Congress Urged to Block Memo on Defense Department Bargaining

Unions that represent employees at the Department of Defense want Congress to challenge a presidential memo giving the defense secretary the power to end collective bargaining at DOD agencies.

They’re also concerned that the reasoning behind the memo from President Donald Trump published Friday also could be applied to private-sector workers in defense-related jobs.

The defense secretary can end collective bargaining at DOD agencies where it’s necessary for national security reasons, the memo from Trump says. Though the memo by itself doesn’t end collective bargaining at DOD agencies, it gives the department the ability to do so when its chief ...