Federal Employee Union Lawsuit: Biden Vaccine Mandate Is Executive Power Overreach

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden's mandate for large private businesses to require workers to get vaccinated, the decision didn't let federal workers off the hook.

Now, members of the largest union representing federal workers are challenging the mandate in court, and the decision has the potential to put limits on when presidents can issue executive orders in the future.

Under the umbrella of the 700,000-member American Federation of Government Employees, the following unions have filed suit in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania: the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2018, representing all union, federal contractors who train U.S. Marines outside of boot camp; and the American Federation of Government Employees Council Of Prison Local 33, representing union employees in all federal prisons and detention centers.

The lawsuit covers tens of thousands of unvaccinated employees, Attorney Bruce Castor, Jr. of the law firm Van Der Veen, Hartshorn & Levin, told The Epoch Times.

As union members, employees were not given the opportunity to negotiate a contract with the mandate, which punishes unvaccinated employees with termination; being forced to disclose vaccination status draws employees into unwanted political speech because vaccination status has become a politically charged issue; and employees are deprived of their religious freedoms when religious exemption applications are denied.

The filing requests an injunction to stop Biden and the federal Office of Personnel Management from enforcing the vaccination mandate.

A federal court on Dec. 7 had issued a preliminary injunction to block nationwide enforcement of the mandate for federal contractors.
 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/federal-employee-union-lawsuit-biden-vaccine-mandate-is-executive-power-overreach_4300168.html