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Washington, D.C. – Three executive orders that unlawfully strip federal employees of the right to bargain and risk turning the professional, merit-based U.S. civil service into a minefield of patronage will be challenged in court today by the National Treasury Employees Union and other federal sector unions.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will hear the unions’ arguments at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Washington D.C.

Also today, NTEU National President Tony Reardon will join federal employees in a union rally near the courthouse at John Marshall Park, 400 Constitution Ave. NW. Reardon is expected to speak at about 1:05 p.m.

“We look forward to defending the requirements placed on federal agencies under the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA). It is our strong belief that portions of the executive orders are in direct conflict with federal law and cannot stand,” Reardon said. “The EOs dismantle federal employees’ basic workplace rights, their ability to protect each other from unfair treatment and their fundamental ability to bargain collectively.”

The CSRA has guided federal labor-management relations for 40 years.

NTEU and other federal unions sued the government challenging certain provisions of the three anti-employee executive orders President Trump signed May 25. The judge consolidated the various cases and put them on an appropriately fast track.

“Despite what the government may argue, these executive orders are already poisoning labor-management relations at many federal agencies, disrupting federal workplaces and interfering with our statutory role to represent frontline employees,” Reardon said. “Federal agencies operate best when employees, represented by their elected co-workers, can collaborate with management to address workplace issues in a cost-effective manner.  Employees deserve to work in an environment where the merit principles matter and taxpayers have a right to government services delivered by professional public servants who were hired based on their skills, not their personal beliefs or connections.”

Congress, through the CSRA, specifically requires that government agencies bargain in good faith with their employees for contracts that give them the ability to have a meaningful voice in the workplace. The executive orders make a mockery of that process.

“Weakening the voice and rights of federal employees only strengthens the special interests who want federal agencies to serve them and their specific agendas rather than the general public,” Reardon said. “Our nation runs better with a professional, respected civil service that rises above the politics of the moment to secure the nation, protect public health and safety and ensure the economy works fairly for all over the long-term.”

NTEU represents 150,000 employees at 32 federal agencies and departments.