Judge orders Bureau of Prisons to restore collective bargaining agreement with union

On September 29, 2026, federal judge Vernon Oliver ordered the Bureau of Prisons to reinstate its collective bargaining agreement with the National Council of Prison Locals, which represents 30,000 workers. The agreement had been terminated in September 2025 by Director William Marshall following a March 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump targeting federal unions. Concurrently, unions representing 8,000 Environmental Protection Agency workers sued over their own terminated contract.

Bureau of Prisons union reinstatement

• ▪The National Council of Prison Locals represents approximately 30,000 civil servants working in federal prisons across the United States.
• ▪On September 29, 2026, U.S. District Court Judge Vernon Oliver ordered the Bureau of Prisons to immediately reinstate its collective bargaining agreement with the National Council of Prison Locals.
• ▪National Council of Prison Locals President Brandy White stated on September 29, 2026, that the reinstatement ruling was an important step but cautioned that the Justice Department is likely to request a stay.
• ▪The collective bargaining agreement between the Bureau of Prisons and the National Council of Prison Locals was revised in November 2024 and runs through May 2029.
• ▪Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall terminated the collective bargaining agreement with the National Council of Prison Locals on September 25, 2025, stating the union was an obstacle to progress.

Trump federal union restrictions

• ▪President Donald Trump's administration has attempted to eliminate collective bargaining agreements for more than 1 million federal workers across multiple agencies.
• ▪In March 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order seeking to exclude federal offices involved in national security or intelligence work, including the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons, from collective bargaining agreements.
• ▪Despite President Donald Trump's March 2025 executive order, the Bureau of Prisons continued to largely uphold its collective bargaining agreement with the National Council of Prison Locals for six months after the order was issued.

EPA collective bargaining lawsuit

• ▪An arbitrator ruled in September 2026 that the Environmental Protection Agency must wipe records, provide back pay, and cover attorney fees for 139 AFGE Local 704 workers disciplined for signing an open dissent letter
• ▪On September 29, 2026, two local unions of the American Federation of Government Employees representing more than 8,000 Environmental Protection Agency workers filed a lawsuit against the agency and administrator Lee Zeldin.
• ▪The Environmental Protection Agency terminated its collective bargaining agreement in August 2025, which went into effect in June 2024 and was scheduled to run through June 2028.

Federal workforce departures

• ▪The departures of approximately 4,000 workers since January 2025 reduced the Environmental Protection Agency's workforce to about 12,700 employees.
• ▪Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, approximately 4,000 workers have left the Environmental Protection Agency through resignations, early retirements, and layoffs.

Administrative Procedure Act violations

• ▪U.S. District Court Judge Vernon Oliver ruled that the National Council of Prison Locals had met the burden of demonstrating it was likely to succeed on the merits of its Administrative Procedure Act claim.
• ▪U.S. District Court Judge Vernon Oliver noted that the immediate issue before the court was whether the Bureau of Prisons' decision to terminate the collective bargaining agreement with the National Council of Prison Locals violated the Administrative Procedure Act

Debatable claims

• ▪Federal prison unions obstruct necessary operational reforms
• ▪The executive branch has the authority to unilaterally terminate federal union contracts
• ▪The Trump administration should eliminate collective bargaining for federal employees
• ▪National security concerns justify stripping federal prison workers of collective bargaining rights