The Department of Veterans Affairs appeared to be the first agency to begin terminating union contracts, affecting more than 400,000 workers.
Unionization is the one thing which has kept wages up and working conditions decent for federal workers.
Maybe a stupid question but what’s to stop the union(s) from striking to prevent this from happening? Even if it’s a wildcat strike I bet if enough services shut down people will complain and get the administration to stop doing this. Isn’t that the whole point of collective bargaining? If someone threatens your group you take collective action to stop the threat.
Striking is a self-destruct button for their careers.
Specifically, 5 U.S.C. §7311, specifies that federal employees may not participate in a strike, assert the right to strike, or even belong to a union that “asserts the right to strike against the government of the United States.” Driving the point home, 18 U.S.C. §1918 makes it a felony to strike against the United States or belong to a union that asserts the right to strike against the United States. What’s more, the Office of Personnel Management can declare an individual who participates in a strike unsuitable for federal employment. Forever. (Source)
So the union is a “pretty please”
Well, they had collective bargaining rights until Trump “national securitied” them away this year. It sounds like they traded the ability to strike for that collective bargaining back in the Carter administration. Between Reagan and Trump, that’s not looking to have been the greatest success. Not really sure what all else they can accomplish at this point.
Mostly the not unfounded fear that the current government will just fire everyone and cease what they were doing entirely
The AFGE covers every sector of government doesn’t it? If every local union walks out there isn’t much that can get done. I doubt they can fire everyone. That’s the beauty of collective bargaining. It’s why the trash workers stop working if the postal workers need better working conditions in other countries.
Okay, but doesn’t that work because the workers have leverage over the corporatins by cutting off their income? In the case of the govt here, it seems to me that the teflon don would love to have them strike to give him the excuse of cutting another service.
