(This May 16 story was refiled without any changes to text.) (Reuters) - A federal appeals court lifted an order on Friday that blocked U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of the ability to unionize and collectively bargain over working conditions.

A federal appeals court reversed a lower court decision, allowing President Donald Trump to move ahead with a directive to end collective bargaining rights for thousands of federal workers.

The injunction had frozen the president’s order seeking to remove collective bargaining rights from workers at dozens of government agencies and offices.