WASHINGTON—A discharge petition on the Protect America’s Workforce Act (H.R. 2550) reached 218 signatures Monday, mandating the House of Representatives vote on restoring union rights to federal workers within seven legislative days.
The bipartisan bill, introduced by Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., reverses President Donald Trump’s executive order stripping union rights from 1.5 million federal workers. In the months since, the Trump administration has escalated its attack, stripping collective bargaining rights further and unilaterally canceling union contracts for more than 400,000 federal workers.
In a statement, the AFL-CIO declared that “these Trump administration DOGE/Project 2025 attacks on federal workers have already had cascading effects on the critical services Americans depend on, from increased wait times and staffing shortages at VA hospitals to threats to food safety and disaster response.”
After gaining signatures from Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota of New York on Monday, the Protect America’s Workforce Act is now guaranteed a vote on the House floor. If it passes, the bill would be the first legislation to directly overturn a Trump administration executive order in this term.
“The labor movement fought back against the largest act of union-busting in American history by doing what we do best: organizing. Working people built a bipartisan coalition to restore union rights to federal workers in the face of unprecedented attacks on our freedoms. We commend every Democrat and Republican who signed the discharge petition to bring the Protect America’s Workforce Act to a vote, but the fight isn’t over,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.
The AFL-CIO had launched an “all hands on deck” e-mail and social media campaign to force, the bipartisan bill. Even President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can’t stop a vote from happening now.
“Call your representative now and ask them to pass the Protect America’s Workforce Act,” the federation declared in a statement. The public can dial 855-493-4407 or fill out an online form to get further instructions on how to contact their member of the House.
The fight is not over, though, because even if the House approves the measure, the Republican-run Senate could kill it, or—if the Senate approves it—Trump could veto it.
“The American people didn’t sign up for this. Approximately 70% of Americans—people with different political positions—support the right to join a union. That’s why we have the support we need to get the Protect America’s Workforce Act across the finish line,” the AFL-CIO statement says.
That support forced the coming vote. Now the federation wants lawmakers to follow through. Which is where the public pressure comes into the picture. “We need every representative, Democrat or Republican, who says they support America’s unions to vote for the Protect America’s Workforce Act…So let’s get to work.“
Golden and Fitzpatrick introduced the Protect America’s Workforce Act months ago. Fitzpatrick is the lone House Republican to be sometimes be counted as pro-worker. His lifetime AFL-CIO score is 61% right, the sole Republican above 40%. Golden’s score is 88%, one of the lower lifetime Democratic scores.
Faced with a blockade from the GOP leadership, and Trump, the duo launched the discharge petition, a move to dislodge legislation leaders don’t like from being filed and forgotten.
They succeeded on Nov.17 in getting the 218 signatures—a majority—needed to discharge the pro labor bill, or push HR2550 out from congressional committees where Johnson had sent it to die, and bring it to the House floor. It was the second discharge petition to succeed in the space of a week.
The first and more-publicized discharge petition will force a vote on legislation ordering Trump’s Justice Department to release all of its Jeffrey Epstein files, including those that implicate Trump in sexual predator Epstein’s exploitation of women and girls.
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