IFPTE Federal Sector Round Up on Trump/Musk and
DOGE Attacks on Federal Workers
The IFPTE federal sector EDues program launched this week with our pilot Locals (1, 32, 121 and 1921) working with the International to sign up members to pay their dues through the new payment system. This became necessary, of course, because of President Trump’s Executive Order eliminating Union dues payroll deduction across most federal agencies. SOLIDARITY is also alive and well across the IFPTE family, as several Locals stepped up to contribute seed money toward the EDues system. Many thanks to Locals 1, 20, 21, 70, 160, 162, 194, 195, 1921 and 2001 for your generous contributions to the EDues program!
The IFPTE International and IFPTE Locals across the nation also continued to fight this week against the ongoing attacks against Civil Servants by the Trump Administration. Included in this week’s activities – IFPTE legislative director, Faraz Khan’s continues work with congressional offices to gain cosponsors for HR 2550, bipartisan legislation overturning Trump’s latest Executive Order aimed at eliminating collective bargaining rights for some 1 million federal workers and eliminating Union payroll dues deduction. More on that below.
It is important to remind IFPTE’s federal sector membership that last week the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed through several measures intended to be included in a budget reconciliation bill later this Summer or Fall. Led by the Republican majority, the Committee passed on a party-line vote with all but one Republican (Rep. David Joyce) for and all Democrats voting against reckless proposals aimed at forcing federal workers and others to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. These proposals that passed the House Committee include:
- Raising the FERS retirement contribution rate for all federal and postal employees to 4.4% of their salary.
- Eliminating the FERS supplement payment for federal employees retiring before age 62 (federal occupations with retirement required before age 62 are exempted).
- Basing a federal retiree’s annuity payment on their average highest five earning years, instead of the current highest three earning years.
- Forcing new federal employee hires choose to be “at will” employees without merit system protections or choose to maintain merit system protections and pay an additional 5% FERS contribution rate, totaling 9.4% of pay, which is effectively a 5% pay cut.
- Charging a $350 fee for federal employees to gain access to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
You can read more about these proposals, which IFPTE, the larger movement, and IFPTE Locals have opposed, here. Keep in mind that while these proposals have passed through Committee, they are not binding, and the President and the Congressional Republican Majority still have a long way to go to ultimately get them into a budget package and pass them into law. IFPTE will be fighting this at every step.
Legislative:
1) Good news – The Protect America’s Workers Act (HR 2550) introduced last month by Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic Rep. Jared Golden to repeal the Trump Executive Order (EO) eliminating collective bargaining rights for 1.5 million federal workers, now has 219 cosponsors, representing more than 50% of the House of Representatives. This means that IFPTE and labor can now pivot to working to get these cosponsors to sign a discharge petition to force a full vote of the House of Representatives. A discharge petition is needed because despite the overwhelming support for the legislation, House Speaker Mike Johnson will not schedule the bill for consideration. See IFPTE’s letter supporting the House bill.
2) Legislative Director Faraz Khan continues to work with key Senators to procure a similar bill to the Fitzpatrick-Golden bill in the Senate. Call your Congressional Representative and ask them to cosponsor the bipartisan Protect America’s Workforce Act.
3) Tell Congress: Hands Off Federal Employees’ Retirement Benefits and Merit System Protections. As stipulated above, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted last week to cut $51 billion over the next ten years from the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) and make other changes that undermine our nonpartisan civil service. Congress will be considering passing these spending cuts in a budget reconciliation bill that will include between $1.5 to $2 trillion in spending cuts to offset a portion of $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations (the $2.5 to 3 billion in tax cuts that aren’t offset will result in a significant increase to the federal deficit). Slashing retirement benefits and reducing the take-home pay of federal workers will trigger an exodus of experienced and skilled federal workers and hollow out agencies that provide essential services and functions. Congress needs to hear from everyday Americans that lawmakers should be preserving the government’s ability to recruit and retain the best talent America has to offer to address the challenges our nation faces, support our national security and economic prosperity, provide the American people with high-quality services, and keep our communities safe. Even though the House Oversight Committee passed these cuts this week, it is not too late to weigh in. This fight is far from over. Email Your Representative and Senators and urge them to oppose any cuts to federal employees’ retirement benefits, any reductions to take-home pay, and any effort to force newly hired federal employees to choose between pay and civil service protections. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-hands-off-federal-employees-retirement-benefits-and-merit-system-protections/
4) IFPTE reported last week that Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) introduced two IFPTE-endorsed bills that would protect federal workers and give fired federal workers an opportunity to return to the civil service. The “Restoring Employment and Hiring Incentives for Removed Employees Act” or REHIRE Act would rebuild the federal workforce by providing a hiring preference for federal workers who were fired or otherwise involuntarily removed during the Trump Administration and the ‘‘Probationary Reduction for Employee Protections Act’’ or PREP Act would clarify that federal employees who are new to the competitive service have a 1-year probationary period, and employees who are moving to a new competitive service position from another position will have a 6-month probationary period. IFPTE is encouraging Locals to urge their House members to cosponsor these bills. 5) The Congressional Labor Caucus, led by pro-labor caucus Co-Chairs Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Steve Horsford (D-NV), have been leading voices inside Congress on the attacks on federal workers and their unions. On April 30, the Labor Caucus released its report on the Trump Administration’s attack on worker rights and labor unions across all sectors. Read the 10-page report here
Legal:
The legal report from last week remains unchanged. While an injunction on the Trump Union busting EO has been put in place in the NTEU lawsuit and does apply to all agencies impacted by the Executive Order, IFPTE-represented agencies are not recognizing the NTEU ruling. That said, IFPTE is hopeful that the AFGE case in California will be heard soon and result in the issuance of an injunction similar to the one issued in the NTEU lawsuit. See below:
1) EO 14251 – On April 28, the D.C. District Court issued an opinion to accompany its April 25 order issuing a preliminary injunction against Executive Order 14251. This EO attempts to strip collective bargaining rights from the vast majority of the federal workforce under the pretext of a statutory national security exemption. The court specifically noted in its opinion that the union challenged the EO in its entirety and that the lack of evidence of any impact on national security correspondingly warrants “enjoining Section 2 of the Executive Order in its entirety.” (emphasis supplied). NTEU v. Trump, Case No. 1:25-cv-935 (D.D.C.), Dkt. 34 at 44-45.” This means that the administration is prevented from implementing the order at all, including in agencies like the Department of Defense and Social Security Administration, where IFPTE represents tens of thousands of workers. We note that the injunction has been appealed to the D.C. Circuit, and that we do expect the merits of the case to eventually reach the Supreme Court. See the NTEU lawsuit here.
