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Washington D.C. – Employees at the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management will be represented by the National Treasury Employees Union following the results of a union election announced this week. 

The employees voted 116-20 for NTEU to be their exclusive representative, according to election results collected by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. 

“We congratulate the frontline federal employees of the Bureau of Land Management’s national headquarters who voted overwhelmingly to be represented by NTEU,” said National President Tony Reardon. “We look forward to helping these dedicated civil servants improve their workplace and become stronger advocates for the resources they need to accomplish their important missions.” 

The new bargaining unit is made up of about 200 non-supervisory employees who are assigned to headquarters and work in Washington as well as various BLM offices around the country. It will become the second NTEU chapter within BLM, joining employees in Santa Fe, N.M., who organized in 2020 and are in the process of negotiating their first collective bargaining agreement. 

Reardon said the unilateral decision by the previous administration to relocate hundreds of BLM employees was unsettling because workers were forced to choose between uprooting their families or losing their jobs. The relocation – since reversed by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland -- was one of several factors that influenced the BLM organizing effort. 

“This organic, employee-driven approach is the reason for the growing labor movement in this country,” Reardon said. “Whether you are public or private sector, workers know they are stronger together. At NTEU, we have an 84-year history of giving federal employees a voice in the workplace and we welcome BLM into our union.” 

NTEU represents about 150,000 employees in 34 federal agencies and offices.