Posts tagged collective bargaining rights
House majority forces vote on bill to restore collective bargaining for most federal employees
November 18, 2025 // Meanwhile, another bipartisan group of lawmakers is also leading a bill that would restore collective bargaining rights for VA employees. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) are leading that bill. The National Treasury Employees Union, as well as the National Weather Service Employees Organization and the Patent Office Professional Association, are also suing the Trump administration over its collective bargaining rollback. Federal courts in D.C. will hold proceedings in both cases next month.
Jeffries stalls effort to restore federal workers’ bargaining rights
November 18, 2025 // Jeffries stalls effort to restore federal workers’ bargaining rights Reps. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) were poised to sign a discharge petition to force a floor vote before the House minority leader stepped in. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Nov. 4, 2025. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Nov. 4. | Francis Chung/POLITICO By Lawrence Ukenye and Meredith Lee Hill 11/13/2025 01:10 PM EST Updated: 11/13/2025 03:43 PM EST House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ staff on Wednesday night blocked an effort to sidestep Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on a bipartisan bill that would restore collective bargaining rights for thousands of federal workers, according to four people granted anonymity to describe the sensitive matter. House leadership has stalled on scheduling a vote for the “Protect America’s Workforce Act” since it was introduced in April. Lawmakers have introduced a discharge petition that would allow the bill to immediately get a floor vote if 218 people sign on.
IBEW: Trump’s anti-union EOs target unions expressly protected by law
November 9, 2025 // The collective bargaining rights of prevailing rate employees at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Southwestern Power Agency and the Western Area Power Administration are set by a different law than the one that covers most other federal employees, a new lawsuit argues.
State House labor pains: The long fight carries on for unionizing legislative aides
October 27, 2025 // Thanks to an amendment adopted at the Democrats’ state convention, the official party platform explicitly supports providing legislative aides with “the compensation, support, and collective bargaining rights they deserve.” It marked the latest sign of unionization backing from a party that regularly pitches itself as pro-labor, following endorsements from most of the state’s all Democratic congressional delegation and then-gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey.
How are unions pushing back against Trump’s attacks on labor and layoffs?
October 21, 2025 // Unions are battling the administration in federal courtrooms nationwide, after filing dozens of lawsuits to try to halt attempts to shed hundreds of thousands of government employees, strip collective bargaining rights from over a million workers, and gut some federal agencies. On Wednesday, they made a significant breakthrough: Judge Susan Illston, of the US district court’s northern district of California, granted a temporary restraining order blocking Trump’s latest mass layoffs from the government shutdown.
Louisville union members urge lawmakers to protect bargaining rights
September 8, 2025 // John Hetzel is the president of the Louisville chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees. He said federal and veterans’ rights need to return to employees. “Specifically, that is stripping people of their bargaining rights and their contracts. We just had that happen to us at the VA, and it affected 300,000 employees, and it’s devastating,” Hetzel said. Hetzel’s union and other allies are calling for support on HR 2550. That would overturn the president’s executive order that removes collective bargaining rights for workers at more than 30 federal agencies.
US union membership declining in ‘right-to-work’ states, report reveals
September 8, 2025 // Right-to-work laws allow workers represented by unions to stop paying dues for the services and benefits they receive through union representation, depleting resources from labor unions. Public sector workers in all 50 states have also had their collective bargaining rights stripped through the imposition of right-to-work laws by the US supreme court’s 2018 decision Janus v AFSCME. In 2024, states that protect collective bargaining saw an increase of nearly 10,000 union members, compared with the loss of 200,000 union members in states with right-to-work laws.
USDA plant inspectors challenge exclusion from union rights
August 19, 2025 // Due to the change, the USDA no longer recognizes the National Association of Agriculture Employees and refuses to honor the terms of an existing collective bargaining agreement between the union and the federal government, according to the complaint. These actions exceed the government’s authority and violate the free speech and equal protection rights of APHIS plant inspectors, according to the complaint. The lawsuit has asked a federal judge to declare that the exclusion of APHIS inspectors from union representation was unlawful and to order the USDA to recognize the National Association of Agriculture Employees and abide by the collective bargaining deal
Unions’ battle for survival hits new wave with Trump termination of bargaining agreements
August 16, 2025 // “The Teamsters contributed to the NRCC and a sprawling list of House Republicans – signaling a monumental shift of working class voters towards the GOP,” the organization highlighted in an email this week. Beyond the court battles, unions are hopeful Congress could take up a discharge petition that would force the House to take a vote on a bill that would overturn Trump’s March order.
With GLO push, RI becomes first state to explicitly codify student unionization rights in state law
August 11, 2025 // McKee signed House Bill 5187 on July 2, capping off a monthslong effort by Brown’s Graduate Labor Organization to codify federal labor organizing protections in state law. GLO leaders had worked with the Rhode Island AFL-CIO and state legislators to advocate for the bill’s passage since its introduction in January.