Trump administration moves to end union rights for many federal workers

President Trump signed an executive order late Thursday limiting numerous agency employees from unionizing and instructing the government to stop engaging in any collective bargaining.

An accompanying fact sheet from the White House lays out the rationale for the move, claiming the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 allowing government workers to unionize “enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.”

“President Trump is taking action to ensure that agencies vital to national security can execute their missions without delay and protect the American people,” the fact sheet states.

The order targets agencies it says have a national security mission, but many of the departments don’t have a strict national security connection.

An Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memo directs agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreement.

In addition to all agencies with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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.

In total, the OPM memo references 18 departments, while also including numerous component agencies.

The OPM memo instructs agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreement.

“Consequently, those agencies and subdivisions are no longer required to collectively bargain with Federal unions,” the OPM states in its memo.

“Because the statutory authority underlying the original recognition of the relevant unions no longer applies, unions lose their status as the ‘exclusive[ly] recogni[zed]’ labor organizations for employees of the agencies.”

The OPM memo also says “agencies should cease participating in grievance procedures after terminating” their collective bargaining agreements.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), condemned the action in an email to its members, saying the Trump administration was “illegally strip[ping] collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of federal workers. 

“Let’s be clear. National security is not the reason for this action. This is retaliation because our union is standing up for AFGE members—and a warning to every union: fall in line, or else.

“AFGE is not going anywhere. We are fighting back. We are preparing legal action.”

The union noted Friday that its members already have some restrictions that private sector unions do not, including a bar on any strikes.

In a press conference aside AFGE leaders Friday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said the order violated the free speech rights 

He called it “a clear case of First Amendment viewpoint discrimination and political retaliation against AFGE and other unions for standing up for the rights of federal workers.”

“They don’t have the power to breach existing collective bargaining agreements based on anti-speech discrimination, and that’s exactly what’s going on, and it’s it’s clear as day that they are retaliating against the labor movement,” Raskin said.

The move to restrict unions comes after the Department of Homeland Security stripped the bargaining rights of Transportation Safety Administration employees. 

AFGE has sued over that matter, arguing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has no power to end an already authorized seven-year contract.

“The 2024 CBA has a term of seven years and allows limited midterm bargaining. This collective bargaining agreement, like any other, is a binding contract,” the union wrote in the suit.

The Civil Service Reform Act, while allowing for collective bargaining, does have exemptions for national security.

The OPM memo, however, makes some surprising choices in determining which agencies have a national security mission.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol, is not included in the memo. Its union endorsed Trump during the 2024 election, and Trump recently nominated its former leader to serve as ambassador to Chile.

But the now-dismantled U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is, indicating the administration classifies it as playing a role in national security.

And the inclusion of Health and Human Services comes as the agency announced Thursday that it plans to cut 10,000 jobs in a major restructuring.

The OPM memo gives insight into the Trump administration’s next steps for employees after it terminates the agreements.

It directs agencies to shorten the timeline for performance improvement plans (PIP) for federal workers, saying after union agreements are terminated, agencies should not allow more than 30 days for a PIP.

It also says that without collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in place, agencies should return to in-person work as quickly as possible.

“Upon termination of these CBAs, covered agencies and subdivisions should swiftly implement the President’s directives in Return to In-Person Work,” it states.

It also says the government will no longer collect union dues.

“Agency employees may make other arrangements for dues payments if they wish to do so,” it states.

Updated on March 28 at 3:18 p.m. EDT