justified their inclusion citing Congress’ declaration that “energy insecurity threatens national security.”

The president’s directive also bars negotiations with unions by the Department of Veterans Affairs since it “serves as the backstop healthcare provider for wounded troops in wartime” and for the National Science Foundation, since “NSF-funded research supports military and cybersecurity breakthroughs,” according to the fact sheet.

The move coincides with efforts in Congress to limit union rights. It also comes as Trump is moving to remake the government, by cutting its workforce and abolishing some agencies.

Senate Legislation

Republicans in the Senate have advanced legislation that would bar federal employees from organizing or joining labor unions. Collective bargaining also would be precluded under that legislation.

Trump said his action was rooted in authority under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

In the fact sheet, the White House decried the work of “hostile federal unions” it claimed were enabled to “obstruct agency management,” which is “dangerous in agencies with national security responsibilities.”

For instance, according to the fact sheet, agencies can’t modify policies in collective bargaining agreements until they expire — and President Joe Biden’s administration negotiated many of the pacts so they extend until the end of Trump’s second term in office.

The case is United States Department of Defense v. American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, District 10, 25-cv-00119, US District Court, Western District of Texas (Waco).

--With assistance from Josh Eidelson.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.net;
Robert Burnson in San Francisco at rburnson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Justin Sink at jsink1@bloomberg.net;
Ben Bain at bbain2@bloomberg.net

Peter Blumberg, Sara Forden

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