Filed Date: May 15, 2026
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding in progress
(This summary is temporary while we research the case further). On May 15, 2026, four federal employee unions — the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE), the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the National Federation of Federal Employees, IAM, AFL-CIO (NFFE), and the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, AFL-CIO (IFPTE) — filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). The unions, which collectively represent hundreds of thousands of federal civilian employees, alleged that FMCS unlawfully changed its arbitration panel policy through an April 22, 2026 memorandum issued by its General Counsel. The April Memorandum required affirmative consent from both parties — including the federal agency — before FMCS would issue an arbitration panel in disputes involving agencies listed in Executive Orders 14251 and 14343, which President Trump had issued in March and August 2025 to exclude certain agencies from the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS). This policy change effectively blocked unions from accessing arbitration panels that many of their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) required as a prerequisite to arbitration. The unions brought a single claim under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), arguing the April Memorandum was arbitrary and capricious because it violated FMCS's own regulations mandating that unilateral panel requests be honored, failed to provide a reasoned explanation for the policy change, and relied on internally contradictory justifications, and they sought declaratory relief, vacatur of the memorandum, and an order requiring FMCS to comply with its regulations.
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73349136/parties/american-federation-of-government-employees-afl-cio-v-federal-mediation/
Moss, Randolph Daniel (District of Columbia)
Dayan, Leon (District of Columbia)
Rowell, James Alexander (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73349136/american-federation-of-government-employees-afl-cio-v-federal-mediation/
Last updated July 3, 2026, 3:08 a.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: May 15, 2026
Case Ongoing: Yes
Case Details
Other Dockets:
District of District of Columbia 1:26-cv-01676
Case Summary of American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. Federation Mediation and Conciliation Service, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/48280/.