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Bipartisan Group of Current and Former House Members File Brief Opposing Trump’s Anti-Union Executive Orders

July 2, 2018

Bipartisan Group of Current and Former House Members File Brief Opposing  Trump’s Anti-Union Executive Orders

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), and former Reps. William “Bill” Clay Sr. (D-Mo.) and Jim Leach (R-Iowa), filed an amicus brief in the case of AFGE, AFL-CIO et al. v. Trump opposing President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders attempting to curtail bargaining protections for federal workers under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS).

“Congress enacted the FSLMRS based on the recognition that ‘labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service are in the public interest.’  In enacting the FSLMRS, including the provisions on official time and grievance procedures, ‘Congress unquestionably intended to strengthen the position of federal unions and to make the collective-bargaining process a more effective instrument of the public interest’,” the Members wrote.  “The President’s new Executive Orders seek to do the opposite, overriding the collective-bargaining process established by Congress.  The Executive Orders are contrary to the FSLMRS and the challenged provisions should be enjoined.”

Former Reps. Clay and Leach were Members of the House of Representatives when Congress enacted the FSLMRS in 1978, and they both served on the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, which had jurisdiction over the legislation.  Rep. Clay was Chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Service, which held extensive hearings on federal labor-management relations. Both members supported the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

Public Citizen attorneys are representing the members in the case.

Click here to read the full amicus brief.