Joanna Friedman, partner at the Federal Practice Group, discusses the court’s reversal of a prior decision on the workforce executive orders, and what the unions are planning to do about it.

The D.C. Circuit Court reversed a decision on the President’s workforce executive orders, citing a lack of jurisdiction. The executive orders were tabled last year due to their restrictions on unions not lining up with existing law. While the orders aren’t going to be implemented just yet, Joanna Friedman, partner at the Federal Practice Group, says that the unions have an uphill battle to keep it that way.

“For unions, they have to continue to work within the process, which means they can file at the FLRA, they can file what’s called a ULP, an unfair labor practice complaint where they are asserting a bad faith negotiation on the part of the management. The problem there is that Trump has not appointed a general counsel at the FLRA, so no decisions can even be made over those ULP complaints,” Friedman said. “The reality is that while unions can work within the process, there’s not much there other than fighting in court. I think the most important thing for unions is they do need to create a good record that they are engaging in good faith negotiations.”