Bureau of Prisons Ends Union Protections for Workers

WASHINGTON — The federal Bureau of Prisons on Thursday canceled its collective bargaining agreement with its workers, effectively stripping them of union rights and moving the agency to govern labor relations without a formal contract.

Director William K. Marshall III told the agency's nearly 35,000 employees that the union, the Council of Prison Locals, had become “an obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it,” and that the contract “too often slowed or prevented” changes meant to improve safety and morale. In a message posted to the agency's website, Marshall said, “The whole purpose of ending this contract is to make your lives better,” and added that the Bureau would “move forward with solutions that work, without roadblocks, without excuses, and with one goal: to make the Bureau a place where people are proud to serve.”

The union’s president, Brandy Moore-White, said the move will jeopardize the safety and livelihoods of workers who endure dangerous conditions to keep inmates, staff and communities safe, and she pledged that the union would fight the decision. “We will absolutely fight this tooth and nail!” she said.

The contract, which was set to run through May 2029, will be canceled, and union dues will no longer be collected. Employees will no longer have a right to union representation during meetings with management, investigative interviews or other proceedings. Marshall told Moore-White that, even without a union or collective bargaining pact, workers would continue to enjoy protections under federal civil service law, including job security and whistleblower rights. He said, “Those safeguards aren’t going anywhere,” and stressed that pay and benefits—including salary, retirement, health insurance, overtime, leave accrual and a uniform allowance—are guaranteed by law and will remain unchanged.

The Bureau of Prisons operates 122 facilities and houses about 155,000 inmates, with an annual budget of more than $8.5 billion. It has long faced severe understaffing, leading to extended overtime shifts and the use of nurses, teachers, cooks and other workers to guard inmates. The agency also carries a roughly $3 billion repair backlog, thousands of vacancies and, in February, an official told Congress that more than 4,000 beds were unusable because of dangerous conditions such as leaking roofs, mold, asbestos or lead.

Marshall’s decision came as part of a broader shift in federal labor policy under the administration, which has increasingly moved to restrict collective bargaining for certain federal workers. A March presidential executive order exempted federal intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative and national security agencies from recognizing employee labor unions or engaging in collective bargaining. A related development earlier this year saw the Department of Homeland Security end its collective bargaining agreement with Transportation Security Administration employees who screen passengers and baggage; the union sued, and a judge issued a preliminary injunction in June that kept the contract in place.

In a broader context, a years-long Associated Press investigation has documented deep and previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, including allegations of sexual abuse by inmates, criminal activity by staff, numerous escapes and the free flow of guns, drugs and other contraband. The reporting noted that employees working on the front lines are often exposed to threats and violence, with incidents ranging from harassment to physical harm. Last year, a mailroom supervisor at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, California, died after opening a letter laced with fentanyl and other substances, and a separate probe cited hundreds of instances of sexual harassment and abuse reported by female staff at the federal prison in Thomson, Illinois.

The Bureau of Prisons has said the changes are intended to improve safety and morale, but labor advocates warn that stripping union protections can undermine safeguards for workers who operate under high-risk conditions. The developing dispute arrives as the federal system continues to grapple with aging facilities, staffing shortages and a backlog of maintenance projects, amid broader political debates over federal workforce protections and accountability.

If the administration pursues further changes, observers expect potential legal challenges from the Council of Prison Locals and other unions, along with ongoing oversight from Congress and civil service interests. For now, the union dispute adds another chapter to a year of tension between federal employee advocates and an administration determined to reshape labor relations across the federal government.