Affirming the Collective Bargaining Rights of Federal Employees

WHEREAS, In the biggest attack on the labor movement in recent history, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order illegally stripping collective bargaining rights from federal workers under the guise of "national security." In 2023, there were 1,032,000 union members in the federal sector according to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2024, 11.8% of Black workers were union members compared to 9.6% of white workers; and

WHEREAS, The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance telling agencies to end union rights and union contracts and shut down grievance procedures; and

WHEREAS, The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) also told agencies to continue President Trump's Reduction in Force (RIF) order and to ignore RIF requirements in the union contracts that have been unilaterally cancelled; and

WHEREAS, Labor unions representing federal government workers across the country are suing the Trump administration because of the president's attempt to override the law through executive order and strip federal government employees of their union rights; and

WHEREAS, The NAACP is engaged in litigation challenging the allegations that Trump's executive order is a retaliatory attempt to punish federal employee unions that have been engaging in constitutionally protected speech. Unions have repeatedly scored court victories after suing in opposition to actions taken by the Trump administration targeting federal workers; and

WHEREAS, Additionally, the litigation alleges that the Trump administration overbroadly applied the national security exemption to eliminate collective bargaining rights for workers whose primary functions are not related to national security. Those employees work at agencies and departments like the Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, Food Safety and Inspection Service, and several others; and

WHEREAS, Federal employees have had the right to join a union and bargain collectively for decades – through multiple wars, international conflicts, and a global health emergency during President Trump's first term.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP reaffirms its support of and stands in solidarity with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), National Association of Government Employees (NAGE-SEIU), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), National Nurses United (NNU), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who collectively represent more than 950,000 federal employees, to protect Federal workers and their rights to collectively bargain and benefit from the protection of union contracts both in place and established in the future.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP demands the protection, maintenance, data transparency public data access, and data integrity connected to the Federal workforce.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP will continue to leverage research, litigation, mobilization, communications, community education and training, convenings, and policy advocacy to ensure the rights of all Federal workers and union members and to protect public services and their jobs.