BUSH, CITING SECURITY, BANS SOME UNIONS AT JUSTICE DEPT.

Invoking security concerns, President Bush has issued an executive order
barring union representation at United States attorneys' offices and at
four other agencies in the Justice Department.

Although federal law bans strikes by federal employees, White House
officials said Mr. Bush had issued his order out of concern that union
contracts could restrict the ability of workers in the Justice Department
to protect Americans and national security.

The order, issued on Jan. 7, has angered unions, which say the president is
exploiting the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 to pursue a campaign against
unions.

The order bars representation for more than 500 workers at the United
States attorneys' offices, the criminal division, the National Drug
Intelligence Center, the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review and the
National Central Bureau of Interpol.

The associate director for collective bargaining at the American Federation
of State, County and Municipal Employees, Steven Kreisberg, said
unionization in no way threatened national security.

"We're outraged by this," said Mr. Kreisberg, whose union represents more
than 300 employees in the Justice Department, including secretaries, file
clerks and messengers.

"A lot of these Justice Department workers have been members of unions for
20 years," he said, "and there's never been an allegation of a problem.
It's a very cynical use of the Sept. 11 tragedy by an antiunion
administration."

A spokeswoman for the White House, Anne Womack, said previous presidents
had barred other classes of federal workers from unionizing by invoking the
national security exemption in the law that gives federal employees the
right to unionize.

"The legislation," Ms. Womack said, "recognizes that a unionized work force
is not always appropriate for certain agencies or subdivisions of
government, including employees who engage in investigation, intelligence,
counterintelligence or national security."

The order has widened a rift between Mr. Bush and labor. Last week, unions
condemned his naming Eugene Scalia, son of Justice Antonin Scalia of the
Supreme Court, as Labor Department solicitor after failing to win Senate
approval. As a corporate lawyer, Mr. Scalia had enraged unions by saying an
ergonomics regulation from the Clinton administration intended to reduce
workplace injuries was based on "quackery" and "junk science."