Senate bill seeks to ban all federal labor unions

Labor unions representing federal workers are facing another challenge to collective bargaining rights — and even their very existence — in a newly introduced Republican bill meant to prevent American taxpayer dollars from subsidizing union costs.

The Federal Workforce Freedom Act would prohibit federal employees from organizing or joining labor unions in order to collectively bargain, as well as forbid federal agencies from participating in collective bargaining negotiations with labor unions representing federal workers.

The bill, introduced Thursday, would also terminate any and all collective bargaining agreements between labor unions and federal agencies “established before, on, or after the date of enactment of this bill.”

The sponsors of the bill, U.S. Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., argue that these kinds of collective bargaining agreements harm worker efficiency, increase labor costs, and charge taxpayers in the bargaining process.

“Public servants are not like private sector employees. They should not be able to collectively bargain for leverage over their employers, because they work for the American people,” Lee said Thursday. “[I]t is time that we required all federal workers to spend their days working for the public instead of union business.”

The bill could positively impact taxpayers in the long run, who bear the administrative costs when the federal government collects union fees from member’s paychecks and then transfers the dues to the organizations.

Additionally, the legislation could help the government save millions of taxpayer dollars annually by no longer having to pay the salaries of federal employees who work as union representatives.

According to a 2020 report from the United States Office of Personnel Management, federal employees spent roughly 2.6 million hours on union activities during work hours during 2019, costing taxpayers an estimated $135 million.

“This legislation would end federal labor unions and immediately terminate their collective bargaining agreements to ensure the federal government is working on behalf of the American people – not labor unions – by increasing the productivity of its workforce,” Blackburn said in a statement.

If passed, the bill would affect 25% of the federal employee workforce who are members of public sector unions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The same day Blackburn and Lee introduced their bill, a coalition of labor unions filed a lawsuit challenging Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate the DHS’ collective bargaining agreement, impacting thousands of federal transportation workers.

Several federal workers union lawsuits challenging Trump's mass layoffs are currently working their way through the courts.