The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, will itself be the subject of a labor protest Tuesday, when as many as 1,000 members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union are set to gather at the federation’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

OPIEU Local 2 represents an estimated 50 janitorial workers, secretaries, and other office employees at the AFL-CIO. They voted earlier this week to authorize a strike, claiming that the federation’s leadership was trying to strong-arm them into accepting a contract that their members had already rejected.

That vote hasn’t prompted the AFL-CIO to offer better terms, says Local 2 President Dan Dyer, so they’ll have their members and those from other OPIEU shops in the Washington metro area try to pressure the federation into improving its offer. The AFL-CIO presents itself as the defender of rank-and-file workers.

The event is set for noon Tuesday at the AFL-CIO's offices near the White House.

“It’s a funeral for the death of collective bargaining,” Dyer told the Washington Examiner Friday. “They keep saying that they have got a cash problem but what they are asking for (in the management contract) is not about cash. They are saying they want control.”

Workers from other unions that represent AFL-CIO employees, such as the Communications Workers of America, may also appear at the event, Dyer said.

The federation’s proposed contract would take away seniority as well as the right to bargain over hours and working conditions, among other objectionable provisions, Dyer said. “This typical of many employers, just trying to get anything they can,” he said.

The AFL-CIO and most of its members are bracing for potential hits to their finances following the Supreme Court’s Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees decision earlier this year. The court ruled that it was a violation of the First Amendment to require public sector workers to join or otherwise financially support a union as a condition of employment.

Government employee unions account for just under one-half of the estimated 15 million people in organized labor, and unions expect many of those workers to stop paying dues now. The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, said in July it was cutting its budget by $28 million in response to the court ruling.

Dyer said there was “no question” that Janus would have a negative impact on the AFL-CIO’s finances, but said that didn’t justify the federation’s proposed contract.

“These are all things that have nothing to do with their finances,” he said. “They could make proposals to us that deal with the Janus decision and financial impact, and they’re not. They’re going way beyond that.”

A spokesman for the AFL-CIO could not be reached for comment. In a statement to reporters earlier in the week regarding the OPIEU vote, the federation said: “We are involved in negotiations with our administrative staff and, while we hope to avoid any work stoppages, we fully respect their rights through this process. However, we will not negotiate publicly and the critical work of the labor movement continues uninterrupted.”