Agencies have considerable leeway in their negotiations with unions, which the judge’s ruling generally did not question. Union officials say that while management has generally taken a more confrontational posture since the George W. Bush administration, the atmosphere has been poisonous at times under President Trump. For its part, management complains that labor is too rigid in opposing efforts to serve the growing ranks of benefit recipients better. In carrying out the executive orders, which took effect in July, managers scrapped several established union practices. Because the executive orders also called for reining in job protections, like the timetable for correcting underperformance and the options for appeals, some managers made clear to workers that their jobs were in greater jeopardy, union officials say.

Source: New York Times September 02, 2018 23:15 UTC