AFSCME and Unions Sue Administration Over Executive Order Retaliation

Labor Unions Challenge Executive Order Limiting Federal Workers' Rights

SAN FRANCISCO – In a bold legal move, AFSCME along with several other labor unions has launched a lawsuit against the current administration's executive order, which threatens to remove collective bargaining rights from over a million federal government employees.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit argues that the executive order serves as retaliation against unions that have exercised constitutionally protected speech in opposing the administration's efforts.

These unions have a track record of legal wins against the administration, and the current lawsuit claims the executive order is a direct backlash for their persistent legal and public challenges against plans that aim to overhaul the federal workforce and government structure through extensive executive power.

The lawsuit highlights a White House fact sheet that alludes to a statement from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which advocates for over 820,000 federal workers, as a basis for the order.

The legal complaint also contends that the administration has overstepped by broadly invoking a national security exemption to remove bargaining rights from more than a million employees whose roles are not primarily security-related. These workers are employed in various departments, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Joining AFGE in this legal battle are AFSCME, the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE-SEIU), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), National Nurses United (NNU), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), representing collectively over 950,000 federal employees.

"Federal workers and all AFSCME members have been making their voices heard in court and on the streets to protect public services and their jobs. They won’t let billionaires raid our communities without consequence — and that’s why they’re facing retaliation," stated AFSCME President Lee Saunders.

"The extremists in this administration have made their contempt for public service workers clear and know that stripping collective bargaining rights means stripping away their power,” Saunders added. “We are filing this lawsuit to stop this illegal effort to silence those who speak out and protect free speech for all working people.”