American Federation of Government and Employees (AFGE) and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) have filed suit in federal court to try to block a March 27 executive order by President Trump. The order strips about 1 million federal workers of all their union rights, by declaring that agencies as diverse as the Bureau of Land Management and the Environmental Protection Agency have a role in intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative or national security work.
NTEU filed its suit March 31 in Washington, D.C. arguing that none of those agencies actually have intelligence or national security functions, and that the order openly flouts the union rights law that includes that national security exception.
AFGE filed its suit April 3 in a federal district court in Northern California, arguing that the order is a retaliatory attempt to punish federal employee unions that have been engaging in constitutionally protected speech.
Both cases are pending.
