this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2025
63 points (100.0% liked)
chat
8538 readers
447 users here now
Chat is a text only community for casual conversation, please keep shitposting to the absolute minimum. This is intended to be a separate space from c/chapotraphouse or the daily megathread. Chat does this by being a long-form community where topics will remain from day to day unlike the megathread, and it is distinct from c/chapotraphouse in that we ask you to engage in this community in a genuine way. Please keep shitposting, bits, and irony to a minimum.
As with all communities posts need to abide by the code of conduct, additionally moderators will remove any posts or comments deemed to be inappropriate.
Thank you and happy chatting!
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
There's a lot of misunderstanding about public sector unions and concerted activity.
Essentially most of the private sector has some protections guaranteed by law to engage in union activity including strikes. For instance, private sector workers can strike and the employer cannot terminate their employment because of the strike (there are other legal ways to fuck over striking employees but they are limited somewhat).
If public sector workers strike they have no protections. This means if they walk off the job their employment can be terminated. Trump could just tell them they're fired with no claim to unemployment benefits, COBRA, or severance benefits. They can also be banned from federal employment for life.
Federal strikes are also explicitly illegal and employees or the union would almost certainly be fined. They could also face jail time in theory although that's quite rare.
This doesn't mean they couldn't strike, but it is a lot riskier than a private sector strike.
From a longterm perspective though, eventhough there's been mass layoffs,some industries need bodies to function- we saw with the rehiring, so firing even essential workers could cause a damaging public backlash and or significantly more weak federal government