SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Environmental Protection Agency building in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
With New 'Imposed Contract,' Trump's EPA Tries to Neuter Worker Rights
Agency announces new collective bargaining agreement—which was not agreed upon
Jun 26, 2019
The Trump administration continued its attacks on federal workers this week with a new "agreement" that would kneecap the power of unions representing EPA employees.
The development, as watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) noted Wednesday, is a new "Master Collective Bargaining Agreement" between the federal agency and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). Far from an agreement, said PEER, the document is really an "edict."
It was not the result of negotiations.
"In the Trump world, there is no bargaining, only ultimatums," said PEER executive director Tim Whitehouse, a former EPA enforcement attorney.
\u201cBREAKING: The administration has unilaterally suspended numerous powers & prerogatives exercised by unions representing @epa employees which would dramatically reduce the type & level of assistance that unions can extend to rank-and-file workers. @PEERorg https://t.co/mp1dnigt8g\u201d— Environmental Protection Network (@Environmental Protection Network) 1561564312
EPA attorney Robert Coomber announced (pdf) the change in an email to employees on Monday, in which he said the new document was handed down because AFGE wanted to limit the number of potential changes to the existing agreement. The new, non-negotiated agreement, said Coomber, will be effective starting July 8, 2019.
The 75-page agreement (pdf) lays out a number of changes that would limit the union's ability to help employees. As noted by PEER, the new terms would, among other things, require the union to vacate its office space; deprive employees of union grievance and arbitration for terminations, discipline, lay-offs, and a host of other adverse actions; slash the amount and scope of time union officials could spend assisting employees; and deprive union access to websites, agency intranet, and even bulletin boards in communicating with its members.
"Not only is the Trump White House waging war on environmental protection, rolling back regulations, and gutting enforcement, but is targeting the dedicated professionals laboring through very difficult circumstances within EPA," said PEER Pacific director Jeff Ruch.
Government Executive noted in its reporting Wednesday on the new agreement that it "would change EPA's performance assessment for bargaining unit employees, making it easier to place them on a performance improvement plan and subsequently fire them." It also follows a pattern within the Trump administration, the outlet said. "Representatives of employees at the departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs are all fighting their agencies' efforts to curtail negotiations or otherwise limit unions' power," it noted.
Trump issued executive orders last year attempting to similarly curtail power by unions representing federal employees, but that effort was largely blocked by a federal court.
"Now," Nicole Cantello, union president of AFGE Local 704, told Common Dreams, "the administration, through EPA management, is attempting again to implement key portions of these destructively ambitious executive orders through the collective bargaining process in an imposed contract."
But Cantello is hoping this renewed effort by Trump won't come to fruition.
"We are committed to fighting this imposed contract," she said, "and taking next steps that will prove our hard-won rights can not be swept away."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The Trump administration continued its attacks on federal workers this week with a new "agreement" that would kneecap the power of unions representing EPA employees.
The development, as watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) noted Wednesday, is a new "Master Collective Bargaining Agreement" between the federal agency and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). Far from an agreement, said PEER, the document is really an "edict."
It was not the result of negotiations.
"In the Trump world, there is no bargaining, only ultimatums," said PEER executive director Tim Whitehouse, a former EPA enforcement attorney.
\u201cBREAKING: The administration has unilaterally suspended numerous powers & prerogatives exercised by unions representing @epa employees which would dramatically reduce the type & level of assistance that unions can extend to rank-and-file workers. @PEERorg https://t.co/mp1dnigt8g\u201d— Environmental Protection Network (@Environmental Protection Network) 1561564312
EPA attorney Robert Coomber announced (pdf) the change in an email to employees on Monday, in which he said the new document was handed down because AFGE wanted to limit the number of potential changes to the existing agreement. The new, non-negotiated agreement, said Coomber, will be effective starting July 8, 2019.
