Yahoo: Treasury Department terminates union contracts for IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service workers (yahoo)
The Treasury Department has terminated its collective bargaining agreements with unionized workers at the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, citing a March executive order by President Donald Trump as authority, yahoo. The move has prompted union challenges, arbitration disputes and administrative steps to remove bargaining-unit status and change employment conditions.
Yahoo: Alex Kweskin says IRS ended the 2022 national agreement and a 2025 addendum
IRS Chief Human Capital Officer Alex Kweskin told employees in a Friday email that the agency unilaterally terminated the 2022 national agreement and a 2025 addendum. Kweskin wrote that the change "deepens our commitment of operating as One IRS, a collaborative team focused on serving American taxpayers. "
He added that the IRS has cancelled all negotiations in progress with the National Treasury Employees Union and "will implement any changes to conditions of employment without bargaining. " Kweskin instructed managers not to invite union representatives to formal discussions, to decline union requests for information, and to forward negotiated grievances to Labor Employee Relations and Negotiations. He also said the agency will cancel arbitration hearings and pay arbitrators for work already performed.
Bureau of the Fiscal Service contract also terminated; employees represented by NTEU
The union contract for the Bureau of the Fiscal Service was terminated this week, two people familiar with the decision said; they spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service processes payments for the government. Workers at both agencies are represented by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents roughly 150, 000 employees in 37 departments and agencies.
Doreen Greenwald says IRS "cannot unilaterally end" the agreement and has filed challenges
NTEU President Doreen Greenwald told the IRS in a letter that the agency "cannot lawfully do so, and that the CBA remains in effect. " She said the federal sector labor statute requires the IRS to have a collective bargaining agreement "with the exclusive representative of its bargaining unit employees. "
NTEU filed a national grievance last week after the IRS placed more than 1, 000 back-office employees on involuntary 120-day details to perform frontline filing-season work, jobs many of them have no prior experience doing. The union told bargaining unit members that a response from the IRS was due by April 2. NTEU also notified arbitrators that the agency action "means nothing in terms of our cases going forward, " and wrote that "the arbitrators are agreeing with this posture and moving forward with cases — whether the agency participates or not. "
Office of Personnel Management guidance, court rulings and presidential orders paved the way
Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management, issued a memo this month calling on agency heads to comply with President Trump’s March order and to notify labor unions "that they are terminating any applicable CBAs, " whether those unions are the NTEU or another labor union. The IRS framed its terminations as carried out under that March executive order.
Earlier guidance instructed agencies to comply with two executive orders released in March and August of last year that expanded exemptions from collective bargaining on national security grounds. One March 2025 executive order eliminated collective bargaining rights at more than 20 agencies. Those orders were described in context as having stripped over 1 million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights and prompted unions to file several suits to block the orders.
Legal obstacles have shifted: the union had sued the federal government last year and a D. C. court issued a preliminary injunction that was stayed pending appeal. Meanwhile, a three-judge panel of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued a decision in a separate case that cleared the way for implementation of the executive order.
Personnel changes, workforce reductions and concerns about job protections
the IRS is working with the Treasury on a "systematic update" of personnel files to revoke bargaining-unit status for NTEU members. The agency’s all-hands email reminded staff that federal employees are legally prohibited from labor strikes, whether or not they are in a bargaining unit.
Critics note broader personnel shifts: the administration has reduced the IRS workforce by roughly a quarter, and the agency had about 100, 000 employees when the president took office a year ago. The Office of Personnel Management released a rule earlier this month to loosen job protections for policy-related positions, making it easier for political appointees to remove and replace them. Commentaries in the provided context warned that with reduced job protections, career employees who raise concerns about illegal actions could be fired, potentially increasing political control over tax administration.
Luis M. Alvarez photographed President Donald Trump gesturing from the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2025.
