Federal Unions Sue To Stop Trump’s Union-Busting Executive Order

A group of labor unions sued the administration Friday in hopes of stopping President Donald Trump’s attempt to gut collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

The unions say in their lawsuit that Trump is retaliating against them for pushing back against the White House’s attack on the government workforce. The groups have filed a number of complaints and grievances that have slowed Trump’s effort to fire employees and shutter federal agencies.

The executive order Trump signed last week would strip away union rights from a huge chunk of the federal workforce, tossing out contracts at a slew of agencies in the name of “national security.” Trump made clear when he issued the order that he was angry federal unions are standing up to him.

“Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,” an administration “fact sheet” stated.

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement Friday that his union is “not going anywhere.” The AFGE was one of six unions that filed the lawsuit on behalf of nearly a million members they represent.

“AFGE is not going to be intimidated by a bully who is throwing a temper tantrum because our union is beating them in the court of law and in the court of public opinion,” Kelley said.

The Trump administration was expected to try to carve certain federal workers out of collective-bargaining law, on the grounds they work primarily in intelligence, investigations or national security work, as the law allows. The proposal was even included in Project 2025, the conservative transition blueprint drawn up by the Heritage Foundation.

But the order Trump signed is so sweeping that it would exclude workers who have little, if anything, to do with national security functions, including nurses, biologists, public-land rangers and others. Among the more than a dozen agencies listed are the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The unions argue in their lawsuit that the exclusions are overly broad and have no basis in reality. They also note that many civilian employees, including at the Department of Defense, “have served their country while retaining collective bargaining protections” for decades until now.

“[T]his encourages unions to refrain from voicing political views critical of the Trump administration or publicly support Trump, or else face the elimination of their representation rights and membership,” the complaint states.

Another labor group, the National Treasury Employees Union, filed a separate lawsuit of its own earlier this week. The union said on Friday that it has asked a federal judge to issue an injunction blocking the White House from moving forward with its plan.

Their request calls Trump’s order an “unlawful attempt to eliminate collective bargaining for some two-thirds of the federal workforce.”