WASHINGTON—Unions are cheering a D.C. federal judge’s preliminary ruling overturning Republican President Donald Trump’s massive federal unionization ban, but the saga and the struggle—which could potentially affect every worker in the U.S.– isn’t over yet.
That’s because the preliminary injunction the Treasury Employees (NTEU) won on April 25 from U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman, a Clinton nominee, is just that. But in a loophole, it applies to top Trump administration officials but not the president himself.
That leaves the way open for Trump to issue yet another executive order targeting unions—something he has signaled he will do.
The end of public sector unions, and the protection they give workers to do their jobs not only cripples federal services to everyone, but also plays into the hands of the criminal corporate class. For them, having government oversee and if necessary step in to stop their abuses and exploitation gets in the way of their profits and CEOs’ paychecks. Judge Friedman’s order brings that, too, to a halt, for now.
With government workers increasingly becoming the core of the labor movement an attack on them is an attack on the union rights of all workers.
Even Adam Smith, the founder of so-called “free market” economics almost 300 years ago, wrote then that government has a role to play in preventing massive exploitation by those who have money over those who don’t.
Trump’s Justice Department went even further than just defending itself in D.C. It sued the top union for federal workers, the Government Employees (AFGE), in federal court in Waco, Texas. Trump’s agency challenged the union’s right to sue Trump for anything at all. It demands the sole federal judge in deep-red Waco, Alan Albright, toss all the AFGE lawsuits. The judge is a Trump appointee.
Trump’s government also sued AFGE in federal court in Eastern Kentucky, seeking the same outcome. Trump- appointed district judges dominate that court, too.
Trump is also on the verge of issuing an executive order implementing his contract ban, regardless of Judge Friedman’s ruling. Trump’s initial order to executive branch agencies, exploding their collective bargaining agreements, also took away dues checkoff from those workers who had signed up. The CBAs cover 600,000 of the 800,000 workers AFGE represents.
As a result, AFGE, the largest federal workers union, suddenly faced millions of dollars in lost revenue and will have to lay off half of its staff—some 150 people out of 355 combined in headquarters and nationwide—starting July 1, the Associated Press reported. Organizers, national reps and support staffers will be let go.
The decision by its executive council will not stop the union in its fight for its members and against Trump, AFGE President Everett Kelley declared. “Whether it’s in the courts, on Capitol Hill, or in the press, AFGE will continue to stand tall and defend the rights of America’s civil servants as long as it takes,” he stated. Trump calls AFGE “a hostile organization” with too much power over how the government works.
Shuler celebrates despite loopholes
Despite the loopholes and AFGE’s forced cuts, NTEU President Doreen Greenwald and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler both hailed Judge Friedman’s ruling. But Shuler warned private sector workers “You’re next” on Trump’s hit list.
The court order “is victory for federal employees, their union rights and the American people they serve,” Greenwald said. “The preliminary injunction granted at NTEU’s request means the collective bargaining rights of federal employees will remain intact and the administration’s illegal agenda to sideline the voices of federal employees and dismantle unions is blocked.
“NTEU will continue to use every tool available to protect federal employees and the valuable services they provide from these hostile attacks on their jobs, their agencies and their legally protected rights to organize.”
The court recognized Trump’s “executive order stripping collective bargaining rights for what it was: Illegal, retaliatory union-busting,” Shuler declared.
“This was the most significant attack on workers’ rights in history, and if Trump was allowed to do it to federal workers, he would be able to do it to every worker in America, in every workplace and every industry.
“So this ruling to restore federal workers’ collective bargaining rights and reinstate their existing contracts—even if temporarily while the case continues in court—is an important first step.
“But this fight isn’t over, and it isn’t limited to the courts. Every member of Congress who stands with working people needs to support and vote to pass the Protecting America’s Workforce Act, HR2550, a bill that would reverse this outrageous executive order and restore workers’ union contracts. We won’t rest until this illegal order is struck down once and for all.”
Trump’s ban is no surprise. He recognizes unions in general and AFGE in particular are the centers of opposition to his extremist agenda. With few exceptions, congressional Democrats aren’t standing up for the workers.
The right-wing Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, Trump’s 2024 campaign platform, demands dissolution of all government worker unions, and said private-sector workers would be its next target.
Judge Friedman issued a two-page ban on Trump’s move. Excerpts, but not the full statement, were available. He promised a more-complete ruling soon.
“In justifying the executive order, the [White House’s] fact sheet states that ‘certain federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,’” NTEU wrote in its suit.
NTEU “filed lawsuits in federal district court against “ Trump’s Schedule F scheme to convert the top 50,000 civil servants to a spoils system, “ the administration’s attempt to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…and the administration’s attempt to hobble the federal civil workforce overall through mass firings of probationary employees, reductions-in-force, and a pressure campaign to get federal workers to resign their positions.”
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