Minnesota State Workers Applaud Push to Restore Federal Bargaining Rights

(Adobe Stock via Minnesota News Connection)

(By Mike Moen. Minnesota News Connection ) – A bill making its way through Congress seeks to reinstate bargaining rights for certain federal employees after a ban by the Trump administration.

State workers in Minnesota said a successful try would aid their work to protect the public. In March, the White House issued an executive order to strip collective-bargaining rights for more than 1 million federal employees. Among other things, it said the move was in the interest of national security. But opponents argued it is clearly union-busting which harms public servants.

Lydia Fess, infectious disease epidemiologist for the Minnesota Department of Health, said many state workers see their roles overlapping with federal partners, and job cuts and similar actions toward their colleagues are felt in a big way.

“It’s been challenging to continue to move projects forward,” Fess explained. “It’s been challenging to know who of our federal partners we can rely on when an emergency arises.”