Labor Unions NAICS 813930

Mar 6, 2026 - Appeals Court Declines To Block Executive Orders

• A federal appeals court ruled in late February that it can't uphold a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the Trump administration from implementing a pair of 2025 executive orders that cite a provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act to ban collective bargaining at most federal agencies under the auspices of national security. The orders strip two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights, according to Government Executive. The American Federation of Government Employees’ challenged the executive orders, arguing that the president’s invocation of national security concerns in the executive orders is a mere pretext to retaliate against unions for their actions speaking out against and challenging Trump’s policies in court, according to Government Executive.
• Legislation introduced in the US Congress which would restore collective bargaining rights that President Trump stripped from about 1 million federal workers in 2025 has advanced from the House of Representatives to the Senate. The Protect America’s Workforce Act aims to nullify two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders that called for most agencies to end their union contracts. President Trump cited national security as the reason to strip many federal workers of their collective bargaining rights. Federal employees' unions have been fighting the Trump executive orders in court, but after a district court paused the orders from taking effect, an appellate court overturned that union win.

• Nearly 200 large union contracts covering more than 1.5 million workers across many industries expired in 2025, according to Bloomberg Law. An early test for unions and for the incoming Trump administration was avoided when the union representing 45,000 longshoremen at docks along the US East and Gulf coasts and port operators tentatively agreed to a new six-year contract in early January 2025. Other workers may be emboldened to strike based on the record-breaking wages and benefits secured in contracts from the last few years, such as with Detroit’s Big Three, the Boeing Company, and Hollywood production studios, according to Bloomberg Law. Workers may also push for new job protections from emerging technology like artificial intelligence.
• Labor union industry employment decreased slightly and average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first month of 2026, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor union industry revenue is forecast to grow at a 4.23% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, comparable to the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. Labor unions generate revenue by charging dues to members.