IRS Cancels Union Contract, Affecting Thousands of Workers (2)

The IRS told employees it’s canceling the contract with its union, which represents roughly two-thirds of the agency, to align with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

“We have notified the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) that we have terminated the 2022 National Agreement and the 2025 Addendum,” Alex Kweskin, IRS chief human capital officer, said in a Friday email to employees seen by Bloomberg Tax. The IRS confirmed the action.

NTEU President Doreen Greenwald, however, said the IRS can’t end the collective bargaining agreement and expects the agency to continue to honor it.

“This is the system that Congress designed and that NTEU is fighting in the courts to preserve,” Greenwald said in a statement. The union sent a response to the IRS Friday.

The Office of Personnel Management instructed agencies earlier this month to terminate their union contracts, asking agencies to comply with Trump’s two executive orders released in March and August last year. The orders stripped over 1 million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, citing national security concerns. Unions have filed several suits to block the order, arguing that labor law clearly gives federal employees the right to collectively bargain.

The Trump administration has shrunk the IRS workforce by roughly a quarter. The agency had about 100,000 employees when the president took office a year ago.

The move is one way the Trump administration is reducing federal workplace protections. OPM earlier this month released a rule to loosen job protections for policy-related positions, making it easier for political appointees to effectively fire them and pick replacements. With reduced job protections, IRS career employees warning against illegal actions could be fired, escalating political power over tax administration.

Kweskin said in the email that managers shouldn’t invite union representatives to formal discussions or respond to union requests for information. If managers receive a negotiated grievance from an employee or union representative, they should send it to Labor Employee Relations and Negotiations, according to the email.

“We will continue to treat everyone with dignity and respect, in alignment with civil service laws and regulations, merit system principles and equal employment opportunity protections,” Kweskin said in the email.