The union representing 30,000 Bureau of Prisons employees is asking a federal judge to hold the agency in contempt, alleging that prison leadership has refused to follow a court order to immediately restore its collective bargaining agreement. The contempt request, filed Oct. 6, comes just one week after U.S. District Judge Vernon Oliver in Connecticut granted a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Prisons that was sought by the National Council of Prison Locals. Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall terminated the collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 25, 2025, alleging the union posed an obstacle to progress and was not the kind of union he could support. The judge ruled that the union was likely to succeed on its argument that the bureau violated the Administrative Procedure Act by terminating the agreement and ordered its immediate reinstatement. In its motion for contempt, the union stated that leadership is stonewalling normal operations and denying official union time. The filing detailed an instance where an employee facing termination requested a shop steward, only to be told by a BOP official that there was no union. The employee was subsequently terminated on Oct. 5. Additionally, the union claimed that Marshall stated on Sept. 29 that he had no plans to enforce the agreement terms without direct orders from the White House. Attorneys for the union wrote that the agency has failed to restore union office space, official time, or representation in disciplinary hearings. American Federation of Government Employees Local 1237 also reported that management at FCI Mendota locked union officials out of their offices. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment due to pending litigation. While the Justice Department has not sought a formal stay to pause the ruling, it filed a notice of compliance on Oct. 2 indicating it was aware of the order. However, the department maintained it does not understand the ruling to prevent it from attempting to re-terminate the agreement before its expiration in May 2028. The Trump administration has pursued efforts to eliminate unions across multiple federal agencies, including an executive order issued in March 2025 that excluded national security and intelligence offices from collective bargaining agreements. Although that order applied to the Justice Department, the BOP allowed its union to operate for roughly six months before terminating the agreement, and Marshall did not cite national security as the basis for his decision at the time.
Source: cbsnews.com
