The federal Bureau of Prisons said Thursday it is canceling a collective bargaining agreement with its workers and stripping them of union rights, the latest move by the Trump administration to gut labor protections for federal employees.

Director William K. Marshall III told the agency’s nearly 35,000 employees that the union, the Council of Prison Locals, had become “an obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it.” The contract, he said, “too often slowed or prevented” changes meant to improve safety and morale.

“The whole purpose of ending this contract is to make your lives better,” Marshall wrote in a message posted to the agency’s website. He said the agency will “move forward with solutions that work, without roadblocks, without excuses, and with one goal: to make the Bureau a place where people are proud to serve.”

The union’s president, Brandy Moore-White, said ending the collective bargaining agreement, which was supposed to run through May 2029, will jeopardize the safety and livelihoods of workers who endure dangerous conditions to keep inmates, staff and communities safe.