NFFE and 12 Other Unions Sue President Trump Over Recently Issued Executive Orders Targeting Federal Employees and Their Unions

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Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), representing 110,000 federal employees across the country, joined 12 other unions in suing President Trump and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in response to three executive orders issued by President Trump on May 25, 2018. In the suit, the unions assert President Trump exceeded his authority when issuing the executive orders. The unions are seeking an injunction from the Court to block implementation of the executive orders.

The lawsuit was filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at approximately 1:00 PM today, and requested judicial review of President Trump’s three executive orders – #13836#13837, and #13839. Collectively, these executive orders, if implemented, would wreck the system of collective bargaining in the federal sector, eliminate meaningful due process for federal employees that is essential to American democracy, and make it all but impossible for federal employee unions to offer federal workers the representation that unions in the federal sector are required by law to provide.

“It is clear to us that President Trump is attempting to exceed his authority in issuing these Executive Orders targeting federal employees and their unions,” said Randy Erwin, NFFE National President. “Federal employees have rights under the law, and with this lawsuit, we are asserting those rights. This President has a way of taking action first and figuring out if it was legal later. We believe his executive orders violate the law in many areas, and we are asking the courts to step in and block Trump’s unauthorized directives.” 

President Trump’s executive orders represent the latest front in the attack on the rights of working people to have strong unions that can bargain collectively and effectively on their behalf. 

“Today, we are demonstrating that many in the Labor Movement are united in opposing President Trump’s ploy to undermine unions in this country by breaking the way labor-management relations occurs in the federal government,” said Erwin. “Together, these executive orders represent the front line of the assault on unions and working people. We view an attack on one as an attack on all. We will stop at nothing to resist these mean-spirited and unauthorized executive actions.”