The 75-page agreement (pdf) lays out a number of changes that would limit the union's ability to help employees. As noted by PEER, the new terms would, among other things, require the union to vacate its office space; deprive employees of union grievance and arbitration for terminations, discipline, lay-offs, and a host of other adverse actions; slash the amount and scope of time union officials could spend assisting employees; and deprive union access to websites, agency intranet, and even bulletin boards in communicating with its members.
"Not only is the Trump White House waging war on environmental protection, rolling back regulations, and gutting enforcement, but is targeting the dedicated professionals laboring through very difficult circumstances within EPA," said PEER Pacific director Jeff Ruch.
Government Executive noted in its reporting Wednesday on the new agreement that it "would change EPA's performance assessment for bargaining unit employees, making it easier to place them on a performance improvement plan and subsequently fire them." It also follows a pattern within the Trump administration, the outlet said. "Representatives of employees at the departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs are all fighting their agencies' efforts to curtail negotiations or otherwise limit unions' power," it noted.
Trump issued executive orders last year attempting to similarly curtail power by unions representing federal employees, but that effort was largely blocked by a federal court.
"Now," Nicole Cantello, union president of AFGE Local 704, told Common Dreams, "the administration, through EPA management, is attempting again to implement key portions of these destructively ambitious executive orders through the collective bargaining process in an imposed contract."
But Cantello is hoping this renewed effort by Trump won't come to fruition.
"We are committed to fighting this imposed contract," she said, "and taking next steps that will prove our hard-won rights can not be swept away."
The Trump administration continued its attacks on federal workers this week with a new "agreement" that would kneecap the power of unions representing EPA employees.
The development, as watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) noted Wednesday, is a new "Master Collective Bargaining Agreement" between the federal agency and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). Far from an agreement, said PEER, the document is really an "edict."
It was not the result of negotiations.
"In the Trump world, there is no bargaining, only ultimatums," said PEER executive director Tim Whitehouse, a former EPA enforcement attorney.
\u201cBREAKING: The administration has unilaterally suspended numerous powers & prerogatives exercised by unions representing @epa employees which would dramatically reduce the type & level of assistance that unions can extend to rank-and-file workers. @PEERorg https://t.co/mp1dnigt8g\u201d— Environmental Protection Network (@Environmental Protection Network) 1561564312
EPA attorney Robert Coomber announced (pdf) the change in an email to employees on Monday, in which he said the new document was handed down because AFGE wanted to limit the number of potential changes to the existing agreement. The new, non-negotiated agreement, said Coomber, will be effective starting July 8, 2019.
The 75-page agreement (pdf) lays out a number of changes that would limit the union's ability to help employees. As noted by PEER, the new terms would, among other things, require the union to vacate its office space; deprive employees of union grievance and arbitration for terminations, discipline, lay-offs, and a host of other adverse actions; slash the amount and scope of time union officials could spend assisting employees; and deprive union access to websites, agency intranet, and even bulletin boards in communicating with its members.
"Not only is the Trump White House waging war on environmental protection, rolling back regulations, and gutting enforcement, but is targeting the dedicated professionals laboring through very difficult circumstances within EPA," said PEER Pacific director Jeff Ruch.
Government Executive noted in its reporting Wednesday on the new agreement that it "would change EPA's performance assessment for bargaining unit employees, making it easier to place them on a performance improvement plan and subsequently fire them." It also follows a pattern within the Trump administration, the outlet said. "Representatives of employees at the departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs are all fighting their agencies' efforts to curtail negotiations or otherwise limit unions' power," it noted.
Trump issued executive orders last year attempting to similarly curtail power by unions representing federal employees, but that effort was largely blocked by a federal court.
"Now," Nicole Cantello, union president of AFGE Local 704, told Common Dreams, "the administration, through EPA management, is attempting again to implement key portions of these destructively ambitious executive orders through the collective bargaining process in an imposed contract."
But Cantello is hoping this renewed effort by Trump won't come to fruition.
"We are committed to fighting this imposed contract," she said, "and taking next steps that will prove our hard-won rights can not be swept away."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.