Labor News & Commentary July 24 a jury awards two firefighters $1 million after they were terminated for union activity

https://onlabor.org/july-24-2025/

By Mila Rostain

Mila Rostain is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s News and Commentary, a Texas District Court dismisses the government’s case requesting a declaratory judgement authorizing agencies to end collective bargaining agreements for Texas workers, a jury awards two firefighters $1 million after they were terminated for union activity, and Democratic lawmakers are boycotting venues that have not rehired food service workers.

Yesterday, Judge Alan Albright of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas held that eight federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment authorizing them to end collective bargaining agreements for federal workers in Texas. Without a cognizable injury-in-fact, the Court refused to exercise jurisdiction, instead calling it a “an unprecedent invitation for an advisory opinion.” As Bloomberg reports, this is the second time a judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment authorizing the termination of collective bargaining agreements. In late May, Judge Danny Reeves of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky held that the Treasury Department similarly lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment that it had the power to terminate its collective bargaining agreement with Local 73 of the National Treasury Employees Union.

The dismissal comes as the House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment to the House National Defense Authorization Act aiming to prevent the enforcement of Trump’s executive order terminating collective bargaining for Department of Defense workers. Three Republican members joined Democrats to pass the amendment.

FULL story at link above.