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Trump's Executive Orders Eliminate Protections for Federal Employees
Candidate Trump had a populist tone to every campaign rally, banging the drum for jobs. Although all candidates and politicians say many empty statements, Trump's delivery worked. The focus on jobs caused millions to vote for him, thinking he was actually going to implement policies to help them. They did not realize that he had no intent to do so. They bought the lie and we all pay the price.
In three executive orders signed before the holiday weekend, Trump took his first significant steps.... to "overhaul a federal bureaucracy....." Trump moved Friday [May 25, 2018] to roll back civil-service protections that federal employees have enjoyed for a generation, making it easier to fire poor performers, curtailing time employees can be paid for union work and directing agencies to negotiate tougher union contracts.
The trio of executive orders — which can be undone by the next president — could have a.... dramatic impact.
....he did not publicly champion the executive orders Friday, signing them quietly behind closed doors. The details were released to reporters late in the afternoon before the holiday weekend.
The first two of the three executive orders have caused the most concern and angst.
....overhauled rules affecting at least two million federal workers, making it easier to fire them and rolling back the workplace role of their unions.
The first makes it easier to fire and discipline federal employees.... give poor performers only 30 days to demonstrate improvement, rather than the current limit of up to 120 days
The second executive order directs federal agencies to renegotiate contracts with unions representing government employees....
Past administrations of both parties have argued that civil service rules are in need of modernization, but most did not favor demonizing civil servants or unions.
Civil service experts said there is widespread consensus across the political spectrum on the need to overhaul the federal civil service. But they noted that Trump's orders build on an effort conservatives have used in Indiana, Wisconsin and other states to weaken public employee unions. "It's very clear this is part of a broad strategy to undermine the power and position of federal unions," said Donald Kettl, a public affairs professor at the University of Texas in Austin.
The attack on federal servants and unions was met with anger.
Public employee unions said Trump's orders amounted to an attack on federal workers and said they were contemplating legal action to halt them.
"....Trump is attempting to silence the voice of veterans, law enforcement officers, and other frontline federal workers through a series of executive orders intended to strip federal employees of their decades-old right to representation at the worksite," the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, said in a statement.
If Trump wants to "drain the swamp," perhaps he should start with his own swamp creatures he's had a hand in appointing, rather than attacking civil servants who often make below the median income in their area.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, said... if the administration were truly interested in restoring public trust in the federal government, it should rein in the excesses of some of its senior appointees, not politicize the Civil Service. “Instead of trying to erode the rights of federal employees and whistle-blowers, the administration should focus on the abuses of cabinet officials taking charter and first-class flights and buying $31,000 dining sets and $43,000 soundproof booths,” Mr. Van Hollen said.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/business/economy/trump-federal-workers.html
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