Workforce
Lawmakers pursue parallel paths toward blocking Trump’s anti-union order
While House Democrats and unions are working over the August recess to secure signatures on a discharge petition to force the chamber to consider a bill overturning the president’s edict stripping two-thirds of federal employees of their collective bargaining rights, the House NDAA includes language blocking its implementation at the Pentagon.
Workforce
Trump’s anti-union EO can remain in effect during challenge, appellate court says
The judge who dissented from an appellate court’s initial decision allowing the edict to be implemented issued a warning about the high standards that should accompany a judicial stay.
Workforce
Internal Veterans Affairs memo shows plan to scrutinize disability work from home accommodations
A department press secretary said the new policy is to ensure reasonable accommodations remain "necessary, reasonable and effective," while the American Federation of Government Employees contended it would push employees with disabilities out of the VA.
Management
Trump administration narrows effort to nix project labor agreements for federal construction contracts
The move to narrow the rollback of a Biden-era order mandating contractors negotiate with unions before major construction projects came after a federal judge blocked the White House’s first attempt.
Workforce
Union calls for reinstatement of EPA workers suspended over letter
More than 130 EPA workers were put on administrative leave over their signature of a letter that criticized Administrator Lee Zeldin’s direction for the agency.
Workforce
Third postal union ratifies new labor contract
The agreements come as a new postmaster general is under pressure to unwind the reforms of his predecessor.
Workforce
SSA touts service improvements, but reassignments tell a different story
Though Commissioner Frank Bisignano has heralded the addition of AI assistants to the Social Security Administration’s customer service streams, the agency is quietly reassigning field office staff to man its 1-800 number.
Updated
Pay & Benefits
More than 60,000 feds are still waiting for their 2025 pay raise
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision last spring to shutter a slew of advisory committees has imperiled already enacted pay raises for federal employees in blue collar jobs.
Oversight
OSC recommends bonuses for whistleblowers at Maryland USDA facility
The reallocation of $50 million to upgrade a dilapidated federal research facility would not have been possible without the rights afforded workers through collective bargaining, union leaders argued.
Workforce
Trump’s anti-union executive order has been blocked, again
A federal judge in California tailored his decision around the administration’s violations against labor groups’ First Amendment rights, avoiding thornier questions about presidential power.
Management
HUD to move into the National Science Foundation headquarters, no current plan on where to relocate NSF employees
The Department of Housing and Urban Development had previously announced its intention to sell its current headquarters, which requires more than $500 million in maintenance repairs.
Workforce
Most fed-targeting provisions in Senate reconciliation bill don’t pass Byrd muster
The Senate parliamentarian over the weekend found that many proposals targeting federal workers and their unions violate the Byrd rule and would require 60 votes to advance in the chamber.
Management
Another postal union approves its collective bargaining agreement
As the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association ratified its contract, members of the American Postal Workers Union began voting on their tentative deal.
Pay & Benefits
Senate strips most retirement cuts from reconciliation, but anti-civil service provisions remain
Under language released by a Senate panel Thursday night, new federal workers who decline to serve as at-will employees will pay nearly 15% of their paycheck toward their pension benefit.
Updated
Workforce
Unions and advocacy groups protest veteran job cuts, warn of downstream impacts
The Trump administration is planning to cut around 15% of staff at the Veterans Affairs Department.
Workforce
Federal judge blocks dissolution of union at TSA
Though the Transportation Security Administration has broad latitude to design and administer its own personnel system, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman found its contract with AFGE to be a “self-imposed restriction” on that power.
Workforce
TSA union urges judge to block ‘retaliatory’ order outlawing bargaining at agency
An attorney representing the Trump administration argued that U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman did not have jurisdiction to hear the case and described the administration’s approach to labor groups as “a different management style.”
Workforce
Judges issue promising rulings for groups fighting Trump’s anti-union order
A federal judge in Kentucky tossed the Trump administration’s bid to secure a court victory prior to formally rescinding union contracts under the guise of national security, while another jurist sought new avenues to potentially block the March executive order’s implementation.
Workforce
Agencies’ effort to unwind project labor agreement requirements ‘flatly contradict’ order establishing them, judge says
The Trump administration had sought to neutralize a Biden-era executive order requiring contractors to negotiate with unions ahead of major construction projects with broad exceptions, something specifically barred by the underlying order.
Workforce