President Donald Trump has taken steps to cancel collective bargaining agreements made with federal employees within 30 days of his inauguration, claiming these agreements were crafted by the Biden administration in an attempt to undermine his efforts to reshape the federal workforce.
In a memo directed to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, Trump referred to the agreements as “lame-duck collective bargaining agreements,” accusing the previous administration of finalizing them to extend its “wasteful and failing policies” beyond its time in office.
The policy could potentially impact a number of union agreements, although the exact number is not yet clear. These collective bargaining agreements typically cover aspects like pay, working conditions, and employee rights.
This move is part of Trump’s broader agenda to overhaul the federal workforce, which includes a focus on downsizing the bureaucracy and replacing civil servants with more loyalists.
Trump has also signed an executive order mandating that federal employees return to in-office work five days a week, overturning the remote work policies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. One example cited in the memo includes a Department of Education agreement reached just days before Trump’s inauguration, which prohibited the agency from bringing remote workers back to the office.
