The Trump Administration has announced an executive order intended to strip collective bargaining rights from nearly a million federal employees. The Executive Order makes use of a provision of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 that the president can limit collective bargaining for those primarily working in sensitive areas such as intelligence or national security. In the past, interpretation of this provision has been narrowly focused, but Trump has expanded his interpretation to include those working in Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, the CDC, the TSA, and other departments that are not traditionally considered “sensitive.” The unions representing the federal workers have filed lawsuits against other actions taken by the Trump administration, and are likely to fight this order as well.
Employees at WFMT in Chicago have announced their desire to be represented by SAG-AFTRA. Workers feel undervalued and overworked, and the firing of veteran host Dennis Moore after he asked for accommodations for his disability only aggravated their anxieties over job security.
After nine months of negotiations, precollege faculty at the Manhattan School of Music are close to having an agreement through New York State United Teachers. The agreement will see a 70 percent increase in the wage floor over the five years, as well as seniority differentials and a roll-back of demands for increased class sizes.
The anti-union trade association Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is asking the Trump administration to invalidate more than a dozen NLRB decisions. Ordinarily, those that disagree with a ruling would file an appeal or argue for a rule change in a future case. It would be a radical departure for an Attorney General to unilaterally invalidate decisions and would undermine the NLRB’s status as an independent agency.