U.S. Judge Blocks Trump From Eradicating Collective Bargaining
In a victory for union members, a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump from preventing hundreds of thousands of federal employees from exercising their right unionize and collectively bargain.
According to Reuters, Due to the lawsuit by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 160,000 federal employees, Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., blocked Trump‘s executive order, which would make it easier for agencies to fire and discipline employees indiscriminately.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler released the following statement:
“We commend the court for recognizing the Trump administration’s executive order stripping collective bargaining rights for what it was: illegal, retaliatory union-busting. This was the most significant attack on workers’ rights in history, and if Trump was allowed to do it to federal workers, he would be able to do it to every worker in America, in every workplace and every industry.”
AFGE President Everett Kelley also released a statement.
“AFGE congratulates our union siblings at NTEU on their important victory in the D.C. District Court today. This ruling is a major step toward restoring the collective bargaining rights that federal employees are guaranteed under the law,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley. “AFGE looks forward to arguing our own case against this unlawful executive order in federal court. We are confident that, together, these efforts will secure the full relief federal employees deserve — and send a clear message that no administration is above the law.”
Senior Attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice Reassigned
Founded in 1957, the Civil Rights Unit at the United States Department of Justice was founded after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The unit protects Americans from discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, sex, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and military status.
However, at the hands of the Trump administration, it’s unclear who the department will continue to protect, as The U.S. Justice Department is reassigning about a dozen senior career attorneys from its civil rights unit, as reported by Reuters.
At least three senior career attorneys who oversaw investigations into abuse by police and violations of voting and disability rights, have been ordered to take other assignments, according to employees at the department. The three senior employees are considered to be nonpolitical employees who typically remain in their jobs even as administrations change.
According to the employees the sudden changes are due to a wave of reassignments and resignations that have impacted employees who investigated employment or educational discrimination, abuses inside correctional facilities, and voting rights cases, under the leadership of Trump‘s pick to lead the Civil Rights Division, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
“They are going to eliminate the Civil Rights Division as it was built to exist,” one former department employee familiar with the changes told Reuters. “The only purpose now will be to victimize the very people it was created to protect.”
Trump cuts Funding to Key Law Enforcement Programs in New Jersey
Officials in New Jersey were alarmed to discover that the Trump administration cut federal law enforcement grants this week that fund programs for drug treatment and preventing hate crimes and violence, according to NJ.com.
The grants included funding for the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Hate Crimes Program, developed in order to more effectively prosecute hate crimes, as well as funding for initiatives to to prevent gun violence, and addiction services, with programs focused on opioids.
These programs received more than $20 million since 2021, according to federal data. Officials in the attorney general’s office said they were still calculating how much money is left for the programs and how much money was lost.
“Making sure that we have tools to intercept cycles of violence, prevent revenge shootings that have plagued our communities, gang violence — that work has saved lives in New Jersey,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin. He criticized the Trump administration’s decision as “reckless.”
The state Police Benevolent Association also spoke out in their disapproval of the cuts.
“Law enforcement needs partners at every level of government and decisions like this — made without warning or input — undermine that partnership,” the organization said in a statement.
As the attacks on our unions continue, The New Jersey State AFL-CIO will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with our union brothers and sisters who have been impacted by the Trump administration refusing to be silenced.