Federal union contract termination could affect thousands in New Hampshire

Thousands of New Hampshire workers are affected by an executive order that ends collective bargaining rights – and possibly contracts already signed – between civilian employees of at least eight federal agencies.

The order signed Thursday to end collective bargaining for agencies “with a national security mission” was followed Friday by a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit on behalf of eight federal agencies seeking affirmation to terminate current contracts with the American Federation of Government Employees.

“Certain federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,” a federal fact sheet about the Thursday executive order said.

The order affects about 67% of the 2.4 million federal workforce, according to media reports and labor unions. That number includes thousands of New Hampshire residents who work for federal agencies both in state and in other states.

Aside from terminating collective bargaining rights, the order halts workers’ right to grievance, mediation, other court action, and job protection, according to a memorandum issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Union officials said it could also immediately end their right to collect dues and represent employees in grievance and court procedures.

The Justice Department lawsuit following the order was filed in Waco, Texas, against the American Federation of Government Employees, but a court ruling in favor would affirm that federal agencies can terminate signed labor contracts with any labor union, across the country.

The executive order is vulnerable to “very significant” legal challenges, Samuel R. Bagenstos, a University of Michigan law professor and former general counsel to the Department of Health and Human Services, told the New York Times Saturday.

The order is “a dramatic overreach of the president’s authority” under laws governing the federal work force, Bagenstos said.

“Here we have this incredibly broad effort to take away the power of any union to represent any employee,” he said.

Thousands of NH workers

More than 5,000 civilian federal employees work in New Hampshire, according to the Office of Personnel Management, which uses worksite to locate employees, not their residence. That 5,000 doesn’t include the more than 3,000 New Hampshire residents who work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, or other federal offices outside of the state.

The order includes union workers in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and most other departments of the U.S. government.

“[The executive order] will harm not only working families but also our security, defense, and the well-being of our veterans who receive benefits and care through the VA,” Rep. Chris Pappas, D- NH District 1 said.

Pappas, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and ranking member of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, said the order “is a direct attack on workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, safe conditions, and full benefits.”

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine D2, said he move to protect workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and other worksites affected by the order by introducing legislation to repeal it.

“The right for workers to collectively bargain is sacrosanct, and any claim that it is incompatible with national security is bogus,” Golden said. Golden, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, noted that about a third of affected workers are veterans.

The executive order comes after several labor unions representing federal employees have filed multiple lawsuits to prevent massive job terminations in federal departments. The firings come without legally required notice, with the government saying they’re for performance reasons, which allows people to be fired immediately. In most cases, no information backing up the charge is included, according to media and union reports.

AFGE, the largest federal employee union, “is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks,” President Everett Kelley said after the order was issued.

AFGE represents 820,000 workers nationwide and 45,000 in New England, New York and New Jersey.

“President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” Kelley said.

AFGE has had a surge, in the thousands, in dues-paying members since Trump was inaugurated, the New York Times reported Friday. AFGE is the largest, but many other unions represent federal employees, including National Federation of Federal Workers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Laborers’ International Union of North America, Service Employees International Union, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, National Treasury Employees Union, National Weather Service Employees Organization and more.

“President Trump supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him. He will not tolerate mass obstruction that jeopardizes his ability to manage agencies with vital national security missions,” the fact sheet says.

“President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies.”

Everett Kelley, President American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)

The executive order cites the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act as its basis. The act reformed federal employment structure, giving managers more flexibility and strengthening “merit-based” personnel decisions. The executive order also says the CSRE “enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management. This is dangerous in agencies with national security responsibilities.”

Federal law already limits bargaining rights of workers, preventing them from negotiating  wages, benefits or classifications and limiting them to employment conditions, grievance procedures, and similar protections. They are not allowed to strike.

Contract termination planned

The Department of Justice suit filed Friday didn’t elaborate on which federal agencies plan to terminate active contracts with AFGE workers, but those subject to the related executive order are Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, State and Treasury.

The Justice Department said that the agencies have the right to terminate the contracts, “But to avoid unnecessary labor strife and to ensure legal certainty, they filed this declaratory judgment action to confirm that they are legally entitled to do so.”

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in West Texas against AFGE District 10 locals and councils shortly after the executive order was signed that DOJ claims would support it legally was issued. If the court rules in favor, the ruling could be used as support to terminate any federal contracts with the departments and agencies listed in the order.

“We are taking this fight directly to the public-sector unions,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Friday. “By affirmatively suing in Texas, we are aggressively protecting President Trump’s efforts to ensure unions no longer interfere in the national security functions of the government.”

The lawsuit claims union contracts “that micromanage oversight of the federal workforce and impede performance accountability” obstruct national security. Not specified in the lawsuit, but frequently in the past two months, the administration has specifically cited provisions that protect women, people who aren’t white, those with disabilities, and those outside traditional gender norms as being obstructive and not “merit-based.”

Most agencies affected by order

The executive order is not the first move by the Trump administration to terminate labor agreements.

The Department of Homeland Security on March 7 announced the collective bargaining agreement with Transportation Security Administration transportation security officers would end. The move affects about 45,000 people who work at airports across the country.

Thursday’s order says that law enforcement and fire protection workers are excluded.

Civilian union-member workers who come under the order, according to the fact sheet (it lists some departments as a whole, but also specifies certain offices within departments):

• Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (DHS)
• Department of Defense
• Department of Energy
• Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Office
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Interior units that govern domestic energy production
• Department of Justice
• Department of State
• Department of Treasury
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Federal Communications Commission
• General Services Administration
• Federal Labor Relations Authority
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Food and Drug Administration
• Food Safety and Inspection Service
• International Trade Administration
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• National Science Foundation
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Office of the Chief Information Officer in each cabinet-level department
• Office of Immigration Review
• Office of Refugee Resettlement
• Transportation Security Administration (announced on March 7)
• U.S. Coast Guard
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• U.S. Agency for International Development (US AID)
• U.S. International Trade Commission
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of General Counsel