IN ANOTHER show of hate for workers, especially unionised federal workers, Republican President Donald Trump, masterminded by union-hating multibillionaire Elon Musk, declared he will trash all union contracts in the federal government.

Trump actually declared that “collective bargaining runs counter to the American system of self-government.” He and his pal Musk have said no such thing about corporate monopolisation and the collective price gouging and fixing that goes along with it.

The immediate prod to his ire were two pacts the predecessor Democratic Biden administration signed with Government Employees (AFGE) locals, one representing Social Security’s workers and the other covering Education Department workers. Trump wants to abolish the department.

The Social Security pact particularly peeved Trump because it included provisions legalising teleworking and working from home from now through 2029. Trump and Musk want to pin all workers to their desks.

And if they don’t like it, they can quit, Trump declared, waving the memo.

Trump told White House pool reporters assigned to the memo-signing “everybody is replaceable,” according to a White House pool report.

“We’d love to have them leave. It’s our dream to have everyone work in the private sector.” Democratic President Joe “Biden let them get away with murder,” Trump charged.

Trump means his order as another show of force to demonstrate he’s the ultimate dictator beyond his original “Day One” vow and has unlimited leeway in the White House to become a tyrant, just like the dictators he pals around with on the international stage.

“Today’s memorandum is one more action taken by Mr Musk and the Trump administration this week attempting to frighten and confuse career federal employees,” AFGE president Clarence Kelley retorted in the first of two tweets.

“Federal employees should know that approved union contracts are enforceable by law, and the president does not have the authority to make unilateral changes to those agreements. AFGE members will not be intimidated. If our contracts are violated, we will aggressively defend them.”

But Trump’s order and its impact, including his obvious attempt to destroy federal worker unions — an objective of the right-wing Project 2025, aka the Republican platform — will be Topic A at AFGE’s legislative conference, opening the evening of February 9 in Washington DC.

Before the memo, Trump first imposed his “Schedule F” scheme on federal workers, converting 50,000 top jobs into at-will jobs subject to Trump whims whose occupants the convicted president could can on a moment’s notice. That move was reminiscent of the spoils system of the corporate-run Gilded Age.

Trump initiated a hiring freeze. Then he stopped almost all federal grants and loans, throwing recipients into a giant limbo both in the US and abroad. A federal judge halted that.

And his acting Office of Management and Budget director sent cryptic emails to all two million federal workers, supposedly offering them eight-month buyouts each if they left their jobs right now.

AFGE’s Kelley, leader of the largest federal workers’ union, told the workers — union and non-union — to refuse. News reports indicate some incredulous workers treated those emails as spam.

NTEU had sued to stop the buyouts. “This was 100 per cent unprecedented,” union president Doreen Greenwald stated. Trump tried to force workers “to make decisions that are bad for them and bad for the American people.”

AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler chimed in on the unions’ side. She called it “union-busting the federal workforce.”

“Rejecting federal workers’ collective bargaining agreements is union-busting, plain and simple. Now more than ever, federal workers need strong collective bargaining agreements so they are protected and can continue to do the essential work we all depend on: delivering Social Security and disability cheques, caring for our veterans, or keeping our food and transportation safe. These attempts to break our contracts will not silence our voices,” said Shuler.

Even before the latest Trump memo, Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, a Machinists sector, slammed Trump’s diktats and their impact.

Trump “issued a barrage of executive orders and memoranda that will impair critical services for the American public,” said Erwin. “These orders are designed to intimidate and attack non-partisan civil servants under the guise of increasing efficiency. However, these orders will do the exact opposite. These actions create new problems, disrupt essential functions, and will ultimately reduce the availability of services to the American people.”

NFFE also summed up the collective impact on the workers of all the Trump moves, even before Trump’s plan to trash the union contracts.

“One memorandum requires agencies terminate remote work arrangements of employees as soon as practicable with the expectation employees will simply quit rather than return in-office. Many of these remote employees may be forced to uproot from their communities to keep their jobs,” NFFE said.

“Housing costs are at an all-time high. There is no promise of payment for relocation expenses. This initiative will force a cruel choice upon federal employees who are simply trying to earn a living in public service. Understaffing the government is this administration’s policy” and will “lead to unimaginable workloads. Decisions will not be fact-driven or evidence-based.” They could also lead to discrimination and illegal action against union members.

Trump, in his memo, snidely went so far as to say collective bargaining agreements “run counter to America’s system of democratic self-government. CBAs quickly negotiated to include extreme policies on the eve of a new administration are purposefully designed to circumvent the will of the people and our democracy.”

Trump barred all new contracts signed in the 30 days before he was sworn in, intending his memo should cover both the Social Security Administration and Education Department pacts.

This article is republished from peoplesworld.org.