Teamsters triumph in bid to reverse Executive Orders that targeted federal public employees

(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, August 17, 2018)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, Ketanji Brown Jackson has delivered a significant victory to the Teamsters and several other unions that filed suit challenging three Executive Orders issued by the president on May 25, 2018.

Brown determined that the presidential actions were an “illegitimate attempt” to remove negotiable matters off the bargaining table, and reaffirmed “. . . the right of federal workers to have a say with respect to the terms and conditions under which they will be working. . . .”

The three executive orders impacted public employees who work for the federal government and numerous labor unions, like the Teamsters, that negotiate contracts and provide workplace representation on behalf of dedicated civilian workers. Major provisions of the directives dealing with collective bargaining, office time for employees to perform union responsibilities, and removal procedures for alleged conduct or performance problems were ruled contrary to existing law and therefore unenforceable.

“It appears that the Heritage Foundation and other like-minded groups misled the president into thinking they could rig the rules and ignore 40 years of labor law,” said Michael Filler, Director of the Teamsters Public Services Division. “This is a victory for all unionized federal workers and we applaud Judge Brown’s ruling.”

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with more than 266,000 public service workers, including those employed by the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018