Posts tagged Department of Interior
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.
Trump administration ends union dues collection for most feds without notice
April 10, 2025 // An official at another federal employee union familiar with the matter told Government Executive that local unions at agencies serviced by the Interior Department’s Interior Business Center and the Agriculture Department’s National Finance Center, both of which provide payroll services to large swathes of the federal government, took similar action this week, all without notifying the unions or customer agencies. And, in at least one case, the National Finance Center deducted union dues from employees’ paychecks and then failed to pass that money along to the union, requiring them to then refund those dues back to the employees. None of the three payroll providers responded immediately to a request for comment Wednesday. The cancellation comes amid news, first reported in The New York Times, that operatives from Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency had gained access to the Interior Department’s Federal Personnel and Payroll System, which underpins the IBC’s work.
Federal employees confused, angered by Trump’s offer to quit
February 3, 2025 // “I’ve got my whole entire life invested in the federal government,” said the staffer, who also spent time in the military. “I’m not going to throw everything away.” Across the United States, multiple federal workers who spoke with CNN said they weren’t willing to sacrifice benefits beyond their salaries – including health and retirement benefits and student loan forgiveness – not to mention careers. They requested their names not be used for fear of retaliation.
Workers in Yellowstone vote to unionize
July 28, 2023 // The Yellowstone organizing committee said in a statement that the effort was driven by “low pay, unmanageable workloads, high rent, a stifling hierarchy” and other issues that has the workforce in the first national park “struggling.” “The resulting high turnover negatively affects the park and the public’s experience of it,” union organizers said. Out of 81 votes cast, 66 were in favor of unionizing and 16 were against, according to organizer Mark Wolf, a former park worker for six seasons, according to the Billings Gazette. Some participants had trouble voting because of their isolated location and limited connectivity, he added. Supervisors were excluded from the vote.
Federal Employee Union Membership is Up 20%
March 29, 2023 // The task force asked federal agencies to foster collaborative relationships with their union partners, involve labor organizations in predecisional policy discussions, and remove barriers from unions trying to increase their membership or organize new bargaining units. The group recommended that the Office of Personnel Management instruct agencies to provide information on whether job openings are represented by unions and encourage agencies to provide unions more opportunities to communicate with new hires. In a blog post last week, the vice president’s office announced that just a year after agencies began implementing the task force’s recommendations, the initiative is already paying dividends: over the last year, nearly 80,000 federal employees have joined a union, increasing the total number of dues paying union members at federal agencies by 20%. And in the private sector, petitions for union representation increased 53% from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022, while overall union membership grew by 273,000 last year.