Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
US labor leaders on Thursday celebrated the House of Representatives' bipartisan vote in favor of a bill that would reverse President Donald Trump 's attack on the collective bargaining rights of 1 million federal workers .
Trump's sweeping assault on federal workers has included March and August executive orders targeting their rights under the guise of protecting national security. In response, Congressmen Jared Golden and Brian Fitzpatrick spearheaded the fight for the Protect America’s Workforce Act. They recently collected enough signatures to force the 231-195 vote, in which 20 Republicans joined all Democrats present to send the bill to the Senate.'The right to be heard in one's workplace may appear basic, but it carries great weight—it ensures that the people who serve our nation have a seat at the table when decisions shape their work and their mission,' Fitzpatrick said after the vote.'This bill moves us closer to restoring that fundamental protection for nearly 1 million federal employees, many of them veterans,' he added. 'I will always fight for our workers, and I call on the Senate to help ensure these protections are fully reinstated.'American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations president Liz Shuler joined union leaders in applauding the lower chamber on Thursday and calling on the Senate to follow suit. She said in a statement that 'President Trump betrayed workers when he tried to rip away our collective bargaining rights. In these increasingly polarized times, working people delivered a rare bipartisan majority to stop the administration's unprecedented attacks on our freedoms.' 'We commend the Republicans and Democrats who stood with workers and voted to reverse the single-largest act of union busting in American history,' she continued. 'Americans trust unions more than either political party. As we turn to the Senate—where the bill already has bipartisan support—working people are calling on the politicians we elected to stand with us, even if it means standing up to the union-busting boss in the White House.' Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, similarly praised the members of Congress who 'demonstrated their support for the nonpartisan civil service, for the dedicated employees who serve our country with honor and distinction, and for the critical role that collective bargaining has in fostering a safe, protective, and collaborative workplace.''This vote marks an historic achievement for the House's bipartisan pro-labor majority, courageously led by Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania,' he said. 'We need to build on this seismic victory in the House and get immediate action in the Senate—and also ensure that any future budget bills similarly protect collective bargaining rights for the largely unseen civil servants who keep our government running.'American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees president Lee Saunders also applauded the House's passage of 'a bill that strengthens federal workers' freedoms on the job so they can continue to keep our nation safe, healthy, and strong.''This bill not only provides workers' critical protections from an administration that has spent the past year relentlessly attacking them,' he noted, 'but it also ensures that our communities are served by the most qualified public service workers—not just those with the best political connections.'Randy Erwin, the head of the National Federation of Federal Employees, declared that 'this is an incredible testament to the strength of federal employees and the longstanding support for their fundamental right to organize and join a union.' 'The president cannot unilaterally strip working people of their constitutional freedom of association. In bipartisan fashion, Congress has asserted their authority to hold the president accountable for the biggest attack on workers that this country has ever seen,' he added, thanking the House supporters and pledging to work with 'senators from both parties to ensure this bill is signed into law.'
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