Latest news with #PaulFriedman
Reuters
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Court gives go-ahead to Trump's plan to halt union bargaining for many federal workers
May 16 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court lifted an order on Friday that blocked U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of the ability to unionize and collectively bargain over working conditions. A 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit put on hold, opens new tab an injunction a judge issued at the behest of the National Treasury Employees Union that had blocked implementation of an executive order Trump issued in March. The union and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling. Trump's order exempted more than a dozen federal agencies from obligations to bargain with unions. They include the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services. The union, which represents about 160,000 federal employees, argued the order violates federal workers' labor rights and the Constitution. But the appeals court's majority said the union had failed to show it would suffer the type of irreparable harm that would justify the preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman on April 25. U.S. Circuit Judge Karen Henderson, an appointee of Republican President George H.W. Bush, and Justin Walker, whom Trump appointed in his first term, said the injunction, if allowed to remain in effect, would also impede Trump's national-security prerogatives. Trump relied on a national security exemption to exempt agencies that he said "have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work." "Preserving the President's autonomy under a statute that expressly recognizes his national-security expertise is within the public interest," the appeal's court majority wrote. U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, an appointee of Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, dissented, saying the Trump administration had presented only "vague assertions" about potential interference with national security functions to justify its request for a stay of Friedman's decision. Trump's order affects about 75% of the roughly 1 million federal workers represented by unions, according to court filings. NTEU has said the order applies to about 100,000 of its members. The executive order significantly expanded an exception from collective bargaining for workers with duties affecting national security, such as certain employees of the CIA and FBI. The Trump administration has filed separate lawsuits seeking to invalidate existing union contracts covering thousands of workers.
Toronto Star
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Trump can't strip Foreign Service workers of their collective bargaining rights, judge says
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed Wednesday to temporarily block the Trump administration from stripping Foreign Service employees of their collective bargaining rights. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman granted a federal labor union's request for a preliminary injunction that, while its lawsuit against the government is pending, stops the Republican administration from implementing a key portion of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump admin from nixing union bargaining rights
A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump's administration from nixing bargaining rights for thousands of federal workers through an executive order the commander-in-chief signed last month. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled that Trump's March 27 executive order is unlawful, handing a short-term win to the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents around 160,000 federal workers. 'An opinion explaining the court's reasoning will be issued within the next few days,' Friedman said in a Friday two-page order, granting a temporary injunction that blocks the order from being enforced. The order would limit several departments' workers from being able to unionize and would direct the government to stop doing any collective bargaining. When rolling out the order last month, the administration said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 permits government employees to unionize, 'enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.' NTEU's president Doreen Greenwald welcomed the judge's ruling, writing that it is a win for federal workers, 'union rights and the American people they serve.' '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,' Greenwald said in a statement on Friday. '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 union's president added. Trump and the administration have argued that the executive order is necessary to shore up national security, while the union has said that some of the departments mentioned in the directive and their employees do not do any national security work. 'The OPM Guidance on the Executive Order shows that a significant motivation for the President's mass exclusion of agencies from the Statute's coverage is to make their employees easier to fire,' the union's attorneys previously said in court filings. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
27-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Judge blocks Trump admin from nixing union bargaining rights
A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump's administration from nixing bargaining rights for thousands of federal workers through an executive order the commander-in-chief signed last month. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled that Trump's March 27 executive order is unlawful, handing a short-term win to the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents around 160,000 federal workers. 'An opinion explaining the court's reasoning will be issued within the next few days,' Friedman said in a Friday two-page order, granting a temporary injunction that blocks the order from being enforced. The order would limit several departments' workers from being able to unionize and would direct the government to stop doing any collective bargaining. When rolling out the order last month, the administration said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 permits government employees to unionize, 'enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.' NTEU's president Doreen Greenwald welcomed the judge's ruling, writing that it is a win for federal workers, 'union rights and the American people they serve.' '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,' Greenwald said in a statement on Friday. '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 union's president added. Trump and the administration have argued that the executive order is necessary to shore up national security, while the union has said that some of the departments mentioned in the directive and their employees do not do any national security work. 'The OPM Guidance on the Executive Order shows that a significant motivation for the President's mass exclusion of agencies from the Statute's coverage is to make their employees easier to fire,' the union's attorneys previously said in court filings.
The Mainichi
26-04-2025
- Business
- The Mainichi
Judge blocks Trump administration from nixing collective bargaining for most federal employees
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from implementing an executive order that a labor union says would cancel collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled that a key part of President Donald Trump's March 27 order can't be enforced at roughly three dozen agencies and departments where employees are represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. The union, which represents nearly 160,000 federal government employees workers, sued to challenge Trump's order. The union said it would lose more than half of its revenue and over two-thirds of its membership if the judge denied its request for a preliminary injunction. Friedman said he would issue an opinion in several days to explain his two-page order. The ruling isn't the final word in the lawsuit. He gave the attorneys until May 2 to submit a proposal for how the case should proceed. Union president Doreen Greenwald said the judge's order is "a victory for federal employees, their union rights and the American people they serve." "The preliminary injunction granted at NTEU's request means the collective bargaining rights of federal employees will remain intact and the administration's unlawful agenda to silence the voices of federal employees and dismantle unions is blocked," Greenwald said in a statement. Some agencies, including the FBI, are exempt from a law requiring federal agencies to bargain with labor organizations over employment matters. Presidents can apply the exemption to agencies that have a "primary function" of performing intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative or national security work. But no president before Trump tried to use the national security exemption to exclude an entire cabinet-level agency from the law's requirements, according to the employees' union. It said Trump's order is designed to facilitate mass firings and exact "political vengeance" against federal unions opposed to his agenda. "The President's use of the Statute's narrow national security exemption to undo the bulk of the Statute's coverage is plainly at odds with Congress's expressed intent," union attorneys wrote. Government lawyers argued that the court order requested by the union would interfere with the president's duty to ensure federal workers are prepared to help protect national security. "It is vital that agencies with a primary purpose of national security are responsive and accountable to the American people." Justice Department attorneys wrote. The IRS is the largest bargaining unit represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. A day after Trump signed his order, the administration sued a union chapter in Kentucky to seek a ruling that it can terminate the collective bargaining agreement for the IRS. The union says the administration has "effectively conceded" that its members don't do national security work. The union members affected by the executive order also include employees of the Health and Human Services Department, the Energy Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission. The union said it will lose approximately $25 million in dues revenue over the next year. Some agencies, it says, already have stopped deducting union dues from employees' pay. "In the absence of preliminary injunctive relief, NTEU may no longer be able to exist in a manner that is meaningful to the federal workers for whom it fights," union lawyers wrote. Government attorneys argued that the courts typically defer to the president's judgment on national security matters. "Executive actions that are facially valid -- that is, within the lawful authority of the executive -- are entitled to a presumption of regularity," they wrote.
