Today's AFL-CIO press clipd

MUST READ
The president of the AFL-CIO says she’s committed to the fight against Trump’s immigration policies
Fortune
By Sara Braun
June 14, 2025
Fortune sat down with Shuler to discuss her thoughts on Huerta’s arrest, the AFL-CIO’s long-term plans, and what it’s like to lead America’s largest federation of labor unions under the Trump administration. “We’re definitely built for this,” she says. “The labor movement has endured through the ups and downs of all kinds of politicians.”
POLITICS
US judge blocks State Department's planned overhaul, mass layoffs
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
June 13, 2025
A federal judge in California on Friday temporarily blocked the U.S. State Department from implementing an agency-wide reorganization plan that includes nearly 2,000 layoffs. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said during a virtual hearing that her May ruling barring federal agencies from laying off tens of thousands of employees at the direction of President Donald Trump applies to the planned overhaul announced by the State Department in April.
A U.S. judge in California puts layoff plans at the State Dept. on hold.
The New York Times
By Eileen Sullivan
June 13, 2025
A federal judge in California ordered the State Department to temporarily hold off on firing nearly 1,900 employees on Saturday as planned. The judge, Susan Illston of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California, had previously ordered about 20 agencies across the government to pause planned layoffs while a case challenging them proceeds.
Judge Says State Department Firings Violate Injunction
Bloomberg Law
By Ian Kullgren
June 13, 2025
A federal judge ordered the government to freeze staff cuts at the US Department of State, saying the Trump administration violated an earlier court order barring widespread layoffs. Judge Susan Illston of the US District Court for the Northern District of California told the administration to withhold layoff notices scheduled to be sent on Saturday, rejecting the claim that the reductions were unrelated to President Donald Trump’s Feb. 11 order to implement Department of Government Efficiency cuts. That executive order was blocked by a preliminary injunction while the case moves forward.
Senate strips most retirement cuts from reconciliation, but anti-civil service provisions remain
Government Executive
By Erich Wagner
June 13, 2025
In a statement, American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley blasted the measure as another effort to penalize government employees and their unions. “This so-called reconciliation bill is in fact a big retaliation bill—retaliation against AFGE and other unions for successfully standing up for our members and fighting this administration’s illegal attempts to obliterate our federal agencies and the patriotic civil servants who run our federal programs,” he said. “These provisions represent a direct assault on federal employees and their labor unions and will make it that much harder for federal agencies to recruit and retain the qualified employees they desperately need to serve the American public.”
Federal Judge Reinstates Consumer Product Safety Regulators Fired by Trump
The New York Times
By Chris Cameron
June 13, 2025
A federal judge in Maryland reversed President Trump’s firings of the three Democratic members of the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission, which monitors the safety of products like toys, cribs and electronics. In the ruling, Judge Matthew J. Maddox of the Federal District Court in Maryland said that the law only allowed Mr. Trump to fire the officials for “neglect of duty or malfeasance,” while Mr. Trump had purported to fire them without cause.
Two Top Union Leaders Quit D.N.C. Posts in Dispute With Chairman
The New York Times
By Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein
June 15, 2025
The leaders of two of the nation’s largest and most influential labor unions have quit their posts in the Democratic National Committee in a major rebuke to party’s new chairman, Ken Martin. Randi Weingarten, the longtime leader of the American Federation of Teachers and a major voice in Democratic politics, and Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have told Mr. Martin they will decline offers to remain at-large members of the national party.
Medicaid enrollees fear losing health coverage if Congress enacts work requirements
AP
By Geoff Mulvihill
June 14, 2025
The measure is part of the version of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful” bill that cleared the House last month and is now up for consideration in the Senate. Trump is seeking to have it passed by July 4. The bill as it stands would cut taxes and government spending — and also upend portions of the nation’s social safety net.
