IFPTE Celebrates a Working Majority of the House of Representatives Rejecting Trump’s Federal Sector Union-Busting
WASHINGTON, DC – The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), representing 90,000 workers across North America, including upwards of 34,000 federal workers employed by the U.S. government, issued the following statement in response to the House of Representatives passing H.R. 2550, the Protect America’s Workforce Act (PAWA). PAWA nullifies Executive Order 14251, which strips union rights from over 1 million federal workers and is the greatest single union-busting effort in U.S. history.
IFPTE President Matthew Biggs:
“While Republican Congressional leadership used their majority to scuttle NDAA language rejecting President Trump’s union-busting, a bipartisan bill in the House led by Maine Democratic Congressman Jared Golden, Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was easily passed in the House with 231 votes. The Protect America’s Workforce Act would not have reached the House floor were it not for a working bipartisan majority of House members signing a discharge petition to bring the legislation to the floor against the wishes of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House of Representatives has now passed legislation to repeal the first Trump Executive Order that eliminates collective bargaining rights for over 1 million federal employees.
It’s time for President Trump to recognize what a bipartisan majority in the House recognizes: federal workers take an oath to protect the Constitution and to faithfully perform their duties, and through their unions and collective bargaining, federal workers improve their working conditions, public services, and their agencies’ operations. Nullifying the March 27 and August 28 Executive Orders and maintaining federal employees’ bargaining rights isn’t just pro-worker, it’s pro-America.”
IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson:
“By a vote of 231 to 195, the House of Representatives has passed the Protect America’s Workforce Act and rejected the Trump Administration's effort to bust federal workers’ unions. IFPTE applauds the efforts of IFPTE members and Local union leaders who talked to their congressional representatives and made clear that federal workers and their unions work for the interests of the American public. We thank Congressman Golden and Congressman Fitzpatrick for building support and finding a path to pass this bill in the House over the objections of the House Speaker. The Members of the House of Representatives who cosponsored the bill, signed the discharge petition to bring the bill to the floor, and voted to pass the bill have put American principles above partisanship. We’re not done until we fully defeat this attack on federal employees’ union rights and public services, and we count this as a win on the path to victory.”
IFPTE is a labor union representing upwards of 90,000 workers in the federal, public, and private sectors.
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