Federal Workforce Freedom Act Voids All Union Contracts, Bans Collective Bargaining for Federal Employees Immediately

The Federal Workforce Freedom Act is a straight-shot bill aimed at fundamentally reshaping labor relations across the entire federal government. In short, it bans federal employees from organizing or joining a union for collective bargaining and forbids any federal agency from recognizing or negotiating with one. Crucially, the bill also immediately terminates every existing union contract (collective bargaining agreement) the moment it becomes law, effectively wiping the slate clean on labor agreements across the government.

The End of the Contract

Section 4 is the one that hits the hardest and fastest. It states that any collective bargaining agreement signed before, on, or after the enactment date is immediately terminated. Think about that: if you’re a federal employee—maybe working at the VA, the IRS, or a national park—and your union contract guarantees certain shift schedules, overtime rules, or grievance procedures, those guarantees vanish overnight. This isn’t a slow phase-out; it’s an instant voiding of established working conditions. On top of that, Section 4 also stops all related legal processes, like arbitration or grievance proceedings, that were based on those contracts. If you had a dispute with your manager and were waiting for an arbitrator’s ruling based on your union contract, that process is dead in the water.

No More Negotiating

Section 3 sets the new, permanent rules of the road. For federal employees, it’s a clear prohibition: you absolutely “can’t organize, join, or take part in a labor union” if that union is trying to bargain collectively or represent you in negotiations. For the agencies, the rule is just as strict: they cannot recognize a union or sit down to negotiate with one. This means that future employment terms—from scheduling and performance reviews to disciplinary actions—will be set unilaterally by agency management, removing the mechanism for employees to collectively negotiate or challenge those terms.

Wiping the Slate Clean

To make sure this change sticks, Section 5 repeals Chapter 71 of title 5 of the U.S. Code. This chapter is the legal bedrock that has governed federal labor-management relations for decades, establishing the rights and procedures for collective bargaining. By eliminating this entire chapter, the bill removes the legal framework that enables federal employees to have any organized voice in their workplace. This move transfers complete authority over working conditions and employment standards directly to agency management, eliminating the entire structured process for negotiation and dispute resolution that currently exists.