Trump Administration Settles with Federal Unions on RIF Notices; UAW Seeks En Banc Review of Second Circuit Arbitration Ruling

# What happened On Sept. 25–27, 2026, two separate developments mattered to labor advocates and union lawyers. First, the Trump Administration reached a settlement with major federal unions over reduction-in-force (RIF) actions taken during last year's government shutdown. Second, the United Auto Workers sought en banc review in the Second Circuit of a panel decision that could change how arbitrators' findings about just cause are treated in follow-on discipline.

# Federal RIF settlement — the facts

AFSCME President Patrick Moran responded to the settlement by saying it limits the administration's ability to use federal workers as bargaining chips during future shutdowns and that unions will remain vigilant and continue organizing to secure contract protections.

# UAW en banc petition — the Suzek case Separately, the United Auto Workers filed a petition asking the full Second Circuit to rehear a three-judge panel decision. The panel had upheld a district court ruling that the union must re-arbitrate the firing of Ford employee Robert Suzek.

Context: Ford fired Suzek after a 2022 harassment investigation. An arbitrator later concluded Ford lacked just cause to terminate and ordered reinstatement. When Ford re-terminated Suzek for allegedly lying during the original investigation, the panel concluded the union had to pursue another arbitration to challenge the new firing.

# Why the Second Circuit dispute matters Arbitrators typically determine just cause by weighing what is fair and reasonable given the full set of facts and circumstances. When an arbitrator finds an employer lacked just cause to fire, that finding is generally understood to foreclose relitigating the same misconduct as a basis for termination.

The panel ruling in Suzek's case could change that practical effect. If employers can re-terminate an employee for a different or reframed reason and force a new arbitration, unions and employees may face repeated proceedings over the same conduct. That outcome would raise costs for unions and could weaken the protection an arbitrator's finding is supposed to provide.

# What to watch next

• Whether the Second Circuit grants en banc review. If it does, the court could either reaffirm the panel's approach or restore the settled practice that an arbitrator's just-cause finding bars relitigation of the same misconduct.
• How federal agencies implement the RIF rescissions and whether other announced RIF plans (for example at USDA) become the subject of new litigation or settlements.
• Any shifts in employer behavior around disciplinary investigations and terminations if courts allow repeat arbitrations.

# Bottom line The RIF settlement reverses a set of shutdown-era notices and puts 4,200 federal employees back to work, resolving that strand of litigation. The UAW's petition asks a higher court to prevent a change in arbitration practice that could make it easier for employers to engage in serial terminations and force unions into repeated proceedings over the same underlying conduct.