Latest news with #NoemDetermination
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge finds Kristi Noem likely violated due process on TSA collective bargaining
When you hear 'Trump administration Department of Homeland Security' and 'due process,' you might think of the government's legal violations in the immigration context. Branching out into a different context, a new ruling found a move by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem likely violated due process in her bid to crush collective bargaining at the Transportation Security Administration. Noem had issued a 'determination' intended to bar transportation security officers from engaging in collective bargaining. Along with a local union and two aviation-related unions, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed a federal lawsuit in Washington state. The plaintiffs argued that the Noem Determination was retaliatory in violation of the First Amendment, violated due process under the Fifth Amendment, and was arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law under the Administrative Procedure Act. Siding with the plaintiffs, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle granted a preliminary injunction against the Noem Determination and its rescission of a 2024 bargaining agreement. 'The Court here finds that an injunction must issue to preserve the rights and benefits that the 2024 CBA confers to TSOs pending resolution of this litigation,' the Clinton appointee wrote Monday, referring to transportation security officers. 'AFGE has shown the Noem Determination likely violates Due Process, having afforded no notice or process for AFGE and its members to work with DHS and TSA to resolve any disagreement before simply shredding the contractual promises of the CBA,' Pechman wrote. She added that the determination 'appears to have been undertaken to punish AFGE and its members because AFGE has chosen to push back against the Trump Administration's attacks to federal employment in the courts.' So with the caveat that this is a preliminary victory for the plaintiffs in what could be lengthy litigation, it's the latest example of the administration facing a skeptical bench because of its punitive approach. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for expert analysis on the top legal stories of the week, including updates from the Supreme Court and developments in the Trump administration's legal cases. This article was originally published on
Epoch Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
Judge Temporarily Blocks Homeland Security From Ending Collective Bargaining for TSA Agents
A federal judge on June 2 temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security from ending collective bargaining for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, concluding the government likely acted improperly as retaliation against a union for challenging Trump administration moves. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) 'has demonstrated a strong likelihood that the Noem Determination constitutes impermissible retaliation against it for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration's assault on federal workers,' U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman
The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Judge temporarily blocks Noem from killing TSA workers' collective bargaining deal
A union scored an initial victory in its challenge to stop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from stripping collective bargaining rights from employees at the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA). The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) argued that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has no power to end an already authorized seven-year contract, accusing the secretary of targeting the union after it brought a number of suits on behalf of government workers. U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman, a Clinton appointee, granted a preliminary injunction barring Noem's decision, first announced in March. 'AFGE has demonstrated a strong likelihood that the Noem Determination constitutes impermissible retaliation against it for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration's assault on federal workers. AFGE has shown the Noem Determination likely violates Due Process, having afforded no notice or process for AFGE and its members to work with DHS and TSA to resolve any disagreement before simply shredding the contractual promises of the CBA,' she wrote, referencing the collective bargaining agreement. 'And AFGE has shown it is likely to succeed in showing the Noem Determination is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, particularly given its complete disregard for the 2024 CBA and its mischaracterization of AFGE's role.' The union celebrated the decision. 'Today's court decision is a crucial victory for federal workers and the rule of law,' AFGE president Everett Kelley said in a statement. 'The preliminary injunction underscores the unconstitutional nature of DHS's attack on TSA officers' first amendment rights. We remain committed to ensuring our members' rights and dignity are protected, and we will not back down from defending our members' rights against unlawful union busting.' The contract affects the roughly 50,000 agents who do security screenings at airports across the country. In its announcement, DHS leveled a number of claims against the union, including that TSA workers 'will no longer lose their hard-earned dollars to a union that does not represent them.' DHS also claimed TSA had more officers working on union work than screening passengers in 86 percent of airports — something the AFGE said was mathematically impossible.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge Blocks Trump's Union-Busting Plan At TSA
The Trump administration faced another legal setback on Monday when a judge temporarily blocked their plan to dissolve labor unions at a federal agency. The White House moved in March to revoke collective bargaining rights at the Transportation Security Administration, aiming to nullify the union contract for some 47,000 airport security officers. But U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman in Seattle, Washington, granted an injunction Monday at the request of the union, the American Federation of Government Employees. Pechman, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, determined that the union was likely to prevail in its argument that the administration ran afoul of the law. She said Trump's homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, offered only a 'threadbare justification' for stripping workers of their union rights, and the move appeared purely retaliatory. 'The Noem Determination appears to have been undertaken to punish AFGE and its members because AFGE has chosen to push back against the Trump Administration's attacks [on] federal employment in the courts,' she wrote. AFGE President Everett Kelley called Pechman's order 'a crucial victory for federal workers.' 'We remain committed to ensuring our members' rights and dignity are protected, and we will not back down from defending our members' rights against unlawful union busting,' Kelley said in a statement. The order means that the Trump administration must honor the union's collective bargaining agreement for now. But the White House could still win the underlying case and succeed in having the contract tossed out. The union-busting efforts are a key piece of President Donald Trump's broader plan to decimate the federal workforce and end longstanding civil-service protections. In addition to trying to kill unions at TSA, Trump has tried to nullify collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of other workers at a slew of federal agencies, all in the name of 'national security.' The White House has said explicitly that it's taking such actions at least in part because federal labor groups have stood up to the president. It noted in a 'fact sheet' on revoking collective bargaining rights that federal labor groups had 'declared war on President Trump's agenda,' a statement Pechman noted in her order Monday. 'The First Amendment protects against retaliation for engaging in litigation and public criticism of the government,' she wrote.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge pauses Homeland Security's move to nix TSA officers' union contract
A federal judge on Monday paused the Department of Homeland Security's effort to end the collective bargaining agreement covering tens of thousands of transportation security officers at airports. It's the latest loss in court for the Trump administration's drive to reshape the federal workforce. US Senior District Judge Marsha Pechman of the Western District of Washington in Seattle issued a preliminary injunction, saying that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's justification for terminating the union contract with the American Federation of Government Employees in March was 'threadbare' and exposed 'the retaliatory nature of the decision.' 'The Noem Determination appears to have been undertaken to punish AFGE and its members because AFGE has chosen to push back against the Trump Administration's attacks to federal employment in the courts,' wrote Pechman, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, in her order. Noem's decision is at odds with more than a decade of agency belief that collective bargaining benefits the officers, the Transportation Security Administration and the public, Pechman wrote. She ordered DHS to notify officers in the union that the contract and rights are in effect, including the right to have their union dues deducted from their pay. When DHS originally announced it was rescinding the contract, the agency told employees that the move would allow officers to 'to operate with greater flexibility and responsiveness, ensuring the highest level of security and efficiency in protecting the American public.' DHS told CNN at the time that 'we invite the union to join all Americans and TSA employees in celebrating renewed efficiency, greater safety and shorter airport security wait times thanks to this action.' In separate cases, AFGE and the National Treasury Employees Union are each battling Trump's executive order to end collective bargaining with unions covering hundreds of thousands of federal workers in multiple agencies. In April, a federal judge in the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction in the case brought by the NTEU.
