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
Appeals court issues stay of judge’s decision blocking Trump’s anti-union order
The Trump administration may recommence stripping the union rights of two-thirds of the federal workforce, for now.
Workforce
A judge has moved again to block Trump’s anti-union EO
Just weeks after issuing a preliminary injunction to block an edict aimed at stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of its collective bargaining rights, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman issued a similar decision as it relates to U.S. Foreign Service officers.
Management
Judge orders halt to the shuttering of three independent agencies
A federal judge found that the Trump administration violated the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act and federal spending laws when it ordered the stripping down of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the Minority Business Development Agency to their “statutory minimums.”
Workforce
Judge: Trump’s national security reasoning for anti-union EO was 'pretext for retaliation'
Even when taken at face value, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the White House did not meet the evidentiary bar to prove that collective bargaining was incompatible with national security considerations for the majority of federal agencies.
Breaking News
Workforce
Judge blocks Trump’s anti-union executive order
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman on Wednesday expressed skepticism that the president could legally strip two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights.
Workforce
Judge grills administration on ‘broad discretion’ to break up federal unions
A Justice Department attorney appeared to argue that it is within the president’s rights to strip ‘resistant’ unions of their collective bargaining rights under the auspices of national security.
Workforce
Trump administration lacks standing to sue to enforce anti-labor executive order, union says
The American Federation of Government Employees argued that the Trump administration’s effort to procure a “declarative” judgment in favor of an executive order stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights is effectively fishing for a federal judge’s advisory opinion, which is unlawful.
Updated
Workforce
VA is selectively enforcing Trump’s order stripping workers of union rights
VA Secretary Doug Collins this week issued a notice allowing employees at the department whose unions have not been involved with lawsuits against the Trump administration to retain their collective bargaining rights.
Updated
Workforce