Dear Representative:
On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I strongly urge you to cosponsor HR 2550, the Protecting America’s Workforce Act, introduced by Representative Jared Golden (D-ME) and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). This bill would reverse the single biggest act of unionbusting in American history and restore the collective bargaining rights and lawful union contracts of over one million workers.
On March 27th, the Trump administration issued an Executive Order entitled "Exclusion from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs." With the stroke of a pen, this order stripped two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights. The administration then moved to have these workers' union contracts terminated.
While the law gives the President the authority to exempt particular segments of the federal workforce from collective bargaining because their primary function involves intelligence, counterintelligence or similar national security work, the agencies covered by this executive order involve work far afield from national security concerns. But one need not guess why these workers’ rights were terminated. The White House issued a fact sheet explaining: these workers were represented by unions who were “fighting back” against the President’s other personnel policies, like the unlawful firing of tens of thousands of probationary employees, a disproportionate number of whom are veterans. In other words, this order was an act of retaliation against these workers and their unions for exercising their constitutional rights to speak out and petition their government for redress. If only these unions had not stood up for their members – so many of whom are veterans and all of whom are serving their country in the civilian workforce – they would still have their rights and contracts. Last week, the attack on the First Amendment was underscored by a Veterans' Affairs spokesperson who explained a few unions would be exempt from the executive order because they "have filed no or few grievances against the VA." This executive order is an appalling assault on the constitutional and collective bargaining rights of around one million hardworking civil servants and taxpayers.
We are grateful for the bipartisan effort to undo this executive order. We urge you to support the Constitution and the fundamental collective bargaining rights of these US civil servants by cosponsoring HR 2550, the Protecting America’s Workforce Act.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Jody Calemine
Director, Government Affairs