On a frigid Wednesday afternoon on Capitol hill, House of Representatives Minority Whip told a rally held by the National Treasury Employees Union to "turn up the heat on members of Congress." The NTEU and other federal employee unions are watching as new regulations at the Department of Homeland Security strip away their collective bargaining and due process rights. Selina Musuta reports from the nation's capital for WIN:

Despite the cold, over a hundred National
Treasury Employees Union or NTEU and allies stood in
front of the capitol to demand collective bargaining
rights for employees at the Department of Homeland
Security or DHS.

[Hoyer1]: This administration and the majority in the house
of representatives and United States Senate did not
believe in the right of employees to collective
bargain for pay, benefits, and working conditions.

That was Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer of
Maryland, a supporter of the NTEU. The NTEU filed a
lawsuit against DHS in late January. The lawsuit asks
the court to prevent the implementation of final
personnel regulations that strip collective bargaining
and other rights from all DHS civilian employees.
Opponents of these regulations say that they go
against the collective bargaining clause in the
homeland security act. The very act that created the
DHS.

For Workers Independent News, in Washington, DC I am
Selina Musuta.