White House Nixes NASA Unions Amid Budget Uncertainty

Happy Labor Day. The US administration has removed union recognition from NASA as budget cuts and layoffs loom.

The White House issued an executive order at the end of last week that added NASA to the National Security Exclusions list.

Being on the list means that NASA employees no longer have the same protections under US federal labor laws. Union rights have been stripped away, meaning that collective bargaining and negotiation regarding potential cuts will not be possible under the order. The move also repudiates existing collective bargaining agreements.

There are legitimate reasons for an agency to be on the exclusions list – the Department of Defense is on there, for example. However, describing NASA as having a "primary function in intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work" might raise an eyebrow at the agency. Then again, it is all too easy to trip up over ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) when talking about NASA technology, which can make the US Department of State more than a little twitchy.

The order comes amid a period of budget uncertainty for the US space agency. It effectively removes options, such as going on strike, for affected NASA employees.

The Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association (GESTA), an employee association of approximately 1,700 US federal workers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and the Katherine Johnson IV&V Facility, called the executive order "illegal."

GESTA said: "This EO does not prohibit NASA from having unions... WE ARE FIGHTING THIS."

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Goddard is one of the NASA centers that could bear the brunt of the proposed budget cuts.

A NASA spokesperson told The Register: "NASA is aware of this executive order issued on Aug. 28 regarding exclusions from the Federal Labor-Management relations program. We are working to quickly implement this and align with the President's vision for our agency."

NASA isn't the only agency in the executive order. Other inductees to the National Security Exclusions list include the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service and the National Weather Service. ®