Posts tagged federal workers
Op-Ed: Federal union bosses: To ‘save democracy,’ let us finish destroying it
June 30, 2025 // How are federal union bosses reacting now that a president is finally taking action to put a halt to a system that, as former union attorney Kurt Hanslowe foresaw back in 1967, empowers “entrenched and mutually supportive government officials and collective bargaining representatives” over whom the public has “diminishing control” to make joint decisions about tax rates and other public policies? True to form, union officials are claiming Trump’s efforts to restore representative government are anti-democratic! For example, American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley, whose union filed the pending lawsuit to block E.O.14251, unsurprisingly claims the Trump Administration’s actions “represent a clear threat” to “every American who “values democracy.”
Judge rules Trump can’t eliminate federal workers’ union bargaining
June 27, 2025 // Siding with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other unions, U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled that President Trump’s executive order letting several federal agencies dispense with union bargaining is likely unlawful. Donato wrote in a 29-page opinion that federal workers have had the right to unionize and collectively bargain for better employment conditions for more than 60 years, and Trump’s order threatened that “long-standing status quo.” The six unions that filed suit “appear to have been deemed hostile to the President,” he said.
Trump accelerates push to reward loyalty in federal workforce
June 16, 2025 // Vinnie Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker and member of the transition team for the labor department in Trump’s first term, said that it is costly and time-consuming to try to fire workers, and a new rule to reclassify policy-related positions would make it easier for the administration to ensure their reforms aren’t hindered. “These career employees could throw sand in the gears for policies they don’t like,” Vernuccio said. Vernuccio added that the rule change would affect only career federal employees in policymaking roles, which OPM has estimated is about 50,000 positions, or about two percent of the Federal civilian workforce. “The sky is not going to fall,” Vernuccio said.
Trump administration moves to fast-track firings of federal workers for misconduct
June 6, 2025 // The U.S. Office of Personnel Management published a proposed rule, opens new tab that would allow the office, which acts as the federal government's human resources department, to direct other agencies to fire employees for conduct such as tax evasion, leaking sensitive information and refusing to testify in other workers' disciplinary cases.
Restaurant owners, workers hold competing rallies over potential repeal of Initiative 82
June 5, 2025 // Wednesday, business owners and workers held competing rallies outside the Wilson Building, as the D.C. Council considers the fate of Initiative 82. Initiative 82 was passed in November of 2022 and implemented the following Spring. The voter-backed law eliminates the tipped minimum wage by gradually raising wages over the next several years. But that law is now in question, as Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed repealing I-82 under her 2026 budget.
Trump Executive Order on Public-Sector Unions Clears Latest Legal Hurdle
May 26, 2025 // These policies have been generated in response to the snowballing effect of public-sector labor unions, whose bosses have swamped government agencies with an inefficient and excess allocation of funds. Because of these union boss abuses, tax dollars have even been paying full-time salaries to union boss lobbyists working to secure themselves higher wages for doing less work. Additionally, the Institute for the American Worker has found that the time and resources spent on collective bargaining has likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars for the taxpayer. As demonstrated, banning collective bargaining with public-sector unions at national security agencies is not only a feasible plan, but one which could return millions to the American taxpayer, increase the efficiency of the government, and allow agencies to reorient themselves toward their actual purpose and mission.
Court gives go-ahead to Trump’s plan to halt union bargaining for many federal workers
May 19, 2025 // Trump relied on a national security exemption to exempt agencies that he said "have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work." "Preserving the President's autonomy under a statute that expressly recognizes his national-security expertise is within the public interest," the appeal's court majority wrote.
AFGE president says downsizing after Trump’s order threatens the union’s survival
May 5, 2025 // Kelley said the order has already taken a “very direct hit” on the group’s finances because agencies stopped collecting union dues from paychecks. Saying it had lost over half of its dues revenue and faced a major budget shortfall, AFGE’s National Executive Council last month approved a plan to slash its staffing levels from 355 to 151. The union has offered early retirements and buyouts to some staff, and employees are anticipating layoffs in the coming days.
Opinion: Remote work is a new battlefield for unions
April 22, 2025 // A series of Trump administration executive orders, and recent guidance from the Office of Personnel Management , aim to dismantle federal telework arrangements. That guidance indicates that agencies can override union contracts when it comes to deciding how much or how little employees get to work from home. Legal experts warn that reversing negotiated telework clauses not only puts federal employees’ work-life balance at risk but also sets a precedent that could weaken collective bargaining in other areas.
Commentary: Federal workers shouldn’t have collective bargaining rights
April 22, 2025 // Government unions’ response to DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts underscores the need for reform