Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Trump trashes and cancels federal union contracts as “un-American”
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Feb. 4, 2025
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler chimed in on the unions’ side. She called it “union-busting the federal workforce.” “Rejecting federal workers’ collective bargaining agreements is union busting, plain and simple. Now more than ever, federal workers need strong collective bargaining agreements so they are protected and can continue to do the essential work we all depend on: Delivering Social Security and disability checks, caring for our veterans, or keeping our food and transportation safe. These attempts to break our contracts will not silence our voices,” said Shuler.
Elon Musk and DOGE are hacking the government
NBC News
By David Ingram
Feb. 4, 2025
In the shorthand of the tech industry, Elon Musk has hacked into the government. The billionaire tech magnate has never been elected to office or been confirmed by the Senate for a high-level government job, but in the span of a few days, Musk has still gained access to sensitive federal data through his position as head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency project, or DOGE, to push a far-reaching agenda and potentially spark a constitutional crisis.
Federal unions sue over Musk’s Doge gaining access to sensitive records
The Guardian
By Joseph Gedeon
Feb. 4, 2025
Three federal employee unions are suing the Trump administration, alleging that Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) has been granted unprecedented and potentially illegal access to sensitive government records. The lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court, claims that the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, violated federal privacy laws by giving Musk’s team full access to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s confidential payment systems.
Trump is targeting telework. Here’s what it means.
The Washington Post
By Lauren Kaori Gurley
Feb. 4, 2025
President Donald Trump issued an executive order late last week canceling recently negotiated federal union contracts in an effort to target federal workers who had inked deals allowing telework. This followed previous efforts targeting telework more broadly. It remains to be seen how many workers or which agencies are affected beyond the Education Department. That information was requested by Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform from the federal government’s largest union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
Trump administration drafting executive order to initiate Department of Education’s elimination
CNN
By Alayna Treene and Katie Lobosco
Feb. 4, 2025
The Trump administration has begun drafting an executive order that would kick off the process of eliminating the Department of Education, the latest move by President Donald Trump to swiftly carry out his campaign promises, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN. The move would come in two parts, the sources said. The order would direct the secretary of Education to create a plan to diminish the department through executive action. Trump would also push for Congress to pass legislation to end the department, as those working on the order acknowledge that shuttering the department would require Congress’ involvement.
‘It’s been madness’: US federal workers reeling over Trump-Musk takeover
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
Feb. 4, 2025
US government workers are describing an atmosphere of “fear” and “madness” as they grapple with a barrage of executive orders issued by Donald Trump and threats to their jobs from the office of personnel management, the agency tasked with managing the federal civil service, which has been taken over by the billionaire Elon Musk. Weeks before the administration transition, federal worker unions reported low morale among workers in anticipation of pushes for intimidation, mass firings and harassment.
Federal layoffs ‘likely’ if too few employees choose to quit, memo says
The Washington Post
By Faiz Siddiqui, Emily Davies and Lisa Rein
Feb. 4, 2025
The assistant commissioner of a division of the General Services Administration told staff early this week that layoffs across the federal government are “likely” after the deferred resignation offer expires Thursday, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post — the sharpest move yet toward forcibly removing many of the 2.3 million civilian federal employees.
Federal Worker Union Sues to Stop Trump's Resignation Offer
Bloomberg Law
By Courtney Rozen
Feb. 4, 2025
The nation’s largest federal employee union is suing to halt the Trump administration’s voluntary resignation offer, arguing agencies can’t promise to pay employee salaries before Congress sets aside the money. The American Federation of Government Employees is seeking to stop the Office of Personnel Management’s exit offer known as “Fork in the Road.” Employees that opt to quit by Feb. 6 will keep their pay and benefits through Sept. 30, with the possibility their agencies will lessen their workload, according to the offer from OPM, the federal government’s HR office.
Trump taps veteran NLRB lawyer as acting GC after removing Biden appointee
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
Feb. 4, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump has named a longtime National Labor Relations Board lawyer and one-time board member as the agency's acting general counsel, temporarily filling a vacancy he created by firing a Biden-era appointee. Trump late Monday tapped William Cowen, opens new tab, the regional director of the NLRB's Los Angeles office, to lead the agency's prosecutorial arm until a nominee is named and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
General Services Administration Workers Warned of Impending Staff Cuts
The New York Times
By Ryan Mac and Madeleine Ngo
Feb. 4, 2025
Some employees at the General Services Administration were told Tuesday that the department would be cutting staff and reducing its footprint across the country, underscoring the Trump administration’s determination to rapidly shrink the size of the federal work force. In an email, Josh Gruenbaum, a Trump appointee who currently helps oversee the G.S.A.’s Federal Acquisition Service, told employees that the organization would be “cutting redundant business functions and associated staffing” and that the organization would not need workers in “certain areas of the country.”
Union sues over Trump buyout offer
The Hill
By Rebecca Beitsch
Feb. 4, 2025
The largest federal government employee union is suing the Trump administration to block its buyouts for workers, calling the offer “an arbitrary, unlawful, short-fused ultimatum which workers may not be able to enforce.” The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) suit against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said the agency violated the Administrative Procedures Act in swiftly rolling out an offer that they do not currently have the funds to back and have offered conflicting guidance about how it’s structured.
