Unions Under Siege: The Fight for Federal Workers' Rights

Federal worker unions are in a tough spot. The current administration has been making it hard for them to do their jobs. One union leader, Anthony Lee, found out about mass layoffs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the hard way. Employees were getting fired as they tried to enter the building. No one told the union in advance. This is just one example of how the administration has been ignoring unions. The Trump administration has been known for not liking federal worker unions. But things have gotten much worse. The administration has been trying to get rid of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. This could be a big problem for unions. Even where workers stay, the administration has been trying to take away their right to union representation. In late March, the administration issued an executive order. It ended collective bargaining rights for most federal workers. This order affected agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the FDA. These agencies had never been excluded from collective bargaining rights before. Multiple lawsuits are challenging this order. A federal judge issued an injunction, blocking it for now. But the administration has appealed the decision. The administration argues that negotiating with unions slows down their ability to manage the government. Some experts say this is by design. Collective bargaining can be a check on presidential power. It can restrain and reshape the president's power to manage the federal bureaucracy. Federal workers did not always have this leverage. In the first half of the 20th century, there was a fear of giving federal workers too much say. After all, civil servants serve the American people. Federal employees have never had the right to strike. They also can't negotiate over wages. But in the early 1960s, the federal government was facing a labor crunch. It needed skilled workers to staff growing agencies. What it could offer was stability, job protections, and the right to unionize. Congress later codified these labor protections in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. This law asserted that the right to organize and collectively bargain contributes to the effective conduct of public business. It also safeguards the public interest. Through the law, Congress created a way to police the executive branch. One union leader, Armando Rosario-Lebron, says unions help make the government run more smoothly. He says the union's collective bargaining agreement is a huge efficiency boost for the government. He says the union manages overtime assignments and is the liaison between management and employees. He says managers love this. He has a warning for the administration: Get rid of the union and management will be on its own.