NTEU Seeks Injunction to Block Collective Bargaining Order
The National Treasury Employees Union is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the White House’s order ending collective bargaining at numerous federal agencies, including the FCC. If the order proceeds, NTEU will “imminently lose two-thirds of the employees that it represents and more than half its revenue stream,” the union said in a motion filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit. NTEU said some federal agencies have already halted payroll deductions for union dues requested by employees. The executive order goes against Congress’ intent when it authorized widespread collective bargaining for federal employees and is intended to make federal employees easier to fire, NTEU said.
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Guidance documents from the White House also point to union challenges against President Donald Trump’s policies as a reason for the order. “The Administration’s own words show that policy objectives and political animus motivated the President’s sweeping Executive Order,” not the national security concerns cited in it, NTEU said.
Though the order maintains that the FCC, Department of Veterans Affairs, IRS and other agencies work on national security matters, the administration also sent many employees in those agencies deferred resignation offers. That program was not available for positions related to national security, which puts the White House in an “untenable position,” NTEU pointed out. “Neither facilitating employee firings nor political retribution is an appropriate basis” for invoking the national security exemptions to collective bargaining requirements. “Absent preliminary relief, NTEU’s very existence will be threatened, and its bargaining power and influence at agencies where it still represents workers will be diminished in a way that cannot be undone.”