Defend the Unions

A three-judge panel unanimously upheld President Donald Trump's executive orders attacking workers' rights.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit said that it lacked jurisdiction to block Trump's orders, which made it easier to fire federal employees, limited the amount of time workers can spend on union business, and compelled federal agencies to devise unfavorable contracts with unions.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 700,000 of the 2.1 million federal employees affected by the orders, said it would fight the court's decision "using every legal tool available to us."

"Today's terrible decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a tremendous blow to federal employees and their voice in the workplace," said AFGE President J. David Cox. "The union-busting framework laid out in the executive orders and the actions already taken at the bargaining table so far demonstrate clearly that there must be a check on the president's power to destroy federal employees' union rights."

The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) and the AFGE union representing EPA workers echoed Cox's statement.

"In our view, these executive orders violate the law, and we are going to continue to fight them until we get a decision that sticks," NFFE President Randy Erwin told the Washington Post. "This appeals court decision does not change the fact that the Trump administration severely overstepped its authority." 

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka also expressed solidarity with the federal workers' unions.

"This is more than union busting—it's democracy busting," Cox has previously said