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In a recent development, veteran Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Morrison is challenging the National Treasury Employees Union's (NTEU) attempt to gain bargaining control over attorneys at the DOJ Civil Rights Division and the Environment and Natural Resources Division. The move, according to Morrison, was expedited following Donald Trump's election victory in an effort to empower NTEU officials before inauguration day.
Morrison, with legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, argues that this campaign by NTEU violates an existing Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) decision. This decision previously determined that attorneys in the Civil Rights Division did not form a suitable work unit for unionization.
Despite initial opposition from DOJ management regarding the appropriateness of unionizing these divisions, the department withdrew its objections shortly after November elections. Morrison has filed Applications for Review with the FLRA, requesting a formal examination of actions taken by both Biden's DOJ and NTEU officials. He emphasizes that previous FLRA rulings found no distinct community of interest among CRT lawyers compared to other DOJ trial attorneys.