GOP tax bill could hurt the poorest households more than it helps them
The Washington Post
By Theodoric Meyer and Jacob Bogage
June 16, 2025
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have pitched their sweeping tax-and-spending bill as a way to help the working-class voters who played a crucial role in electing Trump. But funding cuts to Medicaid and other programs included in the legislation would hurt low-income households financially more than the tax cuts would boost their finances, according to nonpartisan analyses of the bill. The biggest benefits would accrue to the highest-earning households, the analyses found.
TRADE
‘Golden Share’ in U.S. Steel Gives Trump Extraordinary Control
The New York Times
By Ana Swanson and Lauren Hirsch
June 15, 2025
In an update on Saturday to members of the United Steelworkers union, which had strongly opposed a sale to Nippon, its president, David McCall, expressed displeasure about the deal. “We’re disappointed that President Trump reversed course, jeopardizing the future of American steel making by allowing the merger, now described as a ‘partnership,’ despite over a year of the president speaking forcefully against it,” he said.
IMMIGRATION
Judge denies release request for pro-Palestinian activist Khalil
Reuters
By Luc Cohen
June 13, 2025
A U.S. judge on Friday denied pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil's request to be released from detention after President Donald Trump's administration said the Columbia University student was being held on an immigration fraud charge. Newark, New Jersey-based U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said Khalil's lawyers had not successfully argued why it was unlawful for the government to hold him on the charge, which he has denied.
Abrego Garcia to remain detained for now on migrant smuggling charges
Reuters
By Luc Cohen
June 13, 2025
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant returned to the U.S. last week after being wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador, pleaded not guilty on Friday to criminal charges of taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the United States. Defense lawyer William Allensworth entered the not guilty plea on behalf of Abrego, as he prefers to be known, at a hearing in Nashville, Tennessee, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes. At the hearing, Abrego, 29, is also contesting federal prosecutors' bid to have him detained pending trial.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleads not guilty to human smuggling charges in Tennessee federal court
AP
By Travis Loller, Ben Finley and Jonathan Mattise
June 13, 2025
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, pleaded not guilty Friday to human smuggling charges in a federal court in Tennessee. The hearing was the first chance the Maryland construction worker has had in a U.S. courtroom to answer the Trump administration’s allegations since he was mistakenly deported in March to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Hundreds protest in Boston in solidarity with LA and demand detained union leader be freed (Video)
AP
June 14, 2025
Chrissy Lynch, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO: “On behalf of organized labor here in Massachusetts, we stand in strong solidarity with SEIU leader David Huerta and every single working person being illegally and inhumanely targeted by this administration. On Friday, David Huerta was peacefully exercising his constitutional rights, lawfully observing immigration activity in his community when ICE violently arrested him. He was doing what unions always do, what it is our job to do, and what this country was founded on: Speaking out against injustice.”
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Fenway concession workers vote to authorize strike over stalled contract negotiations
CBS News
By WBZ-News Staff
June 15, 2025
Workers who staff the concession stands at Boston's Fenway Park have voted to authorize a strike, but are continuing to work for now. Local 26 said it has been trying to negotiate a deal with Fenway's food contractor - Aramark - since the first of the year. The union's contract expired on December 31, 2024. According to the union, 95% of workers voted to authorise a strike during Sunday's vote. However, the workers have not yet walked out. The workers include about 700 cashiers, cooks, beer sellers and souvenir vendors.
Fenway Park employees vote overwhelmingly to authorize labor strike
By Imani Clement
WCVB
June 15, 2025
Local 26 workers at Boston's Fenway Park have authorized a labor strike on Sunday in response to Aramark, the company that employs the workers. According to a statement from UNITE HERE Local 26, a contract between workers and food company Aramark expired on Dec. 31, 2024, and a new contract has been unsuccessfully in the bargaining stages since the beginning of 2025.
