More than 20 union affiliates from AFGE and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) sued the Department of Defense and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week challenging the unlawful termination of union contracts covering tens of thousands of DoD civilian employees.
On April 9, Secretary Hegseth issued a memorandum directing DoD agencies and components to immediately terminate all collective bargaining agreements, with limited exceptions. The direction came a year after President Trump signed Executive Order 14251, which illegally stripped over 1 million federal employees of their union rights citing national security reasons.
On July 2, 20 AFGE locals and councils joined three NFFE locals in filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland challenging the termination of their contracts.
As a result of Hegseth’s illegal actions, tens of thousands of hardworking federal employees – many of whom are veterans and members of military families – lost union rights they have had for decades.
“The Department of Defense’s termination of AFGE contracts, carried out under Pete Hegseth’s unlawful directive, is an insult to the hardworking men and women who serve our military. I am proud to stand with AFGE’s affiliates fighting for their rights. In many cases, the affiliates have had contracts in place for more than 50 years before they were unlawfully terminated,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
“In attacking DoD civilian employees, the administration is attacking veterans, military families, and the workers our warfighters rely on every day. This not only makes America less safe; it is antithetical to our values as a nation.”
In the lawsuit, the unions argue that Hegseth’s actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act in multiple ways. In particular, the memo and the contract terminations that followed were not based on reasoned decision making required by law and misinterpreted the executive order they were purportedly based on.
“For decades, workers at the Department of Defense have had the right to unionize, and employees exercising that right has never been detrimental to U.S. national security,” NFFE National President Randy Erwin said.
“The Trump administration unilaterally and illegally stripping collective bargaining rights from DoD workers only serves to weaken morale, harm recruitment and retention, and reduce accountability – jeopardizing our national security and the critical mission of the agency. NFFE locals are proud to join their AFGE brothers and sisters in challenging the cancellation of their collective bargaining agreements and we are confident the rule of law will prevail.”
The AFGE plaintiffs are Council 169, Council 170, Council 171, Council 172, Council 235, Council 240, Council 275, Local 54, Local 779, Local 916, Local 987, Local 1410, Local 1504, Local 1592, Local 1658, Local 1836, Local 1858, Local 2065, Local 2449, and Local 3283. The NFFE plaintiffs are Local 178, Local 476, and Local 639.
The plaintiffs in this case are represented by Altshuler Berzon LLP and Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP.
A federal court last week blocked the politically appointed Federal Labor Relations Authority from taking over labor relations work currently performed by nonpartisan career professionals.
Read More
More than 20 union affiliates from AFGE and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) sued the Department of Defense and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week challenging the unlawful termination of union contracts covering tens of thousands of DoD civilian employees.
Read More
A new legal filing in AFGE’s ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s effort to unlawfully reorganize the federal government seeks to prevent mass staff departures from the USDA.
Read More
