Federal Workers Unions Urge Senate and House Leadership to Protect Union Rights for DOD Workers
As the leadership of the House and Senate settle all remaining issues between the respective chambers’ National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bills, IFPTE joined with the Federal Workers Alliance unions to send a letter to Congress urging that the final NDAA text include language to protect the collective bargaining rights of Department of Defense (DOD) workers.
The House version of the NDAA includes bipartisan language in Section 1110 that is titled “Limitation on Use of Funds to Limit Collective Bargaining,” which would maintain union contracts and bargaining rights at DOD by nullifying the March 27 executive order that busts unions at DOD and 18 other agencies. That provision is limited to DOD because the NDAA is a defense-specific authorization bill.
The Senate NDAA bill does not include any similar language, but as the leadership of the House and Senate negotiate the final bill, lawmakers need to weigh in with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to make sure this language is in the final NDAA text.
In late October, 16 Republican Members of the House already weighed in with House and Senate Armed Services Committee leadership with a strong letter of support for the language that protects DOD workers’ union rights. That letter states, “The Defense Department’s large civilian workforce, which includes some 315,000 veterans, plays an indispensable role in securing our cyber networks, protecting our energy infrastructure, and supporting our border security. Denying these workers a voice in the workplace does not enhance national security—it potentially jeopardizes it by eroding morale, diminishing retention, and weakening accountability. For more than six decades, federal employees, including those working in national security contexts, have exercised collective bargaining rights without compromising readiness or mission success.”
Read the Federal Workers Alliance letter supporting DOD workers’ union rights here.