5 U.S.C. § 7102
Section 7102 · Employees rights
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 163 court decisions — leading case Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms v. Federal Labor Relations Authority (1983)
Most recently applied in National Treasury Employees Union v. FLRA (August 2022)
Applied most in the District Circuit Circuit (50 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 5 U.S.C. § 7123 · 5 U.S.C. § 7106 · 5 U.S.C. § 7103
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Each employee shall have the right to form, join, or assist any labor organization, or to refrain from any such activity, freely and without fear of penalty or reprisal, and each employee shall be protected in the exercise of such right. Except as otherwise provided under this chapter, such right includes the right—
(1) to act for a labor organization in the capacity of a representative and the right, in that capacity, to present the views of the labor organization to heads of agencies and other officials of the executive branch of the Government, the Congress, or other appropriate authorities, and
(2) to engage in collective bargaining with respect to conditions of employment through representatives chosen by employees under this chapter.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 7102, Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 523, related to right of employees to petition Congress, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 95–454. See section 7211 of this title.
Partial Suspension of Federal Service Labor-Management Relations
Par. (2) of this section suspended with respect to any matter proposed for bargaining which would substantially impair the implementation by the United States Forces of any treaty or agreement, including any minutes or understandings thereto, between the United States and the Government of the host nation, see section 1(b) of Ex. Ord. No. 12391, Nov. 4, 1982, 47 F.R. 50457, set out as a note under section 7103 of this title.