WASHINGTON — Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s Executive Order ending collective bargaining rights for approximately 700,000 federal workers:
“As America’s largest transportation labor federation representing thousands of federal workers, we condemn this blatant attack on the bargaining rights of civil servants across more than two dozen federal agencies.
“Collective bargaining is an American ideal, built over generations, that allows working people to have a voice regarding their terms of employment. The federal workers who keep this country moving and keep Americans safe should not be used as pawns in a political game.
“Federal employees already abide by strict collective bargaining terms, and forfeit many of the rights that private sector employees maintain, including wage and benefit negotiations and the right to strike. The Trump Administration’s actions leave these workers powerless to employer retaliation and unfair labor practices.
“While today it is federal union workers who are harmed, there is no telling what this precedent could mean for every American worker. Labor is in this fight together, and we will stand strong behind the hundreds of thousands of public employees and veterans who serve our nation.”
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