National Nurses United and other unions challenge executive order that punishes and silences workers

Labor unions will present their argument for a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on June 18, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). The unions filed a lawsuit on April 3, alleging that the Trump administration violated the law when it issued an executive order aimed at stripping more than a million federal workers of their union rights in retaliation for opposing its policies. 

The lawsuit was brought by NNOC/NNU, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), National Association of Government Employees (NAGE-SEIU), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). 

“The safety and the well-being of our veteran patients is dependent on the ability of nurses to speak out and advocate without the threat of retaliation or intimidation,” said Nancy Hagans, RN, president of NNU, which represents more than 15,000 nurses in Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals nationwide. “The attempt to silence nurses is retribution for our advocacy and determination to defend our veterans’ right to the highest quality of care.”

What: Preliminary injunction hearing for lawsuit by federal workers’ unions
When: Wednesday, June 18, 10 a.m.
Where: U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Courtroom 11, 19th Floor, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco

“We know this administration wants to bust our unions, demoralize workers, and destroy the VA to privatize veterans' health care. But nurses are fierce defenders of decency and health care and we will not allow these punitive actions to silence us,” said Hagans. “We will fight to ensure that we keep our promise to veterans to care for them as they put their lives on the line for us.”

According to their lawsuit, the unions allege that the March 27, 2025 executive order issued by the president attempted to strip workers “of their collective bargaining rights in retaliation for protected First Amendment activity,” including lawsuits and public statements opposing the administration’s policies. The plaintiffs point to a fact sheet which accompanied the executive order that specifically referred to “hostile Federal unions” who had “declared war on President Trump’s agenda.”

Furthermore, the unions contend that because the executive order gave the secretaries of the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs the ability to restore bargaining rights to certain unions workers–many of whom do have the same job duties and titles as those represented by the plaintiffs–“the executive order has created a massive chilling effect that discourages federal unions and their members from voicing opposition” to this administration’s policies. 

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.