Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick and Jared Golden have introduced the Protect America’s Workforce Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at restoring collective bargaining rights for federal workers impacted by an existing executive order. This legislative move seeks to annul the Executive Order titled “Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs,” which curtailed collective bargaining rights in numerous federal agencies, affecting about 67% of the federal workforce.
Rep. Fitzpatrick highlighted the importance of collective bargaining in maintaining government efficiency, stating, “Improving government efficiency is essential—but sweeping exclusions from collective bargaining are a blunt instrument that risk weakening the very stability and performance we aim to strengthen. The Protect America’s Workforce Act restores a balanced, targeted approach—protecting bargaining rights where they pose no threat to national security and reinforcing their proven role in supporting morale, accountability, and effective governance.”
Adding to the discourse, Rep. Golden contested the link between national security and workers’ rights: “In his order, President Trump said that federal workers’ rights are incompatible with national security. He is wrong. Union workers make America stronger every single day, including more than 6,000 federal workers in Maine.”
The AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler also condemned the existing executive order, asserting, “Donald Trump is trying to end collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, silencing their voices and ripping up their contracts.” She praised Reps. Golden and Fitzpatrick’s efforts in Congress to overturn the directive.
The Protect America’s Workforce Act has garnered support from major unions such as the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, and the National Treasury Employees Union, among others. Despite restrictions faced by federal workers, notably, a significant portion of unionized employees are U.S. military veterans, and they are limited to bargaining only over working conditions, not wages, benefits, or job classifications.
The bill reinforces the principle that the government must respect the rights of those it employs, aligning with democratic ideals of supporting the workforce.
