Some Resources on the Federal Sector

As many of you are aware, the Trump administration has taken a number of actions that affect federal sector employees and agencies that support other industries, like the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the National Labor Relations Board.

I am not going to use this newsletter to delve into the political issues at this time. However, I wanted to share some information that might be useful to you to help understand where things stand on these issues.

First, my colleague Marty Malin has written a very helpful article called, Can They Do That? A Rough Primer on Federal Civil Service Appeal Procedures which provides context on the federal civil service and how affected employees can appeal their dismissals.

Second, Just Security is maintaining a Litigation Tracker that provides daily updates about all of the legal challenges to the Trump administration’s and DOGE’s actions affecting, among others, federal sector workers.

Finally, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is keeping the public abreast of its work as it reviews the Executive Order affecting it’s operations. FMCS Statement on the Executive Order “Continuing the Reduction of The Federal Bureaucracy.

If your collective bargaining agreements require FMCS panels, they are unaffected at this time. However, FMCS has indicated that they cannot provide “custom” panels - those not generated by computer - until at least April 7. They have also cancelled some educational and professional trainings while they review their statutorily-mandated mission.

In the future, I may have additional recommendations about this matter. For example, at some point it may be valuable to reach out to members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the members of House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee. Several organizations are considering messages to share with lawmakers and I will keep you apprised.

Please let me know if you have any questions about arbitration!