NFFE and other unions prepare for a way forward after last week’s election

Internal NFFE News

November 12, 2024

It has now been one week since the election where America voted to elect former president Donald Trump to return to the White House once again and become the 47th president. 

Leading up to the election, unions bet big on a Kamala Harris presidency and established themselves as one of the leading groups within economic and political sectors with stake in the outcome. Another Trump presidency is not the result NFFE and many other unions hoped for. 

According to Open Secrets, unions contributed almost $43 million to the Harris campaign. But, the real investment and work towards her election happened via phone banks, canvassing across the country, education of the candidates’ policies as it relates to labor, outreach to membership and avid encouragement to elect pro–labor candidates across the board.  

Initial exit polls showed that Harris won union households by 55% compared to Trump’s 43% – which is a similar margin to the 2020 race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. 

However, the majority of working class Americans who do not belong to any union turned out overwhelmingly for Trump. 

The biggest concern now for unions is to protect membership and workers’ rights against the Project 2025 framework drawn up by several Trump advisors and generally recognized as the blueprint for a new Trump administration. 

“For unions representing government employees, the threat is to unions themselves,” read a recent New York Times article.

The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) has made it clear that it will fight for civil service and democracy – working to ensure that its membership and those the union represents will be protected against potential threats. 

In his initial statements reflecting on the election outcome, NFFE National President Randy Erwin said: “NFFE, alongside our coalition of federal sector unions, is prepared to fight against all attempts to dismantle the civil service. We believe that merit and competency – not loyalty to the president – should take precedent in hiring and retaining a skilled workforce that carries out critical services on behalf of the American people.” 

NFFE will continue to protect and prioritize federal workers and safeguard democracy.