Newly inaugurated President Trump promptly signed dozens of executive orders. As expected, these documents include labor policies intending to be friendlier toward businesses in the short term. Yet the larger picture could stir worker unease, leading to third-party intervention.
Two of Trump’s orders carry the potential to influence the private sector on labor issues that will surely encourage union interference:
A Sweeping Revocation Of The Equal Employment Opportunity Order: Trump revoked the EEO executive order 11246, signed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, in favor of a “merit-based” plan within the federal government. This move dismantles federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs (DEI) favored by Joe Biden and which Trump characterized as encouraging discrimination against non-minority workers. Current federal DEI staffers have been placed on paid leave and will soon be laid off.
This Trump executive order goes even further in Sec. 4, in which the president calls upon agency heads to work with the Justice Department in pinpointing private sector companies for “potential civil compliance investigations” if they engage in DEI hiring or training practices that go against Trump’s new guidelines.
A Wide-Reaching Return-To-Office Policy: This succinct executive order calls for agencies to “terminate remote work” in favor of full-time “in-person work” by federal employees. This objective coincides with an ongoing push by several large corporations efforts to get employees to return to the office, rolling back hybrid schedules in favor of 5-day RTO, a move that critics view as “soft layoffs” that encourage workers to resign.
Already in the private sector, the Great RTO Experiment has been met with worker anxiety, which can propel them into “protected concerted activities” under the NLRA concerning essential terms and conditions of employment.
So, it’s no surprise Big Labor was ready for a Trump RTO order and turned to the courts. The National Treasury Employees Union, representing IRS and DHS workers, already filed a lawsuit over Trump’s removal of federal job protections. The National Federation Of Federal Employees also predicted a less efficient government due to the RTO mandate.
More food for thought: the American Federation of Government Employees recently won remote work provisions in their union contract, which led to hybrid schedules for the Social Security Administration employees. The Alphabet Workers Union achieved the same result, raising questions about Google’s federal contractor status and compliance with the RTO order and how the company, workers, and the union will respond.
Most assuredly, unions will ramp up RTO-based organizing after Trump’s order suggested that it might reach into and influence private companies. More on this next week.
Conclusion: These are sensitive topics that put many workers on edge. This underscores the need for companies to balance workers’ worries and the need for transparency regarding how Trump’s orders could affect their businesses. Legal challenges to the orders will also persist, and employers will do well to tread carefully. After all, if workers don’t feel as though their employers are listening, unions will be waiting in the wings.
