Appeals Court Allows Trump Order That Ends Union Protections for Federal Workers

A federal appeals court on Friday allowed President Trump to move forward with an order instructing a broad swath of government agencies to end collective bargaining with federal unions.

The ruling authorizes a component of Mr. Trump’s sweeping effort to assert more control over the federal work force to move forward, for now, while the case plays out in court.

It is unclear what immediate effect the ruling will have: The appeals court noted that the affected agencies had been directed to refrain from ending any collective bargaining agreement until “litigation has concluded,” but also noted that Mr. Trump was now free to follow through with the order at his discretion.

Mr. Trump had framed his order stripping workers of labor protections as critical to protect national security. But the plaintiffs — a group of affected unions representing over a million federal workers — argued in a lawsuit that the order was a form of retaliation against those unions that have participated in a barrage of lawsuits opposing Mr. Trump’s policies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/us/politics/collective-bargaining-ninth-circuit.html