NTEU Seeks Summary Judgment Against Trump's Collective Bargaining Order
The National Treasury Employees Union wants the U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit to rule that the White House’s order ending collective bargaining at the FCC and numerous other federal agencies is illegal, said a motion for summary judgment filed Monday. The order said more than 30 federal agencies -- including the FCC, Department of Veterans Affairs and IRS -- fall under a national security exemption from congressional collective bargaining rules. That exemption had previously applied only to a few entities, such as the CIA. The district court issued an injunction blocking the order in April, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed last month.
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U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman “correctly concluded” in his injunction ruling that there's clear evidence the order was driven by “extra-statutory motivations unrelated to national security,” including “political retribution” against unions, NTEU said Monday. “This Court should confirm what it indicated two months ago” and rule that the executive order is unlawful and violates the First Amendment. “The Executive Order is textbook First Amendment retaliation against NTEU and other unions that have stood up to the President.”
The ruling for summary judgment is needed because the order “is causing NTEU to suffer a loss of bargaining power and influence in agency workplaces,” the motion said. Affected agencies stopped bargaining with the union on changes to conditions of employment -- including planned reductions in force -- and participating in the arbitration process, NTEU said. Many agencies also stopped processing union dues payments via payroll deduction, the method used by 94% of members, NTEU added. As a result, the union has lost $3 million due to the order, and “if those losses continue, NTEU will lose over half of its annual revenue.”