Posts tagged International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
House strips its own provision protecting Defense civilians’ union rights from NDAA
December 11, 2025 // A source familiar with congressional negotiations said that the bipartisan language effectively nullifying President Trump’s anti-union executive orders as they pertain to the Pentagon was dropped due to lack of support in the Senate.
Number of federal employees exiting government this year continues to grow
October 27, 2025 // The number of federal employees exiting the government this year continues to grow. The Partnership for Public Service has added thousands more to its running tally of how many feds have left their jobs since January. The latest estimate surpasses 211,000 employees who are either already gone, or who may exit soon.
Union Lawsuit Challenges NASA National Security Rebrand
October 27, 2025 // The IFPTE lawsuit, filed earlier this month, challenges the White House’s assertion that national security is NASA’s “primary function,” adding that NASA has been collectively bargaining with IFPTE local unions for over 60 years and “at no time has such bargaining ever been questioned as inconsistent with national security.” It argues that President Donald Trump’s actions exceed his authority and unfairly target the union, which has publicly protested the administration’s cuts at the agency. IFPTE represents approximately 6,000 employees at NASA. The lawsuit follows an August executive order that bars some agencies — including NASA and parts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — from engaging in collective bargaining on the grounds that negotiating union contracts could hinder agencies’ ability to operate effectively and quickly, creating a national security risk.
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.
Hundreds of Southern California Edison planners, technicians file for union election
April 22, 2025 // A separate union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 47, already represents construction linemen who install and maintain the overhead distribution and transmission lines. John Mader, president of ESC Local 20, urged the company to take a neutral approach to the union so that workers could eventually vote in an election “without interference or intimidation.”
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.
Unions applaud ‘most pro-union president in history’ following Biden’s decision to end campaign
July 24, 2024 // As president, Biden instituted reforms aimed at rebuilding the federal workforce, both increasing recruitment at federal agencies and restoring rights taken away during Trump’s first term in office. Shortly after taking office, he rescinded Schedule F, an abortive—though not abandoned—effort to reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees in policy-related jobs into the government’s excepted service, effectively making them at-will employees.
‘Betrayed’: Unions, White House irate over Teamsters president’s RNC speech
July 18, 2024 // President Biden secured a pension bailout that restored retirement accounts for about 350,000 Teamsters members, appointed staunchly pro-labor allies to the National Labor Relations Board and instituted labor requirements for federal contracts. The backlash against O’Brien’s speech reflects the high stakes of the 2024 presidential election for the nation’s labor movement, which fears Trump will undo these policies.
OPINION: Government unions are behind corrupt Oakland mayor
July 1, 2024 // Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by the FBI last week as were two other homes owned by members of the Duong family. The Duongs own California Waste Solutions, a company that has a billion-dollar contract with the city. Thao is reported to have traveled to Vietnam at the Duong family’s expense last year. Since the raid, Thao’s lawyer and communications director both quit and her former chief of staff called on her to resign. Thao refuses to leave office, however, claiming that she is completely innocent and the victim of “right-winged forces” that are trying to take her down. Thao’s political troubles did not start with the raid. Thanks to rising crime, a weak economy, and a huge budget deficit, Thao was already facing a recall election set for this November. As bad as Thao has been in office, though, there still is a good chance she will hang on to power.
Will San Francisco Unions Go on Strike? Labor Fight Could Upend Mayor’s Race
January 16, 2024 // State Attorney General Rob Bonta, a likely candidate for California governor in 2026, mingled with guests who included top union reps for city firefighters, janitors and carpenters, along with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and San Francisco Supervisors Shamann Walton and Ahsha Safaí. Former Mayor Willie Brown delivered remarks in his official role as San Francisco’s roastmaster general, and Daniel Lurie, a wealthy nonprofit founder who is running for mayor, also showed up to glad-hand. But one person was conspicuously absent: Mayor London Breed. While she was invited, the mayor’s appearance could have made for some awkward conversations—contracts for nearly three dozen public employee unions, not including police and firefighters, will expire this summer. Multiple labor leaders at the party said a nasty fight is brewing in San Francisco. The city is staring down a projected $800 million deficit over the next two years, meaning vacant jobs will be eliminated, contracts could be cut and services will likely diminish. Adding to the degree of difficulty in negotiations, a court ruling in 2023 has potentially opened the door for city workers to strike for the first time in more than four decades.