Judge hinders Trump's implementation of an anti-union executive decree

In a significant decision, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from implementing an executive order that aimed to strip collective bargaining rights from two-thirds of the federal workforce.

The executive order, signed by President Trump, cited a rarely used provision in the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. If implemented, it would have affected federal agencies such as the Defense and Homeland Security departments, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others.

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) filed a request for a preliminary injunction, which was granted by Judge Friedman. The preliminary injunction blocks all federal employees, except President Trump, from implementing the provisions of the executive order and any subsequent guidance for implementing it.

During oral arguments in the case, Judge Friedman took issue with President Trump's determination that certain agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Agriculture Department, have a "primary function" of national security. He seemed to agree with the union's assertion that the executive order amounts to retaliation against labor groups that have challenged the White House's workforce policies in court.

The agencies, under direction from the Office of Personnel Management, have taken steps to abrogate union contracts in practice, including ending participation in bargaining negotiations and grievance procedures, and surreptitiously ending the automatic deduction of union dues from federal workers' paychecks. However, they have thus far refrained from formally terminating union contracts while the administration awaits the result of two lawsuits filed against unions in Trump-friendly courts.

Judge Friedman found the executive order and the Office of Personnel Management's subsequent guidance for implementing it to be "unlawful." He has announced that a full opinion explaining his reasoning will be published within the next few days.

This preliminary injunction comes just ahead of the April 26 deadline for agencies to submit recommendations for additional bargaining units across government to target with the Civil Service Reform Act's so-called national security exemption. The decision could have far-reaching implications for the future of collective bargaining in the federal workforce.