WASHINGTON — Federal employees at the Internal Revenue Service have lost their union representation after the Treasury Department canceled their collective bargaining agreement Friday, marking a significant step in President Donald Trump’s effort to reshape the federal government workforce.
The Treasury Department also ended the union contract for Bureau of the Fiscal Service employees earlier this week, according to two sources with knowledge of the decision who requested anonymity since they weren’t permitted to discuss the matter publicly.
Both the IRS and the fiscal service bureau, which handles government payment processing, have employees represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. Agency officials notified these workers that Treasury had dissolved their collective bargaining agreements, citing a Trump executive order from last March as justification for the action.
IRS Chief Human Capital Officer Alex Kweskin wrote to IRS staff Friday that the decision “deepens our commitment of operating as one IRS, a collaborative team focused on serving American taxpayers,” according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
These contract cancellations follow guidance from Scott Kupor, who leads the Office of Personnel Management, who sent a directive to agency heads this month instructing them to follow Trump’s March directive and inform labor organizations “that they are terminating any applicable CBAs (collective bargaining agreements), whether represented by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) or another labor union.”
The labor organization had filed a lawsuit against the federal government last year challenging Trump’s executive directive.
Although a Washington D.C. court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the government’s action, that ruling was suspended while an appeal proceeds. On Thursday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in a related case, opening the door for Trump’s executive order to move forward.
National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald argued Friday that the IRS “cannot unilaterally end” its agreement with the labor organization. She stated that federal sector labor law mandates the IRS maintain a collective bargaining agreement “with the exclusive representative of its bargaining unit employees.”
The National Treasury Employees Union serves as the representative for approximately 150,000 workers across 37 federal departments and agencies.
