In today’s news and commentary, the Office of Personnel Management directs federal agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreements, and Indian farmworkers engage in a one-day strike to protest a trade deal with the United States.

Earlier this week, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor advised federal agencies to move forward with plans to cancel or amend collective bargaining agreements, despite ongoing litigation challenging President Trump’s executive order to do so. Executive Orders 14251 and 14343, both issued in 2025, ordered more than a dozen federal agencies to end collective bargaining for over one million federal workers, or almost 85% of the unionized federal workforce. Affected agencies include the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of the Treasury. In August 2025, the 9th Circuit lifted a preliminary injunction on the Administration’s enforcement of the EOs, allowing many agencies to go forward with terminating their collective bargaining agreements. 

Despite this, Erich Wagner with Government Executive reports that “a smattering of agencies still recognize their workforces’ labor representatives due to court orders temporarily barring the orders’ implementation.” The recent OPM memo targets these remaining agencies, directing heads of departments and agencies to enact the EOs despite the ongoing legal actions. The National Treasury Employees Union referenced this memo in a new filing in litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; NTEU General Counsel Paras Shah argued that the OMP’s order demonstrates that the Executive Order’s harm is “certain and imminent” and the Court should therefore issue a preliminary injunction.

On Thursday, Indian unions and farmers engaged in a one-day nationwide strike to protest an interim trade deal with the United States. The deal, brokered between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi earlier this year, would decrease American tariffs on Indian goods in exchange for the elimination of Indian import taxes on American goods, as well as an agreement by PM Modi to stop buying Russian oil. Strikers argue that the deal will harm the Indian agricultural sector by forcing Indian farmers to compete with cheap American products. Protestors and opposition parties additionally called for the government to end the privatization of state-run industries and withdraw new labor codes that eliminate worker firing protections and tighten conditions for forming unions. Some outlets estimate that as many as 300 million strikers took part in the action.