AFGE and our sister union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, are urging the Office of Personnel Management to withdraw a proposed rule that would require current and prospective employees at participating agencies to sign non-disclosure agreements as a condition of employment.
In joint comments submitted in response to the proposed rule, AFGE and AFSCME called the proposal a “harmful and unlawful effort that is contrary to public policy.”
OPM claims that requiring employees to sign non-disclosure agreements would impose no additional legal obligation on federal employees. Yet if that were true, there would be no need for this new requirement since federal employees already are routinely informed of their obligations regarding confidential information, the unions said.
“In truth, the Proposed NDA goes far beyond existing legal requirements and seems plainly designed to intimidate federal employees and chill their lawful and legally protected speech, including speech about personnel matters and matters of public concern that is a vital part of the Unions’ work,” the unions said.
The unions outlined four main objections to the proposed NDA:
“AFGE and AFSCME urge OPM to abandon its misguided and unlawful attempt to implement the Proposed NDA. It is problematic and unlawful on multiple fronts, and, if finalized, will directly harm AFGE, AFSCME, and their members,” the unions said. The comments were submitted with the assistance of Democracy Forward.
More than 30,000 comments were submitted in response to the proposed rule, most of which express opposition to the NDA requirement, Government Executive reported.
A coalition of 44 Democratic members of Congress, led by Reps. Greg Landsman of Ohio and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, sent a letter to OPM Director Scott Kupor in June outlining their concerns that the proposed rule is a tactic to silence federal employees and hide government corruption from Americans and urging OPM to withdraw it.
“The proposed rule is nothing more than another attempt to intimidate, silence, politicize, and demolish the federal workforce, and hide this Administration’s waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption from the American people,” the letter reads.
“Federal employees are already subject to extensive laws, regulations, and agency policies regarding the handling of classified, sensitive, and protected information. Mandatory, government-wide NDAs will only block lawful whistleblowing and disclosures, undermine government transparency and accountability, and erode the independence and integrity of the nonpartisan civil service.”
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AFGE and AFSCME are urging OPM to withdraw a proposed rule that would require current and prospective employees at participating agencies to sign NDAs as a condition of employment.
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