The role played by federal employee unions in the federal government, if any, has changed dramatically over time.
President Franklin Roosevelt believed unions did not belong in the federal government. He expressed his view on the issue in 1937 in a letter to the president of the National Federation of Federal Employees when he wrote:
All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress.
That changed in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10988. This Order gave federal employees the right to form and join unions and engage in collective bargaining. The Order limited bargaining rights by not allowing strikes, no wage negotiations tied to union contracts and limited the topics for bargaining. It was formulated by a task force led by Labor Secretary Arthur Goldberg, a former union lawyer.
President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11491 in 1969 and modified the Kennedy Order. It provided for exclusive representation by...
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