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# The Bureau of Prisons wants to cancel its union contract with 30,000 workers. A federal judge told them to knock it off.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/judge-voids-bureau-of-prisons-union-contract-re-termination/
- Published: 2026-10-17T18:36:21.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-17T18:36:21.000Z
- Description: Eight days after a court restored the contract for about 30,000 prison workers, the agency tried to end it anyway.
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Legal News

A federal judge overruled the Bureau of Prisons' second attempt to cancel its union contract with about 30,000 federal prison workers. Then, just eight days later, the Bureau tried to cancel the contract again.

In an order dated Friday, Oct. 16, U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver of the District of Connecticut ruled that the bureau's Oct. 7 move to end the contract with the American Federation of Government Employees' Council of Prison Locals was invalid. "The re-termination is VOID," he wrote. The contract stays in force until it expires on May 28, 2029, or until the court grants a proper request from the agency to change his earlier order.

### How we got here

Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III first canceled the contract in September 2025, saying the union had become "an obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it," AP reported. The move followed a March 2025 executive order that exempted the Justice Department and the bureau from federal bargaining rules. That order didn't require agencies to tear up existing contracts.

The union sued in November 2025\. On Sept. 29, 2026, Oliver issued a preliminary injunction (a court order that holds things in place while the case continues) restoring the contract. He wrote that an agency "cannot offer an entirely pretextual explanation," Government Executive reported.

A week later, on Oct. 7, Marshall issued a new memo terminating the contract again, this time citing staffing, the First Step Act, and national security, according to Federal News Network. The union asked the court to enforce its order and hold the bureau in contempt.

### What the judge decided

Oliver sided with the union on the core question. The bureau, he found, couldn't simply re-cancel the contract on its own after he ordered it restored. If the agency wanted out, it had to ask the court first.

The union didn't get everything. Oliver declined to hold the bureau in contempt, writing that "doing so at this stage is premature." He also pointed the union's complaints about individual prisons, including wardens who allegedly refused to recognize union representatives at discipline meetings, to the contract itself: "The CBA has an extensive grievance process for managing individual complaints of noncompliance."

"Our members deserve nothing less than full compliance with the court's decision," said Brandy Moore White, national president of the Council of Prison Locals, Federal News Network reported. A bureau spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

### Who wins, who loses

Prison workers win back the protections in their contract: grievance rights, representation in discipline meetings, and the bargaining terms negotiated in 2014, at least for now. The bureau loses its shortcut. To end the contract, it now has to go back to court or win an appeal to the Second Circuit.

The fight is bigger than one agency. The Department of Veterans Affairs has declared its AFGE contract, covering more than 320,000 workers, no longer in effect after an appeals court stay on Oct. 2\. Federal unions are winning some rounds in court and losing others, and the outcome will decide whether a federal worker's contract means anything when an administration decides it doesn't want one.

### What's next

The order sets no new hearing date. Watch for a motion from the bureau to dissolve or modify the injunction, or an appeal. If you're a federal prison employee, your contract's grievance and representation rights apply now. If a supervisor tells you otherwise, put it in writing and take it to your local union rep.

### Sources

- [*National Council of Prison Locals v. Federal Bureau of Prisons*, No. 3:25-cv-1907 (D. Conn.), Memorandum & Order, Oct. 16, 2026 (CourtListener)](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ctd.167896/gov.uscourts.ctd.167896.84.0.pdf?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Federal News Network: "Judge voids Bureau of Prisons' attempt to re-terminate union contract" (Oct. 2026)](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/unions/2026/10/judge-voids-bureau-of-prisons-attempt-to-re-terminate-union-contract/?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Federal News Network: "BOP re-terminates union contract days after being ordered to restore it" (Oct. 2026)](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/unions/2026/10/bop-re-terminates-union-contract-days-after-being-ordered-to-restore-it/?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Government Executive: Bureau of Prisons ordered to reinstate union rights (Oct. 2026)](https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2026/10/bureau-prisons-latest-agency-ordered-reinstate-union-rights/416452/?ref=workersrights.news)
- [AP via News4Jax: "Federal Bureau of Prisons moves to end union protections for its workers" (Sept. 26, 2025)](https://www.news4jax.com/news/politics/2025/09/26/federal-bureau-of-prisons-moves-to-end-union-protections-for-its-workers/?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Federal News Network: VA says union contract no longer applies after appeals court ruling (Oct. 2026)](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/unions/2026/10/va-says-union-contract-no-longer-applies-after-appeals-court-ruling/?ref=workersrights.news)
- [FedWeek: AFGE reaction (Oct. 2026)](https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/va-again-moves-to-disavow-contract-judge-rules-for-union-in-bureau-of-prisons-case/?ref=workersrights.news)