Lower Bucks Today

Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick and Jared Golden have introduced a bipartisan bill titled the Protect America’s Workforce Act. This legislation aims to restore collective bargaining rights for federal employees, reversing an Executive Order known as "Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs." This order had curtailed bargaining rights in various federal agencies, affecting about 67% of the federal workforce.

Rep. Fitzpatrick emphasized the balance of efficiency and fairness, stating, "Improving government efficiency is essential—but sweeping exclusions from collective bargaining are a blunt instrument that risk weakening the very stability and performance we aim to strengthen. The Protect America’s Workforce Act restores a balanced, targeted approach—protecting bargaining rights where they pose no threat to national security and reinforcing their proven role in supporting morale, accountability, and effective governance."

Rep. Golden criticized the rationale behind the Executive Order, commenting, "In his order, President Trump said that federal workers’ rights are incompatible with national security. He is wrong. Union workers make America stronger every single day, including more than 6,000 federal workers in Maine."

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler expressed strong opposition to the Executive Order, saying, "Donald Trump is trying to end collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, silencing their voices and ripping up their contracts. This order would strike a blow to every American’s fundamental right of freedom of speech and association."

The proposed legislation has garnered support from unions representing federal employees, such as the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, and others. Currently, federal workers face restrictions in bargaining rights compared to their private-sector counterparts, dealing mainly with working conditions. About one-third of these unionized federal employees are U.S. military veterans.

The Protect America’s Workforce Act underscores the principle that a government should respect the rights of its workers.