AG Rayfield supports Oregonians’ right to organize

On Friday, in advance of Labor Day weekend, Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a multistate coalition filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of unions for federal government employees.

“The right to engage in union activity is protected by the First Amendment,” said Attorney General Rayfield. “Unions help ensure economic opportunity and empower working Americans. They have fought for, and won, critical on-the-job protections that benefit all of us, like safer staffing levels in our hospitals. The Trump Administration wants to reshape the American economy to work for billionaires, not for the people – and unions, as the voice of working people, are a critical backstop for our democracy and our economy.”

The lawsuit, AFGE v. Trump, No. 25-4014 (CA9), challenges an Executive Order from the Trump Administration, which targets unions deemed “hostile” to President Trump’s policy agenda and strips federal employees of their collective bargaining rights based on supposed national security concerns.

Plaintiff unions sought and obtained a preliminary injunction in district court. The Administration is now appealing.

This amicus brief supports the preliminary injunction obtained by unions. Oregon and the multistate coalition argue that the executive order is not exempt from scrutiny just because it invokes national security. They also point out that circumstantial evidence supports the district court’s conclusion that the executive order was retaliation, going directly against the First Amendment.