US President Donald Trump took his most consequential action against federal employee unions yet late on Thursday, signing an executive order aimed at ending collective bargaining for government employees whose work includes national security aspects.
The expansive order applies to workers across many federal agencies, including the departments of State, Defence, Justice and Health and Human Services.
It also impacts the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A fact sheet released by the White House said: ‘The President needs a responsive and accountable civil service to protect our national security.’
The order is aimed at stopping federal unions who have ‘declared war on President Trump’s agenda’, according to the fact sheet.
It noted that the largest union – the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – has filed many grievances to ‘block Trump policies’.
The fact sheet added: ‘President Trump refuses to let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests,’ the fact sheet said, noting that the president is using authority granted by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
A guidance issued last Thursday by the Office of Personnel Management said that the agencies and divisions covered by the executive order no longer need to collectively bargain with federal unions. It noted that the agencies can conduct the widespread Reduction In Force (RIF) that Trump had previously ordered without regard to provisions in terminated collective bargaining agreements.
Likewise, any procedural restrictions on agencies’ return-to-office mandates won’t be in effect after the agreements are terminated.
AFGE condemned the move in a statement on Thursday evening, noting that it affects the collective bargaining rights of more than one million federal employees.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in the statement said: ‘President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants – nearly one-third of whom are veterans – simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies.
‘AFGE is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) also vowed to take swift action.
NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald said: ‘The executive order to eliminate collective bargaining rights for federal employees across the government is a brazen attempt by the administration to ensure its reckless assault on vital federal agency services can continue unimpeded.
‘We will vigorously challenge this illegal order in court.’
Since taking office, Trump has sought to reshape the federal workforce.
In one of his earliest moves, he ended remote work for government employees and agencies were provided guidance on how they can override union collective bargaining agreements on telework and remote work.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced moves to rescind the collective bargaining agreement covering tens of thousands of transportation security officers at airports.
Federal unions have fought back, filing multiple lawsuits in federal court – several of which have succeeded in stymying Trump’s agenda, at least for a short time.
Lawsuits filed by the AFGE and other unions have temporarily reversed the administration’s laying off tens of thousands of probationary workers at certain federal agencies and blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive Social Security data, among other consequential rulings.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said: ‘Straight out of Project 2025, this executive order is the very definition of union-busting.
‘It strips the fundamental right to unionise and collectively bargain from workers across the federal government at more than 30 agencies.
‘The workers who make sure our food is safe to eat, care for our veterans, protect us from public health emergencies and much more will no longer have a voice on the job or the ability to organise with their co-workers for better conditions at work, so they can efficiently provide the services the public relies upon.
‘It’s clear that this order is punishment for unions who are leading the fight against the administration’s illegal actions in court – and a blatant attempt to silence us.
‘To every single American who cares about the fundamental freedom of all workers, now is the time to be even louder.
‘The labour movement is not about to let Trump and an unelected billionaire destroy what we’ve fought for generations to build.
‘We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fibre of our collective being.
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) said: ‘President Trump’s attempt to unlawfully eliminate the right to collectively bargain for hundreds of thousands of federal workers is blatant retribution.
‘This attack is meant to silence their voices, so Elon Musk and his minions can shred the services that working people depend on the federal government to do.’
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada’s old relationship with the United States, ‘based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over’.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa after a cabinet meeting, Carney said Canadians must ‘fundamentally reimagine our economy’ in the face of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
He said Canada would respond with retaliatory tariffs that will have ‘maximum impact’ on the US.
Trump announced on Wednesday he would target imported vehicles and vehicle parts with a 25 per cent tax, stating: ‘This is permanent.’
Carney, the Liberal Party leader, called the original Canada-US Automotive Products Agreement signed in 1965 the most important deal in his lifetime.
He said: ‘That’s finished with these tariffs.’
He continued that Canada can sustain an auto industry with the US tariffs, provided the government and business community work to ‘reimagine’ and ‘retool’ the industry.
Canada needs to build an economy Canadians can control, he said, and that would include rethinking its trade relationship with other partners.
It remains to be seen whether Canadians can have a strong trading relationship with the United States going forward, he added.
Carney has switched his campaign plans ahead of next month’s general election to confront the latest import duties.
The US has already partially imposed a blanket 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods, along with a 25 per cent duty on all aluminium and steel imports.
Canada has so far retaliated with about C$60 billion ($42 billion; £32 billion) of tariffs on US goods.
The new car tariffs will come into effect on 2nd April, with charges on businesses importing vehicles starting the next day, the White House said. Taxes on parts are set to start in May or later.
On Thursday morning, Trump warned Canada and the EU against joining forces versus the US in the trade war.
‘If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both.
- Bus drivers and attendants at Philadelphia Transportation represented by Teamsters Local 623 have voted to ratify their first union contract.
The new three-year agreement includes a grievance and arbitration procedure, route bidding that honours seniority, and the largest wage increases in company history.
Pete Hopkins, a driver at Philadelphia Transportation said: ‘We have never received pay increases like this ever.
‘This contract addresses many of our needs and we are grateful that we were part of the entire negotiating process.’
Philadelphia Transportation Teamsters play a vital role in keeping the city moving by providing safe and timely student transportation.
Richard Hooker, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 623 said: ‘Today, Philly Transportation workers will enjoy the fruits of their hard work.
‘The brand-new protections and truly monumental wage increases are just an example of what happens when workers weaponise solidarity.’
