Fighting For Our Rights

Over the past year, AFGE and our federal union siblings have been subject to the largest union-busting effort our country has ever seen. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have had their collective bargaining agreements illegally invalidated. Here is what we are doing to win those rights back:

LEGISLATION

• Our local has advocated to the elected officials that represent our members in Region 2 to vote for the Protect America's Workforce Act ("PAWA"), which if signed into law would protect federal workers' collective bargaining rights.

  • PAWA was passed by the House of Representatives on December 11, 2025. It is now in committee in the Senate.

  • The two representatives whose final action of signing a discharge petition brought PAWA to the House floor for a vote, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY), are representatives in our region that we did extensive and repeated outreach to.

LITIGATION

During 2025, AFGE filed 17 lawsuits against the Trump administration on behalf of its members. While litigation of this magnitude does take a lot of time to resolve, there have been some recent wins at other agencies. For example, TSA members have maintained their union contract despite effort to terminate it, and NIOSH members who were given illegal RIF notices have been reinstated.

There are litigation trackers out there keeping tabs on all of the cases that would impact federal workers. This AFGE National site has a recent summary of those cases, and this litigation tracker is updated regularly.

The case in which AFGE is fighting for our union contract American Federation Of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. Trump, Case No. 3:25-cv-03070 (N.D. Cal.), 25-4014 (9th Cir.). On June 24, 2025, the district court granted a preliminary injunction, which would have prevented the Trump administration from illegally terminating our contract. On August 1, the Ninth Circuit granted the administration's request to stop the injunction pending an appeal of the case. The case will likely go up to the Supreme Court. If it decides that the injunction should be allowed while the merits of the case are decided, we will have our rights back right away. If it decides the injunction should not be allowed while the rest of the case is decided, we will have to wait until the courts rule on whether or not a president is allowed to take our collective bargaining rights away citing national security interests.

If you have questions about  how we are fighting for our union contract, or are wondering how to join the fight, please email us at info@afge3911.org.