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Bush Executive Order Excluding Some Federal Employees From Labor Relations Program: A Tempest in a Teapot

By Bob Gilson

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

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Bob Gilson is a consultant with a specialty in working with and training Federal agencies to resolve employee problems at all levels. Both before and since retiring, Bob has negotiated on behalf of Federal clients. A retired agency labor and employee relations director, Bob has authored or co-authored a number of books dealing with Federal issues. To contact Bob about this article or about training or assistance at your agency, use this contact form.

General advice on handling personnel problems may not be applicable to specific situations. Be sure to check with your human resources advisors for guidance in your particular personnel situation.

What evil lurks in the heart of outgoing president Bush? NTEU knows. It is always fun to watch the pure silliness of some Washington reactions to events, in this case by the National Treasury Employees Union to President Bush's recent Executive Order excluding certain organizations from the coverage of the Federal labor relations statute.

Since the law was enacted in 1978 and became effective in 1979, every president (including the Democrats) has acted to exclude groups of Federal employees from the law. The pertinent provision (5 USC §7103(b)) states:


(1) The President may issue an order excluding any agency or subdivision thereof from coverage under this chapter if the President determines that—
(A) the agency or subdivision has as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work, and
(B) the provisions of this chapter cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.
(2) The President may issue an order suspending any provision of this chapter with respect to any agency, installation, or activity located outside the 50 States and the District of Columbia, if the President determines that the suspension is necessary in the interest of national security.


The mother of all exclusion Executive Orders was the one all the rest have amended. Published by Jimmy Carter on November 19, 1979, Executive Order 12171 kicked tens of thousands of Federal employees out of statutory coverage. The other Presidents who used this authority never reached these heights. Bush, a literal piker by Carter standards, affected less than a thousand currently organized workers.

Even Bill Clinton used this authority, and in doing so, was accused by some conspiracy theorists of a nefarious attempt to cover up some allegedly crucial facts related to the crash of TWA Flight 800.

But if we're going to castigate President Bush, who certainly wants to get out of DC even more than those who want him out, perhaps we should petition for the return of Jimmy Carter's Nobel Prize or condemnation of Bill Clinton as the closet union hater he most assuredly must have been to order such obviously anti-union nasty things. Union folks, get a grip, it's not about you. It's about national security.

For a little light reading, check out the other Executive Orders excluding positions and organizations from coverage of the statute. They are EO 12338, January 11, 1982; EO 12410, March 28, 1983; EO 12559, May 20, 1986; EO 12632, March 23, 1988; EO 12666, January 12, 1989; EO 12671, March 14, 1989; EO 12681, July 6, 1989; EO 12693, September 29, 1989; EO 13039, March 11, 1997; EO 13252, January 7, 2002; EO 13381, June 27, 2005; and EO 13467, June 30, 2008.

Since this article may be construed as clearly and blatantly anti-union, I will again make it clear that any opinion expressed herein is mine and mine alone.

© 2010 Robert J. Gilson. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without express written consent from Robert J. Gilson.

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Readers' Comments

  • Some of us that were there from the early days of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 which gave the labor relations program a statutory basis remember the mad rush under the Carter Administration to have as many people considered "management officials" as possible in order to swell the amount of m...
    Posted: December 11, 2008 9:31 AM
  • Jimnmy Carter did something stupid so it's OK for Bush to do the same? (Have to admit that Bush is surpassing Carter in many other areas also!) According to conspiracy theorists Bill Clinton also attacked Unions to cover up a jet crash? (Should we include possible alien abduction in this argume...
    Posted: December 10, 2008 1:10 PM
  • HR Specialist If it was so important to take away these 8600 employees representational rights, in the interest of national security, why did it take 7 years after 9/11 and 1 month before he leaves office. There can only be 2 reasons 1. Bush as usual was incompetent and and ovelooked it, meaning i...
    Posted: December 5, 2008 9:33 AM

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