FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2026
April 15, 2026
AFGE Communications
AFGE Blasts Secretary Hegseth Move to Terminate AFGE Collective Bargaining Agreements at DOD
DoD employee union calls the move a “slap in the face” following ceasefire with Iran
WASHINGTON – Today, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing 300,000 employees at the Department of Defense (DOD), expressed outrage after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to have issued a memo directing agencies and components to terminate all collective bargaining agreements between the DOD and AFGE.
This action comes a year after President Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14251, which illegally stripped over 1 million federal employees of their union rights citing national security reasons.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley, Army veteran with a 30-year career at DOD, issued the following statement:
“Secretary Hegseth’s decision to terminate the union rights of hardworking individuals who support our military is a cowardly continuation of this administration’s unlawful attack on federal employees’ first amendment right to belong to a union.
“DOD employees, many of whom are veterans themselves, are the backbone of our military, and taking away their collective voice workforce doesn’t strengthen the mission; it undermines it.
“For 50 years, these employees have exercised their union rights; under several administrations, during a global pandemic, and throughout peacetime and wartime, including our most recent conflict with Iran.
“To rip up the union contracts of civilian employees after touting a successful ceasefire in the Middle East, is not only a slap in the face to the employees who supported those efforts but again proves that this action has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with silencing workers’ voices.
“Our union has successfully challenged illegal attempts to strip our members of their union rights by terminating their collective bargaining agreements, and we will continue to do so.”
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