CFA Opposes Executive Order Aimed at Eliminating Collective Bargaining

Dear Colleagues,

Last Thursday, the Trump administration issued an executive order that aims to revoke collective bargaining rights from 18 government agencies. If successful, the order would eliminate nearly 70 percent of the federal workforce’s ability to negotiate better wages and fair, accessible, and inclusive working conditions.

This is only the latest escalation in Trump’s ongoing assault on unions. His administration has already sought to reduce the federal workforce by firing tens of thousands of probationary federal employees.

Unions are the backbone of democracy. A strong, unionized workforce is essential to ensuring a fair and equitable workplace, as well as healthier, more just communities. Any attempt to attack worker solidarity is an attack on democracy. It is an attempt to weaken labor’s influence on workers’ daily lives. It’s a tactic to move power into the hands of corporations rather than the people.

The Trump administration’s attempt to undo labor’s hard work to uplift families and those in underrepresented spaces is an attempt to erase the histories of the very people who sustain our nation.

Trump’s retributive behavior doesn’t stop with federal employees. It extends to marginalized communities, including immigrants, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, Muslims, and free speech advocates who have already had their lives upended by his rhetoric and past policies.

As a union committed to advocating on behalf of all communities and ensuring that everyone is represented and empowered, we strongly denounce these harmful actions and will resist any attempts to dismantle unions.

The Freedom Foundation, a front group for the wealthy elite, has been using their affluence to dismantle public sector employees like ours and replace them with privatized contractors from big corporations. They recently released a statement citing their support for Trump’s executive order to end collective bargaining with federal unions.

Funded by billionaires like Charles Koch, the Freedom Foundation has—on so many occasions—tried to destroy public services and public education for their own profit. While they pretend to be on the side of workers, their true goal is to sow division, distracting us from the real issue at hand: an attack on public services and the livelihood of hard-working families.

Their goal has never been to uplift workers, but to tear away at the fabric of our collective strength.

We want to be clear that this is not a partisan issue—it is a matter of great importance to anyone who cares deeply about their families, students, colleagues, and the well-being of their communities. If we want to see each other succeed, we must hold strong together. This is why we strongly encourage you to activate your membership here if you are not yet a member and join us in supporting one another’s efforts.

We are urging you, in these exceptional times, to call your member of Congress now. Let them know you are a proud union member who is fiercely opposed to this executive order and any other effort that seeks to diminish the power of workers.

Your unwavering support is crucial in defending the strength of our union and the future of working people everywhere. An injury to one is an injury to all.

Make a call to Congress today.

In solidarity,

CFA Officers

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