The federal District Court in Washington, D.C., overturned an executive order issued by President Bush last year that required employers with federal contracts to advise workers of their rights to avoid joining a union and paying standard dues obligations derived from collective bargaining agreements.

Ruling on a lawsuit filed by the United Auto Workers and the Office and Professional Employees International Union, the court said the Bush administration had no right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to issue the rule Executive Order 13201 and permanently enjoined the administration from enforcing the order.

The UAW said the court basically accepted its argument that the Bush order is likely to be viewed by workers as an attempt by employers to discourage participation in unions. The court also said that the order interferes with the right of unions to bargain with employers over communications regarding employee rights.

The court also agreed with the unions' argument that the "notice required by the [executive order] only notifies employers of their NLRA rights against unions and not of their NLRA rights against employers, including their right to participate in union activity without employer interference."

UAW Pres. Stephen P. Yokich said: "This decision is a loud and clear rebuke to an effort by the Bush administration to require even employers with good collective bargaining relationships to adopt an anti-union stance and further to circumvent the collective bargaining relationship."

The ruling was the second reversal by the courts of Bush's anti-worker executive orders. Last year, the courts overturned a Bush order that barred project labor agreements that set terms and conditions of employment on federally funded construction projects and ensure the orderly resolution of labor disputes.

"Project labor agreements have worked effectively to prevent strikes and lockouts, benefitting construction companies and employees alike since the 1940s," the AFL-CIO noted.

The AFL-CIO charged that these two measures, and two others issued within a month of Bush's swearing in, "were sought by Bush's corporate contributors and right-wing ideologues and were an early salvo in a continuing campaign of over-reaching initiatives that have undermined workers' rights."

The Bush administration announced it will appeal both rulings.