The Trump administration on Thursday moved to end collective bargaining for federal prison workers, after a March executive order stripped similar protections from government employees in the intelligence and security sectors.
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director William K. Marshall III wrote a letter to nearly 35,000 employees outlining plans to dismantle their contract negotiated by the Council of Prison Locals (CPL) labor union.
“The current contract has too often slowed or prevented changes that would have made your jobs safer and your workdays better,” Marshall said in the memo to workers. “This is not about questioning the value of representation; it’s about ensuring representation moves us forward, not holds us back.”
The BOP leader said he was pro-union but alleged CPL had become an “obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it.”
Officials from the union rebuked the severed ties as another “attack” on federal employees.
“Don’t be fooled, this is not about efficiency or accountability — this is about silencing our voice,” Brandy Moore White, president of the Council of Prison Locals said in a statement.
“We will not stand by while the rights of our members are stripped away,” she continued. “We are prepared to take every legal and legislative action necessary to protect our contract and the employees who put their lives on the line every day.”
BOP is the largest Justice Department employer and operates 122 facilities on an annual budget of more than $8.5 billion, according to The Associated Press.
In recent years, employees at law enforcement facilities across the country have reported cases of sexual and verbal abuse amid a push to pick up overtime as understaffing plagues the agency.
Marshall said Thursday, despite plans to disengage with the union, workers will maintain access to pay, job security, whistleblower and appeal rights as mandated by law.
“In the coming days, we will spell out exactly how we move forward from here but the bottom line is CPL-33 didn’t give you your protections, the law did, and Bureau policy continues them,” he said. “Those safeguards aren’t going anywhere.”
“This isn’t about taking things away, it’s about giving you more. More clarity. More fairness. More respect,” he added.
