WASHINGTON: Some employees in the US Health and Human Services Department (HHS) have been told they are no longer eligible to participate in collective bargaining, according to sources, part of a broader effort to strip federal workers of union rights.
Health workers at the US centres for disease control and prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were notified on Monday of the change to their personnel files, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorised to speak publicly.
The agency sent notices across seven offices and sub-agencies that the unions no longer would be recognised and office space and equipment would be reclaimed, a HHS spokesperson told Bloomberg News.
The move was consistent with a March executive order from President Donald Trump that stripped federal workers of their bargaining rights, the HHS spokesperson said.
The HHS cancellations escalate a larger effort by the president to expel unions from government ranks, and advance Trump’s war against what he calls the “deep state.”
Trump’s March executive order ended collective bargaining rights for a wide swath of agencies deemed to serve national security roles – something his opponents say was just a pretense to go after the unions.
Before HHS, Trump already ended bargaining at agencies including the department of veterans affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents some HHS employees, told federal workers on Monday that it’s “pressing HHS to explain these changes” and that the law governs union eligibility, according to an email viewed by Bloomberg News. The union is pursuing legal action against the executive order.
In May, a federal court said the administration can move forward with implementing the order.
In June, the FDA formally advised managers that it would no longer recognise or engage in labour relations with union organisations, suspending participation in all labour-related activities such as ongoing arbitration proceedings involving the FDA, grievance procedures and responding to union requests for information.
Last week, HHS signalled it intended to strip thousands of agency employees of their collective bargaining rights, including the CDC and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a labour union representing over 800,000 federal workers, slammed the HHS in response.
“Tearing up our contracts is a disservice to every American who benefits from the programmes and services our members deliver. But let me be clear: our union isn’t going anywhere,” AFGE president Everett Kelley said in a statement. — Bloomberg
