Maine labor officials are raising concern about an executive order signed late last week by President Donald Trump that eliminates collective bargaining rights for federal workers involved with national security agencies, including those at the Togus Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Bath Iron Works.
The order comes among a barrage of other executive orders and firings of federal employees by the Trump administration. Last month, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs fired, then re-hired, seven of the Togus VA’s staff. Federal funding for many Maine government programs has also been threatened.
Andy O’Brien, a spokesperson for Maine AFL-CIO, said the executive order would essentially “shred union contracts” for thousands of workers in Maine. He added that about a third of them are veterans.
“We see this as a full on assault on our rights, and we’re banding together and we’re fighting back against it. It’s totally illegal and it’s unacceptable,” O’Brien said.
Rep. Jaren Golden of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District has also opposed the order and said he will introduce legislation to reverse it.
The order claims that the agencies affected were “determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work,” and therefore will no longer benefit from labor union rights and the right to organize and participate in collective bargaining.
O’Brien said this could threaten achievements that federal workers in Maine have made through collective bargaining in the last several years, including workplace safety and wages that are competitive with the private sector.
“If you work in a shipyard, there’s a lot of dangerous machinery and chemicals and things that you’re working around,” O’Brien said. “And the major reason why, if you go way back, to why workers in shipyards in Maine organized in the first place was over workplace safety.”
At Bath Iron Works, the order would only affect the federal employees who work at SUPSHIP Bath, which oversees the design and construction of ships at BIW, O’Brien said. The order would not apply to the majority of BIW workers who are employed by General Dynamics.
On Wednesday, union members are planning on wearing red to work to show their solidarity with the affected federal workers, O’Brien said.
The executive order will also affect workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. Alana Schaeffer, president of the Metal Trades Council, said in a press release from Maine AFL-CIO that the Portsmouth Metal Trades Council is opposed to the executive order.
“The direct assault on dedicated public servants by stripping these rights is grossly undermining the essential role that labor unions play in advocating for employees and protecting them from unfair and inequitable treatment,” she said in the release.
A spokesperson for the Bath Iron Works union, Local S6, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
