Two bills recently introduced in Congress are intended to protect the collective bargaining rights of federal employees and blunt efforts by the Trump administration to limit those rights.
Protect America’s Workforce Act
The Protect America’s Workforce Act (H.R. 2550) was introduced by Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME). This bill directly targets President Trump’s recent Executive Order (EO) entitled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs.
The EO significantly expands an Executive Order issued in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. Trump’s EO stipulates that many more federal agencies be excluded from being covered by the federal labor relations statute because they “are hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. It is also hereby determined that Chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, cannot be applied to these agencies and agency subdivisions in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.”
It essentially ends union representation at the agencies listed in the EO.
After the EO was issued, the Justice Department sued affiliates of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) under the terms of the EO in order to release eight federal agencies from their collective bargaining agreements with the union.
Golden’s legislation would nullify Trump’s EO. It also clarifies that any collective bargaining agreements in effect before the EO was issued are to remain in effect. The text of the legislation states:
Any collective bargaining agreement in effect as of March 26, 2025, between any executive branch Federal agency and any labor organization that is an exclusive representative of Federal employees shall have full force and effect through the stated term of the applicable agreement.
Golden said in a statement:
In his order, President Trump said that federal workers’ rights are incompatible with national security. He is wrong. Union workers make America stronger every single day, including more than 6,000 federal workers in Maine. Throughout our history, unions have ensured workers got their fair share of this nation’s prosperity. Unions built our middle class, and are key to strengthening its future. We cannot have a government that undermines workers’ rights.
The legislation has 104 cosponsors as of the time of this writing.
Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act
The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act (S. 1352) was introduced by Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI). Like Golden’s legislation, Trump’s EO is at least part of the impetus for the bill.
The legislation would guarantee public sector employees collectively bargain in states that currently do not afford these basic protections. Specifically, it sets a minimum nationwide standard of collective bargaining rights that states must provide, namely the rights to:
- Join together in a union selected by a majority of employees;
- Collectively bargain over wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment;
- Access dispute resolution mechanisms;
- Use voluntary payroll deduction for union dues;
- Engage in concerted activities related to collective bargaining and mutual aid;
- Have their union be free from requirements to hold rigged recertification elections; and
- File suit in court to enforce their labor rights.
The legislation would give the power to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to make these determinations for the states. It states that the FLRA must determine within 180 days of the bill becoming law if each state’s laws provide the required rights and procedures with respect to collective bargaining and that implementation procedures must be established within 30 days.
It further adds that the FLRA will consider opinions from affected parties when making these determinations. If an employer and labor organization agree their existing law provides rights and procedures, the FLRA will give this agreement significant weight.
Hirono said in a statement:
The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act will help ensure that that millions of public sector workers across our country have the federal protections they deserve as they fight for fair wages, benefits, and improved working conditions. Private sector workers are already guaranteed the right to organize under federal law, it should be common sense that public sector workers are afforded those same rights. As President Trump works to gut our public sector workforce, this bill is crucial to protect workers’ freedom to organize and bargain collectively.
Lawsuits Over Trump’s Executive Order
In addition to these bills, federal employee unions quickly sued to fight the Executive Order after it was issued. NTEU was the first to sue, and six other unions did as well shortly thereafter.
The labor relations statute gives the president considerable authority in the area of making exclusions for national security reasons, although President Trump is interpreting it more broadly than it has been in the past. The fight between his administration and the unions will have to be settled by the courts, and it’s a case which could ultimately end up before the Supreme Court.