Workers vote to authorize strike at Boston's Fenway Park, MGM Music Hall
NBC Boston
By Asher Klein
June 15, 2025
Some workers at Fenway Park and nearby MGM Music Hall have voted to authorize a strike amid contract negotiations with their employer, Aramark, their union announced Sunday. If the workers — who include cooks, beer sellers, cashiers and souvenir vendors — do strike, union UNITE HERE Local 26 said it would ask people who attend Boston Red Sox games not to buy food or beverages inside Fenway Park, referring to that in a news release as the picket line.
Boston Globe
By Dana Gerber
June 13, 2025
Inside America’s oldest ballpark, unionized concessions workers are approaching the strike zone. More than 1,000 cooks, cashiers, warehouse attendants, and other workers at Fenway Park, plus several dozen at the adjacent MGM Music Hall, are casting votes today and through the weekend on whether to authorize a first-ever strike after their previous contract expired at the end of last year. The vote, announced last month, follows several months of sluggish contract negotiations between the workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 26, and their employer, the services provider Aramark. The workers are vying for stronger wages, controls on automation, seniority-based scheduling, and gratuity improvements for premium employees.
WGA East Seals Tentative Deal With Vox Media Management, Narrowly Avoiding Strike
Deadline
By Katie Campione
June 13, 2025
The Writers Guild of America East narrowly avoided a strike against Vox Media, announcing a tentative new three-year deal with management in the early hours of Friday morning. The current contract was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, and the union had already authorized a strike a few hours prior. Now, the deal needs approval from the WGAE Council’s Online Media sector representatives as well as the 250-member Vox Media Union. The union says that details on the contract will be released upon ratification.
Vox Media Union Reaches Agreement on Three-Year Contract
Variety
By Todd Spangler
June 13, 2025
Vox Media‘s union employees will not hit the picket line for now: On Friday morning, the union said it had reached a tentative three-year agreement with the digital media company after an overnight bargaining session. The Vox Media Union covers editorial staff at Vox.com, The Verge, Eater, SB Nation, Pop Sugar, Thrillist, Vox Media Podcast Network and The Dodo.
Colorado grocery workers union announces plans to strike at 3 stores
CBS news
By Logan Smith
June 14, 2025
With the clock winding down toward Saturday night's deadline for new contract negotiations, a Colorado union has announced locations where grocery employees are set to walk off the job on Sunday in protest. The strike will start at Safeway/Albertsons stores in Estes Park, Fountain and Pueblo, plus a Denver distribution center, according to a press release from the United Food and Commercial Workers Local7. The union issued a required 72-hour strike notice to the grocery chain Wednesday night following a negotiations session which failed to produce a new contract agreement or an extension to negotiations. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Saturday. The current contract expired in January. Union members approved the strike in a vote last week - with 99% approving the strike action, per the union.
UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital nurses rally for chance for all nurses to vote in union negotiations
WTAE
By Chandi Chapman
June 13, 2025
Labor leaders, lawmakers and nurses rallied outside UPMC headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh on Friday, demanding fair treatment for health care workers. "This is a two-way street. I'm sick and tired of dancing around this. This has got to stop," said Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny Fayette Central Labor Council. "You are the biggest employer. And yes, you have a responsibility, and bullying will not be tolerated in this region."
Negotiations continue as months-long strike at Cummins' Oshkosh plant drags on
Fox11
By Josh Cavender
June 13, 2025
Since March 18, members of United Auto Workers Chapter 291 have been on strike in Oshkosh. They walked off the job at Cummins over unfair labor practices, according to Union President Ryan Compton.
Local electrician union planning to strike against Duke Energy
WIBQ
By Christopher Boyll
June 13, 2025
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1393 has announced its intention to strike against Duke Energy after stalling a new fair work contract. According to the news release, the nearly 1,000 union members employed by Duke Energy have been waiting for the company to agree to a new labor contract. These employees are the ones responsible for maintaining and operating the electrical infrastructure that Duke Energy controls. This includes those working at the generation plants that provide more far-reaching resources across the state.
