{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-moves-to-force-vote-this-week-on-bill-to-restore-federal-workers-union-rights", "Golden moves to force vote this week on bill to restore federal workers\u2019 union rights", "2025-12-09", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Jared F. Golden", "G000592", "golden.house.gov", "golden", "https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) took the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to provide notice to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson of his intent to force a vote on the Protect America\u2019s Workforce Act (PAWA), his bipartisan bill to repeal a presidential executive order that stripped union rights from federal workers.\n\n\u201cThis bill\u2019s cosponsors, Democrats and Republicans alike, know that collective bargaining brings fairness, dignity and respect to the workplace. They also know that without these rights, federal workers are more vulnerable to unfair treatment and political interference,\u201d Golden said. \u201cI\u2019m calling on Speaker Johnson to hold a clean, up-or-down vote on the Protect America\u2019s Workforce Act, so that Congress can show workers that we\u2019ve got their backs.\u201d\n\nGolden introduced PAWA in April, with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) as the lead GOP cosponsor. After months of inaction on the floor, in July Golden and Fitzpatrick initiated a discharge petition and set to work building support to force a vote in the House. In November, the discharge petition obtained its 218th signature, clearing the threshold to bring PAWA up for a vote over the Speaker\u2019s objections.\n\nThe Speaker now has two legislative days to hold a vote on the motion to discharge PAWA. If that motion is successful, the House will consider the bill.\n\nSignatories to the discharge petition included nearly the entire Democratic caucus and five Republicans who cosponsored the bill: Fitzpatrick, Don Bacon (NE-02), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08), Nick LaLota (NY-01) and Mike Lawler (NY-17).\n\nFour additional Republicans did not sign the discharge petition but are cosponsors of PAWA: Reps. Mike Turner (OH-10), Chris Smith (NJ-04), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) and Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07).\n\n\u201cThe labor movement fought back against the largest act of union-busting in American history by doing what we do best: organizing,\" said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. \"We commend Reps. Golden and Fitzpatrick for leading us to a vote on the Protect America\u2019s Workforce Act and urge every lawmaker to support this bill. Working people built a bipartisan coalition to restore union rights to federal workers in the face of unprecedented attacks on our freedoms and livelihoods. Now it\u2019s time for a clean, standalone vote so the House of Representatives can show the country it will defend workers' fundamental rights on the job.\u201d\n\n\u201cAFGE will forever be grateful to Congressman Golden for his tireless efforts to restore collective bargaining rights for federal employees,\u201d said Dr. Everett B. Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). \u201cTime and again, he has answered the call to defend the working men and women who keep this country safe and secure, healthy and prosperous. I urge all members of Congress to support the bipartisan Protect America\u2019s Workforce Act offered by Reps. Golden and Fitzpatrick and enact it into law.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nPresident Trump\u2019s March 27 Executive Order, \u201cExclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs,\u201d sought to end collective bargaining with unions at the departments of Defense, State, Veterans Affairs, Justice and Energy, and some workers at the departments of Homeland Security, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Interior and Agriculture. The order affected hundreds of thousands of federal workers.\n\nThe Protect America\u2019s Workforce Act would repeal the executive order outright, and guarantee that the federal government honors any union contract in place at the time it was made.\n\nFederal workers\u2019 bargaining rights are already limited. Unlike private-sector unions, federal employees cannot bargain collectively over wages, benefits or classifications, nor can they strike under existing law. Their bargaining rights are limited to conditions of employment. Roughly one-third of all federal workers in unions are veterans.\n\nIn addition to the AFL-CIO and AFGE, the bill has support from a wide range of unions representing federal employees, including: the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the United Steelworkers (USW).\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-moves-to-force-vote-this-week-on-bill-to-restore-federal-workers-union-rights"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3951279688626528, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}