Whitney Curry Wimbish at The American Prospect reports from Washington, D.C. that Organized Labor has won a major victory in a settlement ordering the Trump Administration to announce that it has abandoned its attempt to illegally fire millions of Federal Workers during last year’s Government shutdown. Under the settlement between a coalition of Unions and the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Government must also tell Agencies to modify their shutdown plans “to remove any authorization” of Reductions In Force (RIFs) and to give 30 days’ notice if they intend to modify those plans and conduct RIFs during future Government shutdowns. However, the settlement does not completely end the case. It only holds it in abeyance and prevents shutdown RIFs until the end of the year - but it offers a measure of protection until then, attorneys said, as well as a pathway to fight back if the Trump Administration attempts shutdown RIFs in the future. “If they wanted to try this again they’d have to put in new guidance, a new contingency plan. It would be pretty clear they were doing something that was clearly unlawful,” said Rushab Sanghvi, who serves as General Counsel of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), one of the Unions that sued the Trump Administration, along with several others that together represent more than two million Federal Workers. If Democrats win in the Mid-Term Elections, “there are further protections they can put in,” Sanghvi said. “The fact we are here and the government is settling shows that the Unions have won here. Workers have fought back and they’ve won.”

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AFGE File Photo.