New Mexico grocery store workers’ union set to vote on strike
KOB4
By KOB
June 13, 2025
Members of a union supporting workers at the Smith’s and Albertsons grocery stores in New Mexico are set to vote on authorizing a strike. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1564 confirmed they filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the two grocery store chains. UFCW Local 1564 members, representing workers at various Albertsons and Smith’s locations, will take a strike authorization vote next week over “unfair labor practices, collusion, and bad faith bargaining.” The vote will start Monday and run through the week.
STATE LEGISLATION
A bill would have given RI workers 12 weeks of caregiver leave. Then businesses objected.
The Providence Journal
By Katherine Gregg
June 13, 2025
The Rhode Island AFL-CIO was among the group enthusiastically backing the bill, while businesses say it is hard enough now to find available employees and that the proposed law may hobble them.
IN THE STATES
‘No Kings’ protests planned across North Alabama
WHNT
By Nicki Marker
June 13, 2025
Jacob Morrison serves as the president of the North Alabama Area Labor Council and will be one of the Huntsville speakers. “North Alabama’s unions want to participate in actions like this to make our opposition known to the policies that the administration is pushing through, which by and large, are going to be things that hurt working people, that hurt our members to benefit billionaires and rich people,” he said.
Hundreds gather at Statehouse for “No Kings” rally as over 2,000 held in cities across U.S.
ABC 25 Columbia
By Lee Williams
June 14, 2025
Other speakers include nonprofit leaders Lawrence Moore and Sam Gibbons, Veterans for All Voters, Representatives of Indivisible, SC, SC United for Justice and Equality Coalition, Jay Belton, Dir., SC AFL-CIO, Nicole Shanchez—Better Ballots SC—Emphasizing Rank Choice Voting, SC Alliance for Retired Americans on Medicaid, and Former SC Sen. Maggie Glover, Carolina for All Board member.
Carolina For All leads massive 'No Kings' protest highlighting democracy under threat
WACH
By Kei'Yona Jordon
June 14, 2025
One speaker with the SC AFL-CIO, Jay Belton, urged people to speak up for working-class citizens in the country. Belton used a Christian biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to get his point across. “Our furnace is them trying to strip us from social security, our furnace is them trying to privatize the postal service," said Belton. We have to stand for our workers." Many of the protesters said they came to stand in support of the immigrant communities. "Due process is for everybody it doesn't matter if you were born here or not," said a protester. "It's a slap in the face to children born from immigrants."
Protesters in Fayetteville join national ‘No Kings’ movement
4029TV
By Abner Sosa
June 14, 2025
“Our group right now is actively fighting in the courts,” said Bruce Appel, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2201. “All the illegal executive orders — we've got at least two cases right now at the Supreme Court.”
No Kings rally draws large crowd to Downtown Bloomington(Video)
WGLT
By Ryan Denham and Ben Howell
June 14, 2025
The No Kings demonstrations were put together by a coalition of more than 200 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers and the Communications Workers of America.
‘No Kings’ protesters rally in Philadelphia against the Trump administration
Union-Bulletin
By Nick Vadala, Michelle Myers, Jesse Bunch, Max Marin, and Nate File
June 14, 2025
A trio of current and retired postal workers wore flash from the American Postal Workers Union, reminding the crowd of Trump’s threats to privatize the Postal Service. They drew nothing but love from their perch along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway protest route, where people shouted “we love USPS!” and thanked them for their work.
VOTING RIGHTS
Judge Blocks Trump Voting Order Requiring Proof of Citizenship
The New York Times
By Zach Montague
June 13, 2025
A federal judge sided with a coalition of states on Friday that had sued to stop stringent new voting ID requirements that President Trump laid out in an executive order in March. The ruling went further than a previous court decision to block most of the key aspects of Mr. Trump’s efforts to overhaul election law by executive order. In addition to indefinitely blocking provisions that would allow the federal government to require proof of citizenship for new voters, the judge’s ruling on Friday blocks a directive for Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against states that continue counting ballots beyond Election Day.n