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LAWSUIT CHALLENGE HAS BEEN FILED

More than 20 union affiliates from AFGE and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) sued the Department of Defense and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week challenging the unlawful termination of union contracts covering tens of thousands of DoD civilian employees.

In the lawsuit, the unions argue that Hegseth’s actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act in multiple ways. In particular, the memo and the contract terminations that followed were not based on reasoned decision making required by law and misinterpreted the executive order they were purportedly based on. Here is the Article on AFGE National.

NFFE and AFGE Affiliates Due Defense Department over Illegal Termination of Employee’s Union Rights. “For decades, workers at the Department of Defense have had the right to unionize, and employees exercising that right has never been detrimental to U.S. national security,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “The Trump administration unilaterally and illegally stripping collective bargaining rights from DoD workers only serves to weaken morale, harm recruitment and retention, and reduce accountability – jeopardizing our national security and the critical mission of the agency.”

Unions sue DoD over termination of collective bargaining agreements. President Trump’s executive order last year eliminated the collective bargaining rights for over 1.5 million federal employees, including a large swath of DoD civilian employees. It was single-handedly the hottest and most aggressive anti-union action taken by a president in U.S. history,” Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) said.

Recent CBA Revocation

AFGE’s representation of our members has never relied solely on union contracts. We fight for members in the halls of Congress and in the courts, we represent employees facing discrimination or retaliation at the workplace, and we advocate for workers in the press and through grassroots community outreach. Please contact the Union office (afge1658@comcast.net) or any of our representatives if you receive notification from your Agency you don’t understand. If you are a dues-paying member, we continue to be here to assist! We will continue to post updates to this website under the Contracts Suspended link on the right.

Unity is our greatest strength. We will continue to demand accountability and protect the jobs of those who serve.

Catch Up on Union Business!

If you miss any Membership Meeting, you can CLICK HERE to see the agenda and all documents discussed. DO NOT view these documents on GFE. Ensure that you receive these meeting notifications by verifying your personal email address with Echo Hunt (echo.hunt@afge1658.org)

Your Union is working to protect your rights and we have been successful in blocking several of the Executive Orders (EOs) that were meant to silence our voices. Don’t feel hopeless, contact your representative to voice your support for AFGE 1658! Call your friends who live in Republican-controlled States and have them contact their representatives! We must join together and work in solidarity. For more details, click here!

Community Movements Are Powerful! Click Here to view AFGE actions you can participate in.

Recent News

Injunction Filed to Restore Bargaining Rights

A pair of federal employee unions on Monday urged a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction restoring their collective bargaining agreements with the Defense Department, arguing that Secretary Pete Hegseth failed to follow the Trump administration’s own process for implementing two executive orders banning organized labor at most federal agencies. ...

Republicans Vote Stopgap Spending

The Republicans are working overtime to get a bill passed that would place employees in a "perpetual CR" while budget negotiations take place. This measure is supported by AFGE but reeks of desperation on the part of Republicans to avoid a shutdown so close to midterms ...

Expanding Paid Leave

The Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act, introduced by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., would grant federal employees up to 12 weeks of paid family leave each year to attend to a serious health condition or to care for a spouse, child or parent. ...

Republics fighting AGAINST pay raises & bargaining rights!

Republican appropriators in the House last week thwarted efforts by their Democratic colleagues to override President Trump’s apparent plan to freeze civilian federal employees’ pay next year and restore civil service and workplace protections currently on the chopping block. Read the full article here ...

Contracts Suspended

In Executive Order 14251, the President exercised authority under 5 U.S.C. § 7103(b)(1) to determine that, with limited exceptions, the DoD has a primary function involving intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work and the labor statute cannot be applied due to national security requirements. On April 9, 2026, Secretary ...