President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that effectively ends collective bargaining rights for federal unions across numerous agencies, citing national security concerns and a provision from the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act.
The affected departments, which include Defense, State, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security, collectively represent about 67% of the federal workforce. Other affected departments include: US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Department of State, US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the International Trade Commission.
“President Trump is taking action to ensure that agencies vital to national security can execute their missions without delay and protect the American people,” reads a memo from the White House explaining the order. “The President needs a responsive and accountable civil service to protect our national security.”
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While the order removes unions’ ability to negotiate wages and working conditions, it exempts police and fire services.
Critics argue that the order is an attempt to silence unions that have contested the administration’s actions in court. The American Federation of Government Employees and AFL-CIO have announced plans for legal challenges, accusing the administration of retaliatory actions against unions opposing Trump’s policies.
“President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
“It’s clear that this order is punishment for unions who are leading the fight against the administration’s illegal actions in court — and a blatant attempt to silence us,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler continued in a separate statement. “We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being.”
This move follows a pattern of administrative actions limiting union rights in federal agencies, such as those seen recently with the Transportation Security Administration.
Connor Walcott is the lead writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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