Judge Blocks Trump Order Ending Federal Workers' Bargaining Rights

A federal judge has indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump's executive order to end collective bargaining rights for many federal workers. The decision was made in response to a request from a coalition of unions representing nearly a million federal workers.

Judge James Donato, an appointee of President Barack Obama, issued the preliminary injunction, which will remain in place until a July 17 hearing.

"For more than 60 years, Americans who worked for the federal government as civil servants have had the right to unionize and collectively bargain for the conditions of their employment," Donato wrote in his ruling. "These rights were first granted to federal employees in a series of executive orders beginning in 1962, and then codified when Congress enacted the Federal Service-Labor Management Relations Statute in 1978."

Donato added that President Trump's executive order caused the long-standing status quo to abruptly change.

The White House argued that employee unions did not have the standing to sue. Donato disagreed, saying they "demonstrated a strong likelihood of irreparable harm from the loss of their collective bargaining and allied rights."

The unions say the executive order violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.

“This is justice for the federal workers who were unfairly retaliated against and had their freedom to collectively bargain ripped away for standing up to illegal executive actions,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “This executive order is a direct effort to silence federal workers’ voice on the job — an essential freedom that helps maintain the integrity of our democracy.”