2) As part of the overall litigation strategy, IFPTE is expected to join a similar coalition lawsuit when the time is right based on the litigation making its way through various courts to block the Executive Order. In preparation, IFPTE asks Locals impacted by the Executive Order to provide evidence of damage done to the Local and members due to the union busting EO. Please contact IFPTE General Counsel, Teresa Ellis at tellis@ifpte.org with any pertinent information regarding specific impacts from the imposition of the EO.
3) IFPTE RIF guidance to Locals – We continue to include the March 11 memo from IFPTE GC, Teresa Ellis, and Greg McGillivary of the McGillivary Steele Elkin law firm regarding Reductions-In-Force (RIFs) and Mass Terminations of Federal Employees , given that OPM, OMB and DOGE mandated that federal agencies produce RIF lists by April 14. See that RIF guidance memo here.
- See the February 26th OPM memoinstructing agencies to largely ignore RIF language in Union negotiated CBA’s and calling on agencies to identify positions to RIF by April 14. IFPTE recommends that Locals file grievances if management refuses to abide negotiated RIF language in their respective CBAs.
4) Legal support for federal workers – Rise Up, Fight Back – Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have had their basic rights violated on the job—including tens of thousands who have been fired illegally. Federal workers have an urgent need for legal support. Federal workers now have a network of lawyers helping to get them the justice they deserve. See the GovExec article here. 5) Status of all lawsuits against the current administration can be found at Just Security: “Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
Grassroots
1) “Civil Service Strong” coalition – IFPTE is proud to announce our partnership with the Civil Service Strong project of Democracy Forward, along with other unions, to support our members who are civil servants under attack by the Trump administration. Alongside the 95% of people who believe civil servants should be hired and promoted based on their merit rather than their political beliefs, Civil Service Strong is committed to supporting a career, non-partisan civil service and the people who power it. Learn more here.
2) MAKE A CALL – Restore Federal Employee Rights Now – IFPTE joins the AFL-CIO campaign asking every single American who cares about the fundamental freedom of all workers to join a union to call their member of Congress right now. Fill out the form on the right to receive a call or dial 844-896-5059. Learn more here [url1005.email.actionnetwork.org].
3) IFPTE Members are telling their Congressional lawmakers: “Hands Off Federal Employees’ Retirement Benefits and Merit System Protection” While IFPTE and other federal unions are working in coalition to oppose the inclusion of any “reforms” that increase the cost of federal employee benefits or cut benefits, lawmakers need to hear from their constituents. Email your Representative and Senators. The proposals under consideration go after civil service protections by making any newly hired federal workers choose between “at will” employment and paying a lower FERS contribution rate or retaining merit system rights and paying a higher FERS contribution rate. Merit system rights are not merely protections for federal workers, they protect Americans by providing accountable and professional management of government that works for the American public, not partisan causes and not corrupt private interests. Tell Congress to oppose any cuts or “reforms” to earned federal employment benefits, including changes to the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) and Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHB), as a cost offset for budget reconciliation legislation. Learn more here… https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-hands-off-federal-employees-retirement-benefits-and-merit-system-protections/
Public Relations and Communications
This week’s news clips featured a round-up of town hall meetings held in Congressional Districts across the country. Ever since the Musk/DOGE assault on the civil service began, some members of Congress have had the choice of facing angry constituents or hiding from them. Some of the highlights of this round-up include:
Michigan: Empty Chairs
Michigan Advance
Some members of the public expressed frustration at Barrett’s absence, arguing that he was not doing his job as a representative of the people. “We’re the ones paying their salaries; they live off our taxes, so they should represent us. But as you can see, he isn’t here. That’s just wrong,” said Lorenzo Lopez, a Lansing activist and resident.
Florida: More Empty Chairs
The Guardian
Another voter, a resident of Levy county, said at the town hall they are concerned about cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the county is still recovering from Hurricane Helene last year. “We are still rebuilding,” they said. “I need you to represent us, not Trump.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/29/empty-chair-town-hall-republicans-florida
New York: Constituents Dragged Out of Chairs
Rolling Stone
Emily Feiner of Nyack was forcibly removed by New York State Police. “I’m not leaving,” she said. “You are taking on an old Jewish woman.” A police officer lifted her out of her seat by her armpits. She held up peace signs as two police officers carried her away. The audience chanted “Let her stay!” and “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and stood up and booed as she was removed.
IFPTE Local 400 