Federal unions challenge Trump order as First Amendment retaliation

The order, titled “Exclusions From Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs,” invokes a provision of a 1978 law to remove collective bargaining rights from some government workers on national security grounds. The unions say that rationale masks an effort to weaken workers’ organizing rights and punish unions for their speech and legal challenges.

The lawsuit cites a White House fact sheet accompanying the order, which said “certain federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda” and pointed to AFGE lawsuits and legal actions by Veterans Affairs unions. The administration separately sued the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and many of its local affiliates after Trump signed the order, seeking to cancel dozens of collective bargaining agreements. Reuters reported that the administration said the contracts impeded “Trump’s abilities to purge the federal workforce and protect national security.”

The unions’ complaint says the order’s “avowedly retaliatory nature” and its attempt to punish federal unions for “politically disfavored speech” make it unconstitutional under the First Amendment. It also refers to billionaire Elon Musk, a top Trump lieutenant, promoting a social media post that named and attacked several federal workers’ unions.

Everett Kelley, national president of AFGE, said federal employees had organized and bargained through wars, international conflicts and the global health emergency during Trump’s first term, without unions being described as a national security concern. He called the order retaliation and said unions would not leave.

April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, said the order targeted both federal workers and workers seeking collective bargaining. Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, called it the most significant assault on collective bargaining rights he had seen in the United States. He said federal workers’ rights are protected by law and that the president cannot eliminate them unilaterally.