Earlier this week, yet another court imposed an injunction against the current Federal administration’s campaign against public employees and the public agencies for which they work in the public interest. In this most recent case, the court blocked the attempt by the United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to strip nearly 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers of their collective bargaining rights. When so ruling, the court observed that DHS’s actions appear to be retaliation against these public servants and their union, American Federation of Government Employees, for their constitutional challenges to various policies of the current Federal regime. In short, DHS’ conduct evidently flouts the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Despite numerous courts around the country ruling against the current Federal administration regarding efforts to terminate hundreds of thousands of public servants and to hobble or outright dismantle key public agencies, the regime continues to pursue its extremist agenda. Consequently, law enforcement agencies like the United States Department of Labor, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the United States Department of Justice have been marginalized or politicized.

In this context, the International Trade Union Confederation recently issued a report documenting the significant reduction in workplace fairness in the United States. The report also specifically criticizes the current Federal regime for bringing “anti-union billionaires into the heart of policymaking.” The report concludes by highlighting the importance of collective action, through unions and otherwise, to overcome authoritarianism and to secure true democracy both inside and outside the workplace.