Trump EO Calls for Union-busting, At-Will Employment - IFPTE Responds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Trump Administration Executive Order Calls for Union Busting, At-Will Employment, and Erosion of an Impartial Civil Service

Washington, DC – Officers of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) expressed outrage at the latest anti-federal worker and anti-federal government executive order signed by President Trump.

The October 21st executive order (EO 13957) will allow political appointees to be embedded into what should rightfully be career federal civil service roles, open the door for the dismantling of collective bargaining, and render federal workers, including IFPTE represented Administrative Law Judges, as at-will employees. The order tasks federal agencies to submit preliminary review of impacted positions by January 19, 2021, a day before the next presidential term starts.

IFPTE President Paul Shearon responded that, “with less than two weeks left until election day, the Trump Administration continues its unilateral attempts to rip apart the federal civil service, hollow out our democratic institutions, trash longstanding protections against government corruption, all without any Congressional approval for these policies. This latest executive order is essentially the trifecta, boldly aiming to transition Trump appointees into the career civil service, stripping hundreds of thousands of workers – including administrative law judges represented by IFPTE – of their due process rights, and opening the door for the unilateral dismantling of collective bargaining units. Taxpayers deserve a federal government free of political patronage, with a workforce that serves the best interest of the American public. IFPTE will request and is hopeful that an incoming Biden Administration will repeal this destructive executive order on day one of their administration.”

IFPTE Secretary Treasurer Matthew Biggs added that, “last week, the Trump Administration continued four years of hostile actions towards federal workers with an executive order that seeks to undermine the very concept of a professional civil service based on merit principles. Under this President, federal workers have already witnessed a reckless government shutdown, executive orders to strip federal sector union rights and due process, and top-down directives that have deteriorated collaborative relationships between unions and federal agency leadership. This latest order, which is aimed at embedding political allies in nonpartisan federal government jobs related to government policy, is a determent to both our nation’s qualified professional federal employees and the American public. IFPTE will work with Congress to block implementation of this order.”

IFPTE is an AFL-CIO and CLC affiliated labor union representing upwards of 90,000 workers in Canada and United States.

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Read Executive Order 13957, "Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service," here.