Chris Van Hollen: “Federal law requires that agencies bargain in good faith with their workers. That makes for a better workplace, and that…”

“Federal law requires that agencies bargain in good faith with their workers. That makes for a better workplace, and that makes for better results for the American people. The President cannot just repeal that law by Executive order. I hope the courts will strike down these Executive orders as being an abuse of process and violating the law. With that, Mr. President, we got some good news on that front today. Even before the President's Executive orders were in place, Secretary DeVos over at the Department of Education had already launched her attack on workers' rights. That attack she launched was reviewed by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and, as reported today in the New York Times--the headline states: ``Education Dept. Illegally Curbed Workers' Union Protections, Mediators Suggest.'' What we have seen is that this pattern the Trump administration has tried to unilaterally put in place is getting some pushback from the Labor Relations Authority. As reported in the article--it says that ``the decisions could have broad implications because the Education Department's actions mirror Trump administration efforts throughout the Federal Government.'' They mention the Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and others.…”