How Federal Workers Without a Union Can Still Act Like a Union

The reality for over 1.3 million federal government workers leading up to the second Trump Administration has been collective bargaining through unions recognized by the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).

This recognition comes with the right to bargain over working conditions and conditions of employment. It also includes an individual right to representation when the boss is asking questions that could lead to discipline.

EXECUTIVE ORDER CHANGES

However, for a majority of these workers, Trump’s Executive Order 14251 strips those rights in the name of “national security.” These workers, myself and my union included, are now faced with a scenario that’s been all too common: There’s no real path to recognition or formal bargaining rights in the near future. In fact, this was the state of organizing in the federal sector before 1962.

Whether it’s well-established local unions or newly formed organizing committees, many workers are asking, “What’s the point in a union?” or “What can our union do at this point?”

UNILATERAL UNIONISM

This scenario puts us in the same situation as workers who are forming a union and haven't yet built the majority they would need to win formal union recognition—sometimes called “pre-majority unionism”. In my shop we’ve been calling our situation “unilateral unionism,” since we do have majority membership. Either way, if recognition from the employer is off the table, we have to be able to build power through collective action instead. The reality is: There’s still so much workers can do!

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Federal workers still have legal protections from retaliation and reprisal for collectively using their workplace rights. Need to appeal a bad decision by overworked HR? Need to challenge a power-hungry boss? Need to improve the working conditions for you and your co-workers? It’s all still possible.

HOW FEDERAL WORKERS CAN FIGHT BACK

At the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee—a grassroots group that provides support and how-to resources to workers organizing on the job—we’ve assembled the following list of ways that we as federal workers can fight back with protection from reprisal or retaliation and regardless of our status with the FLRA.

• Fight discrimination: Oppose discrimination (as an individual or collectively) in the moment and challenge discrimination through the Equal Employment Opportunity statutes, with a representative on official time.




• Work safe and healthy: Ensure healthy and safe workplaces through union representation on safety inspections and safety committees with the representatives on official time, make reports of unsafe or unhealthful conditions and refuse to perform unsafe work.




• File grievances: File administrative grievances according to agency guidance. Where possible, utilize agency alternate dispute resolution processes to insert mediation, arbitration, and third-party fact-finding into the mix. Most agencies will have such a process, and many provide a right to a representative on official time. (See for example, the DOD, VA, and USDA policies.)




• Defend targeted co-workers: Respond to discipline and adverse actions and then appeal them as necessary. The regulations allow for the “release” of the employee’s representative, so this should be official time or worst case, an entitlement of the representative to take leave.




• Get that money: File claims when a worker has been misclassified or denied overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Representatives must be “released” from their normal duties.




• Help workers who get hurt: File appeals when a workers’ compensation claim is improperly denied. Union representatives are explicitly allowed, and the regulations do not rely on the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute or its defined terms.




• Stay informed: File requests for documents or other records under the Freedom of Information Act but not during duty time. Cite non-commercial use to request a fee waiver and cite public interest in legally and fairly administered public service to overcome Privacy Act objections.




• Agitate for change: Advocate for members’ views in Congress, including lobbying, but not during duty time. Cite the Lloyd-LaFollette Act of 1912, and if there’s any reprisal for off-duty permitted political activity, cite the Hatch Act.




• Speak out: Get creative with whistle-blowing. A well-scripted “march on the boss” or a petition are great ways to take collective action that are protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act, so long as they disclose any violation of any law, regulation, rule, or policy, or an abuse of authority.




• Keep learning: Pool resources through union dues to ensure access to expert training for representatives, congressional advocacy, and organizing.

Regardless of what the White House says, a union is a group of workers making decisions together and taking collective action to improve their lives. The law doesn’t give us the right to organize—we always have that power.

Colin Smalley is president of IFPTE Local 777 in Chicago at the Army Corps of Engineers. He wrote this article in his capacity as a volunteer with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, and it does not represent the views of his employer. This article first appeared on EWOC’s blog.