The battle for federal labor rights has moved from the courtroom to the conference room. As reported by FEDweek, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has officially directed federal agencies to proceed with canceling or amending collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that conflict with recent executive orders, explicitly disregarding ongoing litigation that seeks to block these moves.
In a memo issued February 17, 2026, OPM Director Scott Kupor instructed agency heads to stop waiting for the courts and start implementing Executive Orders 14251 and 14343 immediately. For the vast majority of the federal workforce, this directive effectively attempts to erase the union contract as a workplace protection, stripping away rights to official time, grievance procedures, and even union office space.
If you have relied on your union steward to protect your job or answer your questions, that safety net is being dismantled in real-time.
🏛️ The Directive: “Proceed to Terminate”
The OPM guidance is not subtle. It directs agencies to take aggressive, immediate steps to derecognize union authority in day-to-day operations.
Key Actions Mandated by the Memo:
- Cancel Contracts: Agencies are told to terminate or renegotiate any CBA terms that are “inconsistent” with the executive orders—which broadly define collective bargaining as a threat to national security and agility.
- Evict and Reclaim: Agencies must “reclaim any agency space, furniture, equipment… previously utilized by labor unions.” This means union offices inside federal buildings are to be shuttered and repurposed.
- End Official Time: Employees can no longer use taxpayer-funded time to conduct union business. If you are a union rep, you must now do that work off the clock or not at all.
- Ignore Grievances: The memo instructs agencies to “disregard” any grievances filed by unions covered by the orders and to bar union representatives from Weingarten meetings (investigative interviews that could lead to discipline).
📉 Sound Data: The Scale of the Disruption
To understand the magnitude of this shift, you have to look at the numbers OPM is targeting. This is not a minor policy tweak; it is a systemic shutdown of labor relations.
- 85% of the Unionized Workforce: The orders target roughly 1 million federal employees, representing about 85% of the unionized workforce. Only specific carve-outs for law enforcement and firefighters remain untouched.
- 3.2 Million Hours Vanishing: In Fiscal Year 2024, federal employees used approximately 3.2 million hours of “official time” to represent colleagues in disputes, negotiate contracts, and address workplace safety. The OPM directive eliminates this resource overnight.
- The Impact: That is 3.2 million hours of legal and procedural defense work that will no longer happen. Without those hours, thousands of adverse actions will likely go unchallenged.
- The “Decertification” Goal: The memo explicitly encourages agencies to seek decertification of unions through the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). This is the “nuclear option” intended to permanently remove the union as the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit.
⚠️ The “Solo” Risk: You Are Now On Your Own
The most dangerous consequence for an individual employee is the loss of the Grievance Procedure.
- The Old Way: If you received an unfair performance rating or a suspension, your union could file a grievance, invoke arbitration, and pay for the lawyer.
- The New Way: OPM’s memo tells agencies to “transfer to an internal administrative grievance process” any pending disputes. This means the agency that punished you will also decide if the punishment was fair. You lose the independent check of an arbitrator.
🛡️ Replace the Union Shield with a Personal Strategy
With the union hall closed and stewards barred from the room, you need a new form of protection. You are effectively entering an era of “individual representation.”
Internal Benefit Advisors helps you navigate this high-risk environment where you must advocate for yourself.
How We Fill the “Union Gap”:
- Adverse Action Defense: Without a union rep to sit in on your Weingarten interview, you need to know your rights before you walk into the room. We help you understand the exposure of performance improvement plans (PIPs) and disciplinary proposals.
- Retirement as a Defense: If the new “at-will” environment becomes untenable, we analyze your Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) eligibility. If your agency is downsizing and you don’t have a union to fight the RIF, a strategic exit might be your best financial move.
- Benefits Preservation: If you are forced out or choose to resign, we ensure your FERS and FEHB benefits are not lost in the chaos. We audit your SF-50 to ensure your tenure and service history are bulletproof, preventing administrative errors that a union would normally catch.
The collective bargaining agreement is being shredded. Make sure your individual retirement plan is ironclad.
Contact Internal Benefit Advisors today for a confidential benefits and exit strategy review.
References
- FEDweek. “OPM Directs Agencies to Proceed with Repudiating Union Contracts Amid Court Battles.” February 17, 2026.
- FEDweek. “OPM Outlines Next Steps in Carrying Out Trump Orders against Unions.” February 17, 2026.
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Memorandum: Implementation of Executive Orders 14251 and 14343. February 17, 2026.
- Internal Benefit Advisors. Retrieved from https://internalbenefitadvisors.com
