Public sector unions have long been an affront to democratic accountability at all levels of government, and President Donald Trump’s executive order issued Thursday ending collective bargaining privileges for most federal agencies brings welcome focus to the issue. Whether or not all elements of Trump’s order will stand up in federal court is a different matter, and Congress should help Trump end government union collective bargaining with fresh legislation.
When President Franklin Roosevelt first signed the Wagner Act, creating collective bargaining rights for private sector workers, he explained why these could not apply to government workers. “All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service,” Roosevelt said. “It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with government employee organizations.”