WGA East Slams Trump Executive Order To End Collective Bargaining For Many Federal Workers: “Assault On The Entire Labor Movement”

The Writers Guild of America East pulled no punches today in decrying Donald Trump‘s executive order to strip many workers of their right to unionize, calling Thursday’s move an “illegal attack on roughly 700,000 federal workers and their unions is an assault on the entire labor movement and all American workers.”

“It’s not surprising that the billionaires in the Trump Administration hate unions,” WGAE Executive Director Sam Wheeler said in the statement (read it in full below). “Unions are a bulwark against tyranny, both in the workplace and in civil society.”

The guild was responding to an EO Trump signed late Thursday night (read it here), which ends collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions. Police and firefighters can continue the practice, Trump’s order seems to apply to most U.S. government jobs. 

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler also blasted the move, saying in a statement: “It’s clear that this order is punishment for unions who are leading the fight against the administration’s illegal actions in court — and a blatant attempt to silence us. We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being.”

Actors’ Equity Association always issued a statement Friday, saying: “Donald Trump has now taken direct aim at working people by attacking the collective bargaining rights of our federal workforce in what’s being called the largest union-busting act of our lifetime, if not in history.

“The workers targeted by this executive order are not only the indispensable pulse that keeps our country running, they are our friends, neighbors and colleagues. They’ve been on the front line of protecting our democracy, and their lawsuits against this administration have placed them in the crosshairs of political retribution.

“This attack on workers is at its heart an escalation of the president’s attacks on free speech. These attacks aren’t going to stop federal workers, just as they aren’t going to stop Equity members or any other Americans who believe in the democratic values that our country – and our unions – are founded on. Equity joins workers across the labor movement in solidarity against this abuse of power, and we will continue to stand together to protect the rights of workers.”

The White House Press Office defended the EO. “Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,” it said, adding that the president “refuses to let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests.”

Here is WGAE chief Wheeler’s statement in full:

Last night President Trump issued an unlawful Executive Order purporting to strip nearly two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights. This illegal attack on roughly 700,000 federal workers and their unions is an assault on the entire labor movement and all American workers.

It’s not surprising that the billionaires in the Trump Administration hate unions. Unions are a bulwark against tyranny, both in the workplace and in civil society. Right now, federal union members are defending the American people from Elon Musk’s reckless and unconstitutional dismantling of the federal government. And we know that these occurrences won’t stop with federal unions—the anti-union zealots in the Administration want every worker in America weak, isolated, disposable and at the mercy of their boss.

The WGAE stands ready to join with our sibling unions and the broader labor movement to resist this attack on working people. We must stand together.

 Writers Guild of America East Executive Director Sam Wheeler