Key Takeaways
- President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to strip collective bargaining rights for several federal unions.
- This order stripped federal union workers and educators of statutory and contractual rights.
- The Federal Education Association (FEA) filed a lawsuit challenging the executive order, arguing it violates the First and Fifth Amendments and constitutes an abuse of power.
When President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban collective bargaining with several federal unions on March 27, he stripped educators and workers of their statutory and contractual rights.
The order targeted unions in federal agencies with primary functions related to national security, intelligence, counterintelligence, and investigative work. This includes the Department of Defense Educational Activity (DoDEA) school system, where NEA represents 6,000 educators that serve military-connected families both stateside and abroad. The order attacks these educators right to collectively bargain, despite having no primary function related to national security.
“Trump’s executive orders are not just illegal; they undermine the education and opportunities of children and families who have already sacrificed so much for our nation,” NEA President Becky Pringle said in a statement. “We are not going to sit by silently.”
Leading the challenge against this order is FEA, an NEA affiliate. FEA filed a lawsuit on May 5, arguing that Trump's executive order violates the constitutional rights of FEA and its members and is a blatant abuse of authority by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
FEA filed the lawsuit with the Federal Education Association-Stateside Region and the Antilles Consolidated Education Association. Several other federal employee unions have also sued Trump over this sweeping order.
Violation of union rights
Throughout his presidency and campaigns, Trump has been staunchly anti-union and anti-worker, unfairly firing the pro-union General Counsel and pro-union board member of the National Labor Relations Board and appointing members who made it more difficult for unions to win representation at non-union workplaces, according to an USA Today article. The firing of the member, Gwynne Wilcox, is now before the Supreme Court.
The lawsuit alleges that the order violates educators and unions’ First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights.
- First Amendment
The order violates the First Amendment because it was intended to facilitate mass firings and retaliate against federal unions for exercising free speech and the right to petition. Its effect is to punish federal unions for engaging in protected activity and to chill protected activity for federal unions.
- Fifth Amendment
The order nullifies collective bargaining agreements between the plaintiff and the government, violating the Fifth Amendment’s protections against deprivation of property without due process of law and unlawful taking of property, according to the lawsuit. It also violates the right to equal protection, as the order specifically targets particular unions based on a “bare desire to harm” them. By contrast, the order includes a blanket exemption for agency police and firefighters, whose unions supported Trump.
“Trump’s executive order doesn’t just break the law; it violates the U.S. Constitution. The Trump administration is attacking the very people who serve this country by educating the children of our service members on military bases at home and around the world,” said FEA Executive Director Richard Tarr in a statement.
FEA has used collective bargaining to advocate for a student’s best education, including smaller class sizes, more learning time, more staffing for school nurses and mental health professionals, along with worker rights.
Government abuses its bounds
The lawsuit also argues that the order constitutes as an abuse of authority by Trump and Hegseth.
The executive order broadly categorizes the primary function of national security. However, the impact lands on educators, and by extension, students. An educator’s job is primarily about teaching students in high quality schools, according to the lawsuit.
Collective bargaining can be done in a manner consistent with national security requirements, as DoDEA has done for decades, according to the lawsuit.
This is not the first time the Trump Administration has overstepped in education. The Department of Education has previously threatened to revoke federal funding from schools with inclusive programs and curricula.
NEA is also filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education for overstepping its authority by imposing vague restrictions that limit academic freedom and restrict what educators can teach.
Congressional pushback
Bipartisan support for federal unions has grown in Congress. Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, together introduced a bill to restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers.
The bill, Protect America’s Workforce Act, would reverse Trump’s executive order, including reversing it for DoDEA. The bill has 219 cosponsors, including a handful of Republicans, according to Congress’ website.
NEA has an action alert for the bill on its website to send your representatives a message urging them to support Protect America’s Workforce Act and DoDEA.
Rep. Jill Tokuda from Hawaii led 44 bipartisan Members of Congress in urging Hegseth to protect the collective bargaining rights of educators and educational support staff at DoDEA in a letter. In the letter, the members argued that DoDEA educators have no primary function related to national security, including having no security clearance or access to confidential information.
