Dear Representative:
On behalf of the AFL-CIO, representing 15 million working people across 64 affiliate unions, I am writing to urge you to oppose the rule for consideration of S. 1071 (the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026). The rule fails to make in order a critical amendment to the bill – the bipartisan Norcross amendment that would restore collective bargaining rights to Department of Defense employees.
That language would prohibit the use of funds authorized by the NDAA to implement the Executive Order entitled “Exclusion from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs.” It was included in the original House-passed version of the NDAA as Section 1110 and was adopted in committee with strong bipartisan support. It has disappeared from the bill under consideration this week.
Without this language, Department of Defense employees remain without protection from the March 27th Executive Order that stripped two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights. Federal employees across the government deserve the right to collectively bargain, and their union contracts should be respected. The NDAA presents an immediate opportunity to restore these rights and contracts at one agency – an agency where nearly half of all civilian employees are veterans who have served this country in defense of rights and freedoms like these. Particularly given the wide-ranging support for restoring these rights, the House should be given an opportunity to assert its will on this issue with an amendment to this bill.
We urge you to vote no on the rule for consideration of S. 1071 and press for an opportunity to add the language restoring collective bargaining rights to Department of Defense employees. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jody Calemine
Director, Government Affairs