HHS plans to decertify union representation in several agencies, which would affect thousands of agency employees, according to the American Federation of Government Employees.
Five local groups with the American Federation of Government Employees and other unions represent these federal employees. HHS said the removal of their collective bargaining rights is “removing unnecessary obstacles to mission-critical work,” The Hill reported Aug. 22.
The move comes months after President Donald Trump’s March 27 executive order to bar certain federal agencies from labor-management relations programs, including the FDA, CDC and the National Institutes of Health.
In addition to these agencies, affected offices within HHS include the Office of the Secretary, Office of the General Counsel, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Administration for Children and Families, according to The Hill.
In August, the Department of Veterans Affairs terminated union contracts for most of its unionized employees. National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, said the terminations affect about 16,000 nurses at 23 facilities. NNU filed a lawsuit in April challenging the executive order.
