President Trump signed an executive order requiring federal government employees to return to office.Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesTrump signed an executive order requiring federal government employees to return to the office.Union leaders opposed the mandate and said it was based on misconceptions about federal workers.They also said telework was crucial for recruiting talent and emergency preparedness.Leaders of unions representing federal government employees say President Donald Trump's return-to-office mandate won't make the government more efficient — and could have some unintended consequences.Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, or NFFE, and Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, or AFGE, said the RTO mandate would make the government less effective."They're trying to score political points by insinuating that people on telework aren't coming to work when nothing could be further from the truth," Erwin told Business Insider in an interview.If not for telework and other family-friendly work methods, the federal government "would not be able to recruit and retain the talent that it needs," Erwin said.