Earlier this week the Trump administration began preventing all NGO’s from collecting dues via voluntary payroll deduction at agencies named by Executive Order 14251. The EO, which eliminates collective bargaining rights for any agency or subcomponent that deals with national security issues, also prevents the Federal Managers Association from collecting dues through voluntary payroll deduction. While the cessation of collecting dues is primarily aimed at unions, most members use the same mechanism to pay their voluntary dues to FMA. We are actively looking into ways to work around this new challenge and will be communicating the new dues collection plan to FMA members in the coming weeks.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order citing a provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act to exempt agencies from federal labor law if they “cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements.” The Executive Order applies to the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State, Department of Justice, and Department of Treasury, as well as subcomponents of several other agencies.

The federal labor unions have declared the executive order that prompted the action “The very definition of union busting” and will pursue legal action. However, the administration has filed legal action of its own, seeking to terminate collective bargaining agreements with eight American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) affiliates in Texas, saying the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) impair their national security missions.

“We are taking this fight directly to the public-sector unions,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “By affirmatively suing in Texas, we are aggressively protecting President Trump’s efforts to ensure unions no longer interfere in the national security functions of the government.”

In a letter to President Trump, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) led a group of congressional Republicans in opposing the executive order and urging President Trump to restore collective bargaining rights.