John,

Federal workers help ensure that our communities get the essential health, education, housing, public safety, and other resources they need which were allocated by Congress. Last Friday, the Trump Administration put forward a new rule that will pave the way for even more mass firings of federal workers. They plan to “gut civil service protections from a large swath of federal workers, paving the way to replace them with loyalists” by reclassifying many career civil servants as "at will" employees – threatening the jobs of up to 50,000 federal workers¹ This comes on top of Trump’s executive order attack on federal workers’ unions that Deborah detailed in her email from yesterday.

Even as the case challenging Trump’s executive order works its way through the courts, there’s some good news in all of this: some members of Congress are fighting back on the side of working people. The Congressional Labor Caucus issued a statement:²

“... this EO not only undermines the principles of fair labor practices but also threatens the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government, jeopardizing the delivery of critical services to the American people. The freedom to join a union and collectively bargain is central to achieving the American dream for millions of American workers.”

And bipartisan legislation has been introduced that would overturn Trump’s executive order.³

Congressional support for federal unions has been strong, and we must ensure it grows much stronger.

Donate $5 today so that we can rally our allies in this fight and work to protect human needs programs and the critical civil workforce that helps get resources to local communities.

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Rep. Jared Golden (ME-02)—one of the sponsors of the Protect America’s Workforce Act—issued a statement:³

“Throughout our history, unions have ensured workers got their fair share of this nation’s prosperity. Unions built our middle class, and are key to strengthening its future. We cannot have a government that undermines workers’ rights.”

Unlike other unions, federal unions have limited bargaining rights—they can’t go on strike, and they can’t bargain over things like wages or benefits because these are laws set by Congress. What federal unions can do is help workers address workplace issues without fear of retaliation and without disrupting the work of the federal government—such as ensuring that essential health, education, housing, public safety, and other programs get the resources they need that were allocated by Congress.⁴

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Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ 1 big thing: More fed firings
² Labor Caucus Leads All House Democrats in Defending Federal Workers’ Collective Bargaining Rights
³ Fitzpatrick, Golden Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Restore Collective Bargaining Rights for Federal Workers
⁴AFGE Condemns Trump's Retaliatory Attempt to Outlaw Federal Unions

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Donald Trump issued a shameful Executive Order attacking the collective bargaining rights of unions for federal employees. This was done to punish what his administration calls “hostile Federal unions” that have “declared war on President Trump’s agenda.”¹

The only “war” being declared is on the tens of thousands of federal employees who have been summarily fired and the government agencies that have been gutted.

Unions are good for all workers and, across decades, have helped build the middle class. We also know that unions help non-union workers by increasing the wage floor and workplace safety.²

Attacks on unions are an attack on us all. And given his history, Trump’s attacks won’t stop with federal unions. This is why we’re taking action now.

Last week, together, we co-signed an amicus brief with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). We then encouraged thousands of messages to Congress, urging them to pass the bipartisan Protect America’s Workforce Act to defend the rights of federal workers.

As Donald Trump and Elon Musk continue to fire tens of thousands of federal workers, we need a sustained effort to defend the civil servants – and the human needs programs they administer – who make our government work for everyday people.

Donate $5 today to power our campaign to fight back against Trump’s attacks on federal workers and their unions.

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Attacks on federal workers have been a theme of this administration from the beginning, and if successful, will have serious consequences for our future.

The unions stated in response to Trump’s executive order, which strips federal workers of their collective bargaining rights:³

"The message is clear that to avoid the draconian effects of the Exclusion Order, unions must fall in line with the President’s agenda, cease all efforts to speak out against or challenge in court the President’s policies, and demonstrate to the President’s satisfaction that they will 'work with him' in the future.”

Under Trump’s executive order, employees at more than 30 federal agencies would lose their collective bargaining rights. Some of these agencies include the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the Administration for Children and Families.⁴ According to a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), this order applies to 75% of federal workers.⁵

We must stand up for workers and fight back against these senseless and baseless attacks. Donate $5 today so that we can continue the fight on Capitol Hill to defend the rights of federal workers.