Posts tagged Department of Energy
Whatever happened to the effort by workers to unionize KY’s EV battery plant?
July 11, 2025 // The KyPolicy report says pressure from successful UAW bargaining at Louisville’s Kentucky Truck Plant and Ford Assembly Plant, and at Bowling Green’s General Motors Corvette facility has resulted in non-union plants across the state to boost wages. In December, BlueOval said starting wages would increase by between $2.50 and $3.50 per hour to as little as $21 per hour and as much as $32 per hour.
Supreme Court clears way for Trump to downsize the federal workforce
July 10, 2025 // The labor unions and nonprofit groups that sued over the downsizing offered the justices several examples of what would happen if it were allowed to take effect, including cuts of 40% to 50% at several agencies. Baltimore, Chicago and San Francisco were among cities that also sued. “Today’s decision has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy. This decision does not change the simple and clear fact that reorganizing government functions and laying off federal workers en masse haphazardly without any congressional approval is not allowed by our Constitution,” the parties that sued said in a joint statement.
Court Rules Trump Move Ending Federal Worker Union Contracts Is ‘Unlawful’
April 27, 2025 // While preliminary, the injunction is significant because it could help to maintain worker protections enshrined in the contracts and enable covered workers to file grievances via processes laid out in them. Most of the nation’s more than two million federal employees are represented by unions. The ruling could also lead to the restoration of dues collection from members, which the NTEU says bring in $25 million annually. That is because follow-up guidance on Trump’s original executive order from the Office of Personnel Management stated that agency resources “should not be expended to facilitate payment of union dues.” Labor groups have filed dozens of legal challenges to Trump’s executive orders, which have led to pauses in firings of some federal workers who lost their jobs as part of the administration’s efforts to reduce government bloat.
GOP Unveils Bill To End Taxpayer-Funded Union Organizing
April 8, 2025 // Lee and Cline’s No Union Time on the Taxpayer’s Dime Act would end the practice of “official time”— paid time given to federal employees to perform union duties during work hours and using government office space. This practice costs taxpayers more than $100 million annually, according to data from the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Trump puts America first with federal collective bargaining ban
April 3, 2025 // The legal basis for this move is clear — and firmly grounded in common sense. While federal law allows collective bargaining at government agencies, it also allows the president to exclude any agency that deals with “intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.” Collective bargaining must be “interpreted in a manner consistent with the requirements of an effective and efficient government,” according to the same federal law.
Federal Workers Get Second Musk Buyout Offer
April 2, 2025 // The initiative bears many of the hallmarks of Musk’s “Fork in the Road” offer in January, which allowed federal workers to leave their jobs in February but continue being paid through September. This time the offers are being made agency-by-agency as part of each department’s mandate to reduce the size of its workforce. Deadlines and rules for eligibility differ by department.
Backgrounder: Executive Order: Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs
March 31, 2025 // The practice of “official time” is when unionized federal employees perform union-related activities, rather than their actual public service duties, while being paid by taxpayers. The Federal Unions EO requires that agencies, upon termination of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, reassign any workers who performed “official time” to positions where they perform solely agency business. It also contains language regarding existing grievance proceedings and allows for the head of each agency to submit a report to the President within 30 days highlighting any agency subdivisions that were not covered but should have been covered under the Federal Unions EO.
Trump signs executive order to end collective bargaining at agencies involved with national security
March 27, 2025 // President Donald Trump moved Thursday to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government, citing authority granted him under a 1978 law. The order, signed without public fanfare and announced late Thursday, appears to touch most of the federal government. Affected agencies include the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security.
This Pennsylvania battery plant just voted to unionize—here’s why it matters
September 10, 2024 // Eos Energy has received a roughly $400 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy and has also received millions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Section 45X advanced manufacturing production tax credit, designed to incentivize production of renewable energy components such as batteries. If the company expands production as planned, Eos will be eligible for $1.98 billion in Section 45X tax credits between 2026 and 2032. Legislators framed the Inflation Reduction Act as a source of “good-paying union jobs” within the renewable energy sector. But the legislation did not require companies receiving federal funds to commit to union neutrality agreements.
Workers Say Plant Eligible for $2 Billion in Public Funds Is Union-Busting
September 4, 2024 // Eos’s Pittsburgh-area battery plant got subsidies aimed at ‘good clean jobs.’ Its workers say they’re getting fired for unionizing.