Labor News & Commentary October 28 two federal unions oppose CBA cancellations, Paramount plans for mass layoffs

https://onlabor.org/october-28-2025/

By Anjali Katta

Anjali Katta is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s news and commentary, two federal unions oppose CBA cancellations, another federal union urges Democrats to end the government shut down, and Paramount plans for mass layoffs.

Two federal unions, the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) and the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO), filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the US District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to reinstate their collective bargaining agreements, which were canceled by President Donald Trump in August. The unions argue that the cancellations, which were justified under a national security exemption, is unjustified as it causes irreparable harm and violates their members’ constitutional protections. POPA’s CBA covers more than 8,000 workers. The unions argue that the cancellation came as their employers were making large operational changes including office closures and changes to performance evaluations without giving the workers a chance to bargain over the impact of those changes. The lawsuit also challenges Trump’s authority to invoke the national security exemption.

Democrats have rejected calls from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal workers’ union, to drop their healthcare demands and approve a short-term funding bill to reopen the government. AFGE, representing 820,000 workers, urged passage of a “clean continuing resolution” to end the month-long shutdown, even without resolving disputes over Obamacare subsidies. Most Democrats, however, have remained firm, and have not ceded their demands. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Tim Kaine, whose states employ many federal workers, criticized Trump’s handling of the shutdown and expressed concerns about potential layoffs once the government reopens.

In addition to the mass layoffs reported by Justin, Paramount (now known as Paramount Skydance) will begin major layoffs on Wednesday, cutting over 1,000 jobs, with a second round expected later. The total layoffs could reach 2,000 as the company pursues cost reductions and restructuring under new leadership that formed during its merger with Skydance media within the last year. Paramount President Jeff Shell said the goal is to avoid ongoing cuts by making substantial changes now, acknowledging the process will be “painful.” The effects of this merger have been felt across Paramount’s subsidiaries as well. Veteran journalists at Paramount-owned company CBS, including a co-anchor and an executive producer of 60 Minutes, have left the company following the change in leadership that followed from the merger and citing changes in journalistic freedom.