Guard troops can unionize on state active duty, DoJ says

oh bravo. This is going to end badly for the Guardsmen.

"National Guard troops can legally organize and form unions while serving on state active duty orders, the Justice Department said in a court filing last week.

DoJ lawyers asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by state employee unions in Connecticut, saying that “the Government agrees” with them. A federal law prohibiting members of the military from organizing unions “does not apply to Guard members on state active duty or in the Inactive National Guard,” DoJ lawyers wrote in their filing.

“We’re excited about what appears to be a straightforward agreement with our position that National Guard members on State Active Duty are not subject to” that federal law, said Josh Lefkow, a legal intern for the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic and Marine veteran, in a phone interview.

The apparent green-light to organize hinges upon the troops’ legal status as state employees — not military members — when they are on state active duty. The same legal principle is what allows Guard troops on state active duty to conduct law enforcement, which is virtually prohibited for troops who are being paid as military members.

The unions brought the case on behalf of Connecticut Guard members who they say deserved a voice alongside state employees in advocating for workplace protections when on state active duty responding to the COVID-19 pandemic."