Posts tagged litigation
Trump strips civil service protections from thousands of workers
June 8, 2026 // The reclassification is part of a wider campaign by Trump to downsize the civil service and realign it toward his policy goals. The administration has developed rules to have federal employees sign nondisclosure agreements, extend suitability standards, end certain layoff protections, cap performance ratings and weaken safeguards for probationary workers. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told reporters the administration needs people in policy-making positions willing to carry out the president’s directives. It doesn’t matter what political views those federal employees may have, he said. “But if you allow those views to basically interfere with your willingness to actually carry out lawful orders and policy directives of the administration, then this provides a mechanism, obviously, for people in those agencies to be able to be removed effectively at will,” Kupor said.
Unions moan as California state workers ordered back into the office 4 days week
May 21, 2026 // Last year, Newsom faced push back from unions over Executive Order N-22-25 and it’s happening again. Unions like SEIU Local 1000 — which represents nearly 100,000 state workers, and CAPS UAW, representing 6,000 scientific workers for the state — have blasted the governor over the move. In a press release from SEIU Local 1000 — it wrote that “as the State refuses to bargain in good faith over changes to teleworking conditions, SEIU Local 1000 filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).” “SEIU Local 1000 remains committed to fighting for Telework that Works through bargaining, legislation, and statewide member organizing efforts.”
‘Blue Power’ and the Rise of Police Union Politics
April 18, 2026 // "Everybody else can indulge in politics—every black group, every political party group, every church group," groused Carl Parsell, then president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, in 1969. "Why are police officers so different?" The question goes to the heart of Stuart Schrader's Blue Power, a new book charting how police unions accreted and cemented power in the decades following Parsell's query. It's a ripe subject for review: Police officers' savvy use of public sector unions and lobbying to largely immunize themselves from oversight is one of the greatest political coups in recent American history. In under four decades, police unions evolved from beer-drinking clubs to organized bargaining units to potent political forces at the local, state, and national levels.
Op-ed: New Options for Your 401(k)
April 1, 2026 // The law doesn’t allow ulterior motives to infect plan investments. The duty to invest for the sole financial benefit of plan participants doesn’t allow fiduciaries to pursue political agendas or engage in self-dealing. The Labor Department will be ready to enforce the law if plan fiduciaries act with a disloyal motive or threaten the retirement security of American workers. The department isn’t promoting any particular investment option. We aren’t picking winners and losers. We are leveling the playing field so that plan fiduciaries can exercise their judgment—selecting plan investments without fear of undue liability. We are applying the principle-based rules that the law requires.
WA farmworker union bill doesn’t make it through Legislature
February 22, 2026 // Tuesday, Feb. 17, was the cutoff for bills to be voted out of the chamber — the Senate or House of Representatives — where they originated. The bill introduced by state Sen. Rebecca Saldana, D-Seattle, would have given farmworkers a legal framework to engage in collective bargaining with their employers. The bill made it through the first round of Senate committees but not to a floor vote that would have advanced it.
Opinion: Teachers Unions Get Desperate
February 17, 2026 // Antichoice plaintiffs “usually file lawsuits right before families sign up for the program just to be particularly cruel. They know they’ll lose nearly every case, but delaying or enjoining the programs in any way is the last-ditch effort to slow maximum uptake for families,” says Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children. Many suits are striking out. Idaho’s high court just ruled 5-0 in favor of the state choice program. Top courts in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and West Virginia have upheld choice programs. The U.S. Supreme Court has continued to issue beneficial rulings. Yet the legal threat is real, and unions, often accompanied by local school districts, continue to throw millions at litigation and disruption, forcing states to spend huge amounts to defend against them. Then the unions and the districts claim schools are underfunded.
OPM directs agencies to move forward with ending collective bargaining
February 16, 2026 // An additional “frequently asked questions” document that OPM updated Thursday details various changes agencies should make to comply with Trump’s orders revoking collective bargaining. The guidance, for one, tells agencies to revise federal employees’ personnel files to reflect that they are no longer in a bargaining unit. It also directs agencies to cancel ongoing arbitration proceedings and unfair labor practice (ULP) charges in cases where collective bargaining is being rescinded. OPM said agencies are also allowed to “disregard” union grievances for bargaining units or federal employees that the president has deemed no longer eligible for collective bargaining. Additionally, OPM said agencies should “withdraw” from ongoing union negotiations in cases where collective bargaining is being canceled. Impacted agencies should reclaim office space and resources that were being used for official time, OPM added.
Op-ed: AFSCME Let Me Down When I Needed Them Most
January 15, 2026 // I had paid the union thousands of dollars over the years and had never asked for a thing. But when I requested the union’s help to defend its own contract, it flat-out refused to process a grievance on my behalf. If I was shocked when the state broke the contract, I was outraged when my union rolled over and let it happen. I had to ask myself, if Council 13 wouldn’t even defend something as fundamental to a union as seniority, what other parts of the contract would it allow the state to trample?
Americans for Fair Treatment: AFFT v. USPS – Re-Processed Documents
November 6, 2025 // Through 3.5 years of FOIA litigation, Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) obtained 519 pages of initially hidden and then redacted USPS records concerning Project T—the White House’s COVID-19 test kit distribution program. Newly released material clarifies coordination between the USPS and the White House, revealing extensive White House involvement in program design, privacy policy, and communications with Congress.
The Cannabis Labor Crossroads: Historic Strikes, Labor Peace Agreements (“LPAs”), and What Comes Next
October 18, 2025 // The strikes at Exclusive Brands in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at Green Thumb Industries’ RISE dispensary in York, Pennsylvania, now stand as the longest in the legal cannabis market. While both actions reflect shared themes—demands for better wages, a voice in the workplace, and concerns about bargaining conduct—they are unfolding in starkly different market contexts and with different strategic aims.