Federal employees union sues over Trump move to block collective bargaining
by Rebecca Beitsch
A federal employee union has sued to block a Trump administration order that would strip bargaining rights at 18 departments, arguing the president abused a limited national security authority to attack unions.
President Trump last week signed an order that directed agencies to terminate already-signed collective bargaining agreements and to “cease participating in grievance procedures.”
The Civil Service Reform Act that gives federal employees the right to unionize does have exceptions for national security, but in its suit the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) argues Trump went beyond authority that allows its use if an agency “primarily does intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.”
“The President’s sweeping Executive Order is inconsistent with this narrow authority. The Administration’s own issuances show that the President’s exclusions are not based on national security concerns, but instead a policy objective of making federal employees easier to fire and political animus against federal sector unions,” NTEU wrote in its suit.
While the order targets agencies it says have a national security mission, many of the departments don’t have a strict national security connection.
In addition to agencies with clear national security ties, the order also covers the Treasury Department, all agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the General Services Administration and many more.
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NTEU said that the statute may only be used “in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.”
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