Judge orders Bureau of Prisons to restore its union’s collective bargaining agreement

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Bureau of Prisons to reinstate a collective bargaining agreement with the agency’s union after the bureau’s director abruptly terminated the agreement over claims the union represented an “obstacle to progress.”

Vernon Oliver, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, granted a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Prisons that was sought by the National Council of Prison Locals to restore the agreement after Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall terminated it on Sept. 25, 2025.

The Trump administration has been trying to snuff out unions at multiple federal agencies. 

In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order that sought to exclude federal offices involved in national security or intelligence work from having collective bargaining agreements with staff. That order also applies to the Justice Department, which includes the Bureau of Prisons.

Despite that order, the Bureau of Prisons continued to largely uphold its collective bargaining agreement with its union for six months after the executive order was issued. The union represents approximately 30,000 civil servants who work in federal prisons throughout the country.

Oliver noted in his order that when Marshall opted to end the agreement, he made comments that suggested he was ending it for reasons other than national security.

In a message on the Bureau of Prisons’ website, Marshall said that the National Council of Prison Locals, part of the American Federation of Government Employees, was not the “kind of union” he supported, and alleged the contract “has too often slowed or prevented changes.”

“This case does not concern the validity of EO-14,251 — that litigation is ongoing elsewhere throughout the nation,” Oliver wrote. “Rather, the immediate issue before the court is whether, as alleged, BOP’s decision to terminate the CBA violated the Administrative Procedure Act.”

He added that the union had met the burden of demonstrating it was likely to succeed on the merits of the case.

“Defendants shall immediately reinstate the CBA for the remainder of the agreed-upon term provided in the CBA and shall be governed by the terms of the agreement,” the judge added.

CPL-33 President Brandy White, in a statement to members on Tuesday, lauded the judge’s ruling, but also cautioned that the Justice Department is likely to request a stay.

“We should have more information regarding that tomorrow,” she wrote.

“This is an important step, but our fight is not over,” she wrote.

Most recently, the BOP and its union entered into a revised collective bargaining agreement in November 2024 that runs through May 2029.

CBS News has reached out to the Bureau of Prisons for comment.