Trump's Trials - Trump targets fed worker unions -- but only some of them

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

The Trump administration has begun terminating its collective bargaining agreements with federal employee unions, despite multiple lawsuits challenging the move. Unions are fighting back. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports. Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's Terms from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. We're going to be doing all sorts of things. Nobody ever thought was even possible. President Trump has brought back string to the White House. We can't just ignore the president's desires. This will be an entirely different country in a short period of time. Every episode of Trump's terms, we bring you NPR's latest coverage of the 47th president.

With a focus on actions and policies he is pursuing on his own terms and in the process, taking the presidency into uncharted territory. Today's story starts right after this. There is so much happening in politics in any given week. You might need help putting it all in perspective. As your week draws to a close, join the NPR Politics Podcast team for our weekly roundup. Here are best political reporters zoom into the biggest stories of the week. Not just what they mean, but what they mean for you, all in under 30 minutes. Listen to the weekly roundup every Friday on the NPR Politics podcast.

I'm Jesse Thorne. On Bullseye, we'll talk with Eugenio Derbez. Did you know that he voices donkey in Shrek? In the Spanish language, Shrek. I feel that the donkeys are Mexican, basically. So it sounds more Mexican in Spanish. Derbez. One of the most famous people in Mexico. It's on Bolzai for Maximumfund.org and NPR. I'm Michelle Martin. Labor Day approaching unions representing federal workers are in a fight for survival. On Thursday, President Trump issued a new executive order, stripping additional federal workers of their union rights, including workers at NASA and the National Weather Service.

This comes after other agencies, including HHS and the VA, have terminated union contracts. President Trump says it's necessary to protect national security. The unions contend it's about something else. NPR's Andrea Shue reports. Early this month, Sharda Fornerino got the news. The Department of Veterans Affairs was ending nearly all of its collective bargaining agreements. Those are contracts that spell out things like disciplinary procedures, parental leave policies, how overtime is managed, and much more.

Not only are those agreements now void, the unions were told to clear out of federal buildings. We went in on the weekend and we emptied our office space. Fornerino works at the Denver VA. She's an outpatient surgery nurse and the hospital nurse. local director for the union National Nurses United. Since the 1960s, federal employees have had the right to join unions and collectively bargain over working conditions. The idea is that giving workers a say in workplace policies leads to more effective government. As a union rep, Fornerino has spent time advocating for things like training for nurses who are floated to different

departments and enhanced safety on the job. We were able to put in some protections at their nursing station, increase VA police presence in both the emergency room and the site unit. Which, she says, benefits both the nurses and the veterans they serve. But the VA sees it differently. The agency noted that last year, employees like Fornerino spent 750,000 hours of taxpayer-funded time on union activities. In a press release, the VA said, quote, those hours can now be used to serve veterans instead of union bosses. Fornerino scoffed at that suggestion. I think that's just, truly, I feel like that's kind of propaganda.

Behind all of this is Trump's executive order, ending collective bargaining rights at agencies, he says, have national security as a primary function. The president's rationale is that it hurts national security when unions are able to obstruct management. But the executive order doesn't apply to all federal employee unions. It targets those that have challenged him in court over things like mass layoffs and leaves unions that support him alone.

That includes unions representing law enforcement as well as customs and border protection employees, even though they're the first line of defense against terrorism in the United States. Cole Gandy doesn't work for customs and border protection. Gandy works at the Agriculture Department and leads a union that just lost its contract there. But Gandy's day job is working with customs and border protection inspectors. training them on how to stop pests from entering the country. They have to know how to find the bugs, how to collect them, how to submit them for identification to somebody else. That somebody else being an agriculture employee who no longer has union rights.

Gandhi's union and others have pointed out these inconsistencies in multiple lawsuits. They've been trying to convince the courts that Trump's attack on unions has nothing to do with national security, that it's retaliation pure and simple. But two appeals courts have so far ruled that Trump can move forward while litigation continues. Judges cited his unique responsibility for safeguarding national security. Gandhi has tried to assure members this isn't the end. We're going to fight to be a union until we can't anymore. But across the federal government, some workers aren't waiting around to see what happens.

They're quitting now, having decided a government job just isn't worth it. anymore. Andrea Shue and PR News. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and, of course, who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.com. I'm Scott Detrow.

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