Overview
- Announced Friday, the action de-recognizes unions for thousands of employees across the Office of the Secretary, FDA, CDC, NIH, ASPR, NIAID, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the Administration for Children and Families.
- HHS says it is reclaiming office space and equipment previously used for union activities to remove what it calls obstacles to mission-critical work.
- Affected bargaining units include the National Treasury Employees Union, the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees, and the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America.
- AFGE condemned the decision as illegal and unethical and pledged to keep representing workers, arguing strong contracts support stable, effective public health operations.
- The move follows a broader HHS overhaul that recently finalized 600 CDC layoffs, and it comes as an appeals court has allowed the anti-bargaining order to proceed during ongoing litigation.