Posts tagged Protect America’s Workforce Act
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ongoing arbitration proceedings and unfair labor practice (ULP) charges in cases where collective bargaining is being rescinded.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.
House passes bill to restore collective bargaining for federal employees
December 15, 2025 // “The president has been fighting back against the deals that public sector unions have negotiated for themselves, at the expense of the American taxpayer, by invoking an existing legal authority,” said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the Oversight committee. “[This bill] directly threatens that progress by overturning the president’s executive order that exercises one of the few tools available to him under the law to more effectively manage the federal workforce.”
New Jersey’s GOP congressmen make rare break with Trump on collective bargaining
December 15, 2025 // New Jersey is one of the nation’s most heavily unionized states, and the state’s powerful unions frequently support politicians of both parties. Smith and Van Drew have received backing from the New Jersey AFL-CIO in recent re-election campaigns; during Kean’s 2024 campaign, meanwhile, the AFL-CIO chose to stay out of the race, which was seen as a victory for the congressman in a district that Democrats hoped to flip. Notably, though, none of New Jersey’s Republicans were part of the original effort to bring today’s collective bargaining bill to the floor in the first place. A discharge petition to force a vote on the bill got signatures from every House Democrat and five Republicans, but Kean, Van Drew, and Smith did not sign on.
13 Republicans Vote to Nullify Donald Trump’s Executive Order
December 11, 2025 // Democratic Representative Jared Golden, who led the bill, forced a vote on it by using a mechanism known as a discharge petition. The Congressional procedure means lawmakers can force a vote on a piece of legislation against the wishes of the leadership on the condition that it has majority support in the House.
House majority forces vote on bill to restore collective bargaining for most federal employees
November 18, 2025 // Meanwhile, another bipartisan group of lawmakers is also leading a bill that would restore collective bargaining rights for VA employees. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) are leading that bill. The National Treasury Employees Union, as well as the National Weather Service Employees Organization and the Patent Office Professional Association, are also suing the Trump administration over its collective bargaining rollback. Federal courts in D.C. will hold proceedings in both cases next month.
A Senate bill seeks to restore collective bargaining for a huge swath of federal workers
September 22, 2025 // Warner was quick to point out what union representation for federal workers does not do. “Let’s be clear, a federal union doesn’t have the ability to strike, or negotiate pay or benefits,” Warner said. But, he said, union representation for federal workers is designed to prevent discrimination and unlawful firings, as well as offer protections for whistleblowers.
Bill to nullify Trump’s union executive orders introduced by 48 senators
September 18, 2025 // All Senate Democrats and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have signed on as sponsors of the Protect America’s Workforce Act, while the measure is just two signatures away from guaranteed floor debate in the House.
Louisville union members urge lawmakers to protect bargaining rights
September 8, 2025 // John Hetzel is the president of the Louisville chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees. He said federal and veterans’ rights need to return to employees. “Specifically, that is stripping people of their bargaining rights and their contracts. We just had that happen to us at the VA, and it affected 300,000 employees, and it’s devastating,” Hetzel said. Hetzel’s union and other allies are calling for support on HR 2550. That would overturn the president’s executive order that removes collective bargaining rights for workers at more than 30 federal agencies.
Unions rally in Pittsburgh against Trump’s cuts to worker protections and research funding
July 23, 2025 // The event was a stop on the AFL-CIO’s “It’s Better in a Union: Fighting for Freedom, Fairness & Security” bus tour. Labor leaders including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, USW International President David McCall and Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council President Darrin Kelly took the mic to address the impacts of the administration’s cuts to university research funding, Medicaid and the firing of workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, both in Pittsburgh and across the country. After the speeches, volunteers handed out a sheet of paper with a phone number to reach the House of Representative and a QR code with a prewritten email in support of a discharge petition to force a vote in that chamber on the Protect America’s Workforce Act, a bill that aims to reverse Trump’s executive order that eliminated collective bargaining rights for federal workers.
Pro-labor Republicans push Trump to rescind order busting most federal unions
April 3, 2025 // “This executive order, which ruthlessly strips collective bargaining agreements for over 1 million federal workers, is the most recent attack your administration has levied against our merit-based civil service in the effort to cut the workforce and replace them with political cronies,” they wrote. “While the CSRA does give the president the authority to limit collective bargaining agreements due to national security concerns, the executive order’s direction to terminate mass swaths of federal employee collective bargaining agreements is clearly intended to broadly dismantle the CSRA, which is specifically designed to grant federal employees the right to collective bargaining as a means to resolve workplace issues while maintaining the smooth functioning of government operations.”