Trump's order curtailing union protections for workers is being implemented unequally by VA.

In a move that has sparked controversy and legal challenges, President Trump signed an executive order last month, citing a provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, to declare wide swathes of the federal government ineligible for collective bargaining. This decision has potentially disrupted the federal workforce and led to the loss of valuable workers, according to a letter signed by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mark Warner, D-Va.

The senators argued that collective bargaining has strengthened and advanced the mission of federal agencies, creating a more stable and productive workforce. They urged the president to rescind the order, stating that sudden changes to labor-management relations are disruptive to the work of the federal workforce.

However, the executive order is not without exceptions. Certain small unions within the Veterans Affairs Department were exempted, allowing them to retain their collective bargaining rights. Unions such as the Laborers International Union of North America, the Western Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, the Veterans Affairs Staff Nurse Council Local 5032 in Wisconsin, the International Association of Firefighters in Arkansas, the Teamsters Union Local 115 in Pennsylvania, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Hawaii, were spared from the edict.

The nation's largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), was not exempted. AFGE National President Everett Kelley stated that the edict has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with retaliation against AFGE, due to their lawsuits against various workforce policies.

The VA Secretary Doug Collins filed a notice to the Federal Register, stating that the VA has national security work and thus its employees should not have collective bargaining rights. This exception, however, does not apply to all law enforcement and firefighter unions. While Trump's order exempts the IAFF local, federal payroll processors ceased collecting union dues from employees' paychecks last week, affecting unions like AFGE.

Since the edict, the administration and unions have traded lawsuits over the policy. The unions not listed among Collins' exemptions, including AFGE, have been engaged in at least one legal challenge against the administration's workforce policies. The AFGE has accused the Trump administration of retaliation for their lawsuits.

The edict outlawed unions at agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission. The exact reasoning for these exemptions and the selective application of restrictions is not clearly documented, leaving room for speculation and further debate.

This executive order and the subsequent legal battles it has engendered continue to shape the future of collective bargaining in the federal workforce.

Trump's order curtailing union protections for workers is being implemented unequally by VA.