Posts tagged Executive Order
Trump Ends Union Protections for NASA Employees, Citing ‘National Security’
September 4, 2025 // Although NASA is defined as “America’s civil space program,” the new order argues that the agency’s activities fall under national security. “NASA develops and operates advanced air and space technologies, like satellite, communications, and propulsion systems, that are critical for U.S. national security,” the executive order reads. The order affects the approximately 53% of NASA employees in a bargaining unit represented by two labor unions, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and the American Federation of Government Employees, according to the agency.
A fresh executive order aims to ban unions at more federal agencies
September 3, 2025 // The targeting of additional agencies and their respective unions comes as the Trump administration has begun formally terminating collective bargaining agreements at more than half a dozen agencies, despite assuring federal judges that such a step wouldn’t be taken until the conclusion of litigation surrounding the executive order. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week signaled that it will consider reversing a prior decision to allow the edict to go into effect.
Yosemite Workers Vote to Unionize
August 27, 2025 // Federal employees at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon national parks have voted to unionize with the National Federation of Federal Employees. Across the two parks more than 97% of ballots cast in elections that ran from July 22 to Aug. 19 were in favor of unionizing, results that were certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority on Monday. Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon join a handful of other unionized parks in the US. For decades, government agencies have been required to collectively bargain with employees if they unionize, but the process of negotiating a contract can take years, and the Trump administration has been working to hamstring federal unions’ power.
Plan Sponsors Get Go-Ahead on Alternatives as DOL Shifts Stance
August 22, 2025 // For plan sponsors, this regulatory shift provides much-needed clarity and removes a significant deterrent that had been hanging over alternative investment discussions. The DOL has essentially returned to a neutral, principles-based approach that allows fiduciaries to evaluate all investment options based on their merits rather than facing special scrutiny for considering alternatives.
Union workers protest at Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center
August 19, 2025 // Terminating contracts for VA unions – which have repeatedly opposed significant, bipartisan VA reforms and rewarded bad employees for misconduct – is a huge win for Veterans. Because of this decision, VA staff will spend more time with Veterans, VA facilities can focus on treating Veterans instead of catering to union bosses, and VA can manage its staff according to Veterans’ needs, not union demands. As a result of this move, nearly 1,900 union representatives, who had been collecting government salaries to do union work, have returned to full-time VA work on behalf of Veterans.
USDA moves to end employee union contracts, documents show
August 17, 2025 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved to terminate union contracts with thousands of employees of its animal health and food safety inspection agencies, according to documents seen by Reuters, as one union on Wednesday challenged the firings in court. The notices sent to union leaders at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Food Safety and Inspection Service on Tuesday evening said the action was aligned with President Donald Trump's March executive order to exclude some federal workers from collective bargaining because their agencies have national security missions, the documents show.
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.
FEMA joins other federal agencies in canceling union contracts
August 12, 2025 // On Friday, FEMA’s acting administrator, David Richardson, sent a memo to American Federation of Government Employees Local 4060, the union representing the agency, saying that FEMA’s collective bargaining agreement had been terminated, ending a nearly 10-year contract.
EPA axes contracts with unions
August 11, 2025 // In that decision, the 9th Circuit stayed a lower court order that prevented the administration from enforcing Trump’s executive order. AFGE brought the legal challenge in that case along with six unions representing more than 1 million federal employees.
VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts
August 7, 2025 // Veterans Affairs leaders on Wednesday announced plans to terminate nearly all of its collective bargaining contracts with federal unions, upending employment agreements for hundreds of thousands of department workers. The move affects members of the American Federation of Government Employees, the AFL-CIO (AFGE), the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).