Court Denies Federal Unions’ Appeal of Trump Executive Orders

WASHINGTON—A top federal appeals court has rejected two federal employees unions’ attempt to stop President Donald Trump’s executive orders intended to weaken their rights. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the unions’ petition to have all 17 judges reconsider a July decision by a three-judge panel that said the courts did not have jurisdiction to invalidate parts of the orders. The American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union had argued that the panel had not considered the merits of their case. “While we review our options, hundreds of thousands of federal government workers will suffer as their access to union representation at the worksite is stripped away,” AFGE national President J. David Cox said in a statement. The court has not yet lifted an injunction preventing the administration from enforcing the orders, but meanwhile, several federal agencies have imposed new contract provisions unilaterally. “This decision sets the table for years of chaos in the federal sector, as we have to take our issues, piecemeal, through the Federal Labor Relations Authority,” NTEU National President Tony Reardon said. “We still believe that these orders violate existing federal law.” Read more