The American Federation of Government Employees announced a lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration in order to block an executive order that would limit the time that employees are allowed to spend on union activity, The Washington Post reported.
"This president seems to think he is above the law, and we are not going to stand by while he tries to shred workers' rights," said J. David Cox Sr., the union's national president, in a statement that announced the lawsuit.
"This is a democracy, not a dictatorship," Cox said in the statement, The Post reported. "No president should be able to undo a law he doesn't like through administrative fiat."
AFGE's lawsuit argues the order violates the union's right to freedom of association the First Amendment guarantees, and claims the Trump administration is targeting labor organizations.
The executive order from Trump sets 25 percent as the number for "official time," the amount of time federal employees who are authorized to work for a labor union can spend on union business during work hours.
The AFGE says that order changes a provision of the Civil Service Reform Act, which was passed in 1978, The Post reported.
"Congress passed these laws to guarantee workers a collective voice in resolving workplace issues and improving the services they deliver to the public every day . . . we will not stand by and let this administration willfully violate the Constitution to score political points," Cox said in the statement, The Post reported.
The order was one of three orders Trump signed late Friday before Memorial Day weekend that would cut back federal employees' civil service protections, the Post reported.
The other orders instruct agencies to crack down on unions during contract negotiations and to act more aggressively in firing employees who have records of misconduct or poor performance, the report said.
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