On April 23, 2025, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a notice in the Federal Register (90 Fed.Reg. 17052-17053), reinstating collective bargaining rights for limited groups of DoD employees.
As previously analyzed in this blog, the Administration has been taking steps to strip union collective bargaining protections for large portions of the executive branch. Under that initiative, the Secretary of Defense was given discretion to exclude certain portions of their agencies from the executive order (thus reinstating their collective bargaining rights). The Department of Veterans Affairs was authorized to issue a similar notice, as previously discussed in this blog.
In its notice (issued, according to its text, on April 17, 2025), DoD reinstated collective bargaining rights for “federal wage system employees in the trades” at the following four facilities:
- Letterkenny Munition Center, US Army Aviation and Missile Command, United States Army;
- Air Force Test Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Department of Air Force;
- Air Force Sustainment Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Department of Air Force; and
- Fleet Readiness Center Southeast.
As OPM explains, the Federal Wage System covers “Federal appropriated fund and nonappropriated fund blue-collar employees who are paid by the hour.” DoD provided no explanation for why it exempted these specific locations, as opposed to other facilities, were permitted reinstatement of collective bargaining rights—or why the reinstatement was limited to just Federal Wage System employees and not extended to General Schedule or other civilian employees.
If you are a federal employee or federal sector union and wish to discuss your rights in this situation, consider contacting Gilbert Employment Law to request an initial consultation.