Golden pushes for vote on bill to restore federal union rights

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(The Center Square) — Mainers' representation in the U.S. House wants action restoring union rights for federal workers, and now.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden leads a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers seeking to force a vote on a bill to repeal a presidential order blocking organized labor benefits for government employees. 

Golden took to the House floor on Tuesday to demand that House Speaker Mike Johnson, holding an up-or-down vote on his Protect America’s Workforce Act that would repeal an executive order signed by Republican President Donald Trump that made huge swaths of the federal workforce exempt from collective bargaining laws. 

“This bill’s cosponsors, Democrats and Republicans alike, know that collective bargaining brings fairness, dignity and respect to the workplace," Golden said in remarks on the House floor Tuesday. "They also know that without these rights, federal workers are more vulnerable to unfair treatment and political interference." 

In July, Golden and co-sponsor Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, initiated a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill before the end of the session. Last month, the discharge petition received its 218th signature, according to Golden's office, clearing the threshold needed to bring the bill up for a vote over the Speaker's objections. 

"I’m calling on Speaker Johnson to hold a clean, up-or-down vote on the Protect America’s Workforce Act, so that Congress can show workers that we’ve got their backs," Golden said in Tuesday's remarks.

Under House rules, the speaker has two legislative days to hold a vote on the motion to discharge the bill. If the motion is successful, the House will consider the bill in an up or down vote.

Other signatories to the discharge petition include New York Republican Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota 

In March, Trump signed an executive order that exempted more than a dozen federal agencies from obligations to bargain with unions, including the Departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, and Health and Human Services. A group of six labor unions sued to block the order, which was temporarily blocked before a federal appeals court allowed the Trump administration to implement the plan. 

Golden said his bill would repeal Trump's order outright, "and guarantee that the federal government honors any union contract in place at the time it was made."

Even before Trump's order, federal workers’ bargaining rights were limited, Golden and other lawmakers said. Unlike private-sector unions, federal employees cannot bargain collectively over wages, benefits or classifications, nor can they strike under existing law. Their bargaining rights are limited to conditions of employment.

Union leaders were among those praising the bipartisan group of lawmakers for pushing legislative leaders to hold a vote on the measure. 

"Working people built a bipartisan coalition to restore union rights to federal workers in the face of unprecedented attacks on our freedoms and livelihoods," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. "Now it’s time for a clean, standalone vote so the House of Representatives can show the country it will defend workers' fundamental rights on the job."