Trammel is the local president of the United States’ Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers’ coalition. Until recently, 3957 local people had nearly 200 dues members in Oakdale, including officials, teachers, case managers and food service staff.
Registered Republican Trammel said many, if not most, support Donald Trump in the 2024 election. He said the new administration quickly cuts and reshapes the federal government with the implicit support of the Republican Congress.
The union, which represents about 800,000 workers from more than a dozen federal agencies, has been at the forefront of boycotting the work. In the danger of civil service, the alliance attempts to see itself as a counterattack force. In this way, it has become a target.
With his son on the pitcher’s mound, Tramir is figuring out how to deal with the latest challenge of the Trump administration: The Bureau of Prisons no longer allows union dues to be deducted from salaries. Within a few days, local 3957 shrank to less than 50 paid members, who signed up to pay membership fees using an online portal for $19.40 every two weeks.
“They kept kicking us when we fell,” Tramer said. In the interview, more than a dozen union leaders and lawyers nationwide described the current work as galvanized, but it was also shocking and ruthless. Some say the crisis reveals the challenge of a union that is essentially fragmented and diverse. It is indeed a coalition of many unions, including the massive Republican Border Patrol, liberal environmental researchers, and a range of political tendencies in between. Some have described tensions within the alliance – especially disagreements with how national leaders play a role. Some want a more intense appeal that reflects the need for confrontation among local members, while others say unions should release a medium ground to attract a wider worker base.
The U.S. Government Employees Federation has filed a series of federal lawsuits against the Trump administration, some of whom have at least succeeded in causing losses.
Every Monday, the union’s national leadership has a strategic call to discuss the latest measures against the Trump administration for federal workers – from an email sent to “What did you do last week?” that lures resignation to end the sudden move of a collective bargaining deal. (In March, the White House said the agreement made “hostile federal unions hinder institutional management.”)
“I can’t compare it to any other time in my career,” union president Everett Kelley said in an interview. “We’ve seen some tough battles, but have never seen any president trying to “put the federal government into a failure of mission.”
Kelly said he believes the government’s efforts are the prelude to the privatization of the vast private sector of the federal workforce.
“At the same time, I think federal workers are not only aware of the urgency of our mission, but I think the American people are aware of that.”
The battle is probably the most acute at the local level, with union leaders like Gramir (also working in the federal government, such as cleaning toxic oil spills, scheduling surgery in veterans hospitals, and prison teaching – trying to make their small bargaining units float and promote a sense of pleasure for colleagues.
“Everyone is afraid of death,” Tramir said. “I’m not feeling well with it. Basically, everything I’ve worked in my life – I can’t do anything about it.”
“Mortality Killer”
Government Employee Unions have drawn powers from the 1978 Public Reform Act for decades, which established the right to collective bargaining for federal employees. Unions are racially diverse – 47% of members are white, 28% of black, 12% of Hispanic and 3% of Asian – more than half are female.
Despite this, the power of the union is limited. Federal employees are unable to strike, eliminating potential leverage. The federal union cannot negotiate salary set by the Office of Personnel Management, together with the President and Congress. Membership is voluntary – the union is an “open store” and workers who do not pay union dues still benefit from many efforts of the union.
Even before Trump returned to the White House, only more than 300,000 of the union’s 800,000 members paid membership fees. Participate in the locals. (That number grew to about 334,000 in the weeks after Trump’s inauguration, and although unions are now paying for members for certain government agencies, such as the Bureau of Prisons, etc., it stops allowing membership fees from salaries.)
The leaders say that despite restrictions on federal collective bargaining, unions’ benefits remain tangible. It negotiates better working conditions and safety, remote working and disciplinary procedures. Authorization and security attract workers, regardless of their politics.
“From the most basic perspective, the union is just a group of workers who decide to work together and bring together their talents and resources to improve the workplace,” said Andrew Huddleston, spokesman for the U.S. Government Employees Federation. “At present, the basic pitch may never be more powerful than it is now.”
While some union leaders want the second Trump administration to be hostile to some federal working groups, many say the general attitude among members, especially among those working related to public safety, is that he will not serve us.
But once Trump was sworn in, he placed civil servants in the crosshairs in the name of “efficiency” and cost-saving. The government demanded a return to the office for federal workers, fired thousands of probation employees and relocated to eliminate entire departments and agencies. He aimed at the union.
One effect is a surge in support for the alliance. But behind the hasty is a keen sense of threat, and uncertainty is exacerbated. These changes are unpredictable and are usually appropriate due to court challenges.
“It’s horrible directly,” said Ruark Hotopp, vice president of the coalition state. “People are afraid that they don’t have a job in 10 minutes. “He called it a “morality killer.”
Alliance leaders say the enduring message of the White House is one of the contempts of the federal workforce. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.) The administration also regrets workers facing disciplinary litigation.
“Insultingly, we are low-level public workers, we are corrupt, we are deep state, we are lazy, we are lazy, we are.”
Kelly said his local membership has grown significantly, just like participation. “A lot of people are awake now,” he said.
At first, he spent a lot of time on “Basic Alliance 101” in the signal chat of new members. Recently, he has been pushing locals to talk to Michigan lawmakers.
They say that the pain of many workers is a clear lack of familiarity with what the Trump administration does with the federal workforce.
“People don’t know how the government works,” said Philip Glover, vice president of the coalition state, adding: “They have no experience.”
During the day, Micah Niemeier-Walsh is an industrial hygienist at the Firefighter Health Program within the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But she is also the local vice president of the union who represents Cincinnati Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees.
Until earlier this year, the role required several hours of work per week. Now, she works 12 or 15 hours a day.
“January 20 is here and we quickly realized that if we want to survive, we need to step up the game.”
“Are we going to let them walk through us?” she asked. “Or we want to fight back?”
Political frustration
In the interview, union leaders expressed anger at Trump’s actions, but many were particularly angry about Congress.
Tramir of Louisiana said he had a very direct exchange with Mike Johnson, now the House Speaker, and considered him a friend.
“I even posted signs for Mike Johnson,” Tramir said.
But the thread got colder. “I left him a few messages,” Tramir said. He added: “The Republicans we work with, we have dealt with, they don’t care that we are struggling right now.”
Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Others in the league’s leaders expressed frustration with Democratic leaders, especially in negotiations to keep government-funded negotiations. Trammel said it had gained support from several major Democrats, and the deal allowed Trump to sprint more institutions.
Some union leaders described internal politics and differences on how to pursue Trump’s agenda—not only how to lobby lawmakers, but how to use courts and public squares to leverage their strengths.
Paula Chavez, teacher and president of the Prison Alliance in Texas’s Big Spring, has been spending more time to attract more union members to pay their dues online rather than via payroll. She said the union’s national leaders were in such a confrontation with the White House that it brought her more conservative colleagues to the scene.
“It’s a heavy land for Trump,” Chavez said, saying of the union’s national leaders: “You can do this work, not politicize it.”
But she added that even among her unit’s strong Trump supporters, “the buyer’s remorse is 1,000 percent.”
