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yesterday

Trump Expands Limits on Federal Unions, Adding More Agencies on Labor Day

The order relies on a 1978 national-security carveout, setting up a fast-growing court and congressional fight.

A worker plants US flags in front of the Department of Labor building, from which hangs a giant banner of President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, on August 28.
Hundreds of demonstrators gather to protest against Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts outside the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on March 03, 2025 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Last week the Trump administration fired about 800 probationary staff at NOAA, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science. The layoffs are on top of about 500 employees who left the agency after taking the so-called deferred resignation offer.
Demonstrators during the 'Fight Starbucks Union Busting' rally in Seattle, Washington, on April 23, 2022.
Volkswagen workers celebrate after the United Auto Workers (UAW) received enough votes to form a union at a UAW vote watch party on April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Overview

  • A new executive order adds the National Weather Service, NASA, the Patent and Trademark Office, NOAA’s NESDIS, the International Trade Administration and the U.S. Agency for Global Media to agencies where collective bargaining is being curtailed.
  • Agencies have begun implementing the earlier directives by canceling union contracts at the EPA, FEMA, USCIS and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • The administration says collective bargaining cannot be applied at these entities consistent with national security, arguing the changes are needed to improve management.
  • Unions have filed multiple lawsuits challenging the actions, and the orders are proceeding after early setbacks in court as rulings remain mixed with no final resolution.
  • House lawmakers have introduced the bipartisan Protect America’s Workforce Act, with 222 cosponsors, to restore collective bargaining rights for affected federal employees.