Federal collective bargaining is in the U.S. national interest
While we come from different sides of the federal bargaining table—one a Democrat and former union president, and one a long-time management advocate at that table, as well as a political appointee in the first Trump administration—we both support collective bargaining in the federal sector because we believe in it. Without question, it is the most effective workplace problem-solving mechanism devised by our government.
Why do we need to say this now, on Labor Day 2025? Because we believe that (a) our country has enough problems to deal with, most of which require some sort of government involvement, and (b) we believe that federal unions and the frontline federal civil servants they represent are critical to solving those problems. They contribute to the health of our republic and our government. However, those civil servants have come under furious, unjustified assault by the Trump Administration, in part by two recent actions by the president.
First, President Trump’s Executive Order 14251, issued on March 27 of this year, banned 75% of federal employees currently covered by collective bargaining agreements, ostensibly on the grounds that such bargaining—particularly by “hostile” federal employee unions—undermines our national security. And second, in a separate presidential memorandum, POTUS banned those same employees from voluntarily having their union dues deducted from their agency paychecks and remitted to their unions, making it much more difficult for those unions to acquire the financial resources necessary to effectively engage in collective bargaining.
We must also note that President Trump, in an ironic effort to “commemorate” this Labor Day, just moved on Aug. 27 to exclude even more federal agencies from collective bargaining on these very same “national security” grounds, but the points we make herein remain valid: That is, if POTUS and/or an agency head he has appointed feels that collective bargaining with a federal union has somehow impacted national security, far more precise procedures already exist in current law to raise and adjudicate that concern.
But we believe that President Trump, whether with his past and most recent actions, has failed to provide a convincing rationale for the twin bans, and as a consequence, he should rescind them both, so that our frontline colleagues, those who represent the interests of federal agencies and their employees, can get on with the difficult business of resolving workplace disputes.
https://www.govexec.com/management/2025/08/federal-collective-bargaining-us-national-interest/407791/
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