Trump order to dismantle the education department in the works, sources say
ABC News
By Arthur Jones II and Katherine Faulders
Feb. 3, 2025
President Donald Trump could soon sign an executive order directing the secretary of education to dismantle the federal Department of Education, according to sources briefed on drafts of the order that have circulated among top administration officials. The proposed order gutting the agency is expected to call for the education secretary to submit a proposal for dismantling the department and for Congress to pass legislation to get rid of it. The timing on when Trump plans to sign the order remains unclear, but sources familiar with the process told ABC News that conversations about the future of the department have been actively occurring.
Musk Team Scrutinizes Education Department Operations
The New York Times
By Zach Montague and Jessica Silver-Greenberg
Feb. 4, 2025
Officials with the Education Department told employees in the civil rights office on Tuesday that Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team was scrutinizing the department’s operations, which could lead to further staff reductions. In an all-hands call with the employees in the department’s Office of Civil Rights on Tuesday, Craig Trainor, the office’s acting assistant secretary, signaled that the moves were part of a broader effort by Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, to reshape the federal government.
A Legal Counteroffensive to Beat Back Trump’s Government Purges
The New York Times
By Mattathias Schwartz and Charlie Savage
Feb. 4, 2025
Workers from across the federal government set off a legal counteroffensive against President Trump and Elon Musk on Tuesday, challenging the legality of efforts to raze their agencies, single them out publicly or push them out of their jobs. The raft of lawsuits, filed by F.B.I. agents, public sector unions, representatives of older Americans and liberal-leaning legal groups, hinges on fine points of law that deal with matters ranging from the privacy of taxpayer data to intricacies of federal rule-making. But together, they amount to the opening shots in an emerging legal battle over the constitutional order, checks and balances and the founders’ vision of the separation of powers.
Unions Sue To Stop Trump's 'Deferred Resignation' Program
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
Feb. 4, 2025
Labor unions sued the federal government Tuesday over President Donald Trump’s controversial “deferred resignation” program, saying the effort to nudge government workers out of their jobs violates the law. Officials have told federal employees in a series of emails that they can submit a September resignation now and still receive pay and benefits while doing little or no work. But the details of the administration’s plan have been murky at best, with Democratic lawmakers saying that they believe it’s illegal.
U.S. government officials privately warn Musk’s blitz appears illegal
The Washington Post
By Jeff Stein, Dan Diamond, Faiz Siddiqui, Cat Zakrzewski, Hannah Natanson and Jacqueline Alemany
Feb. 4, 2025
The chaotic blitz by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has triggered legal objections across Washington, with officials in at least a half-dozen federal agencies and departments raising alarms about whether the billionaire’s assault on government is breaking the law. Over the past two weeks, Musk’s team has moved to dismantle some U.S. agencies, push out hundreds of thousands of civil servants and gain access to some of the federal government’s most sensitive payment systems.
Trump Appointees to Put Almost All U.S.A.I.D. Workers on Leave
The New York Times
By Karoun DemirjianEdward Wong and Michael Crowley
Feb. 4, 2025
Nearly the entire global work force of the main American aid agency, known as U.S.A.I.D., will be put on leave by the end of Friday, according to an official memo the agency posted online Tuesday night. The notice said only a small subset of “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs” would be exempt.
37 ways Project 2025 has shown up in Trump’s executive orders
Politico
By Liset Cruz, Ali Bianco, Megan Messerly, Abhinanda Bhattacharyya and Anna Wiederkehr
Feb. 5, 2025
President Donald Trump on the campaign trail last summer disavowed Project 2025, saying he knew nothing about the effort. But many of the conservative blueprint’s ideas have made their way into his early executive orders, signaling the sweeping impact the Heritage Foundation document has already had on the Trump administration’s policy making. A side-by-side review by POLITICO found dozens of cases where the president’s early executive actions have aligned with portions of the 922-page policy document, including some instances with nearly verbatim language lifted from the report to the White House.
US court upholds Biden minimum wage order for federal contractors
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
Feb. 4, 2025
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld Democratic former President Joe Biden's mandate setting a minimum wage that federal contractors must pay to their employees, which recently rose to $17.75 an hour. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected claims, opens new tab by Texas and two other Republican-led states that Biden in the 2021 executive order overstepped his powers to regulate federal procurement.
Still locked out of federal funding, several Head Start preschools may need to close temporarily
AP
By Moriah Balingit
Feb. 4, 2025
Head Start preschools serving thousands of children around the country could be at risk of closing because they remain locked out of their federal funding, a problem that first surfaced last week during President Donald Trump’s aborted effort to freeze federal grants.
Administrators around the country last week discovered they were locked out of a government website used to access grant funding for Head Start, an early education program that serves some of the nation’s neediest families and children. Medicaid administrators reported similar problems.
Trump names top lawyer for EEOC's chair as agency's acting general counsel
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
Feb. 4, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump has named Andrew Rogers, chief counsel to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, as the agency's acting general counsel after firing an appointee of his predecessor, Joe Biden. The EEOC announced the appointment, opens new tab on Tuesday, saying that Rogers since 2020 has participated in all aspects of the commission's work including adopting rules and legal guidance, filing amicus briefs and litigating lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination.
Unions sue to block federal worker buyout plan as 20,000 line up to quit
Reuters
By David Shepardson and Karen Freifeld
Feb. 4, 2025
Unions representing U.S. government employees filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to block the Trump administration's plan to offer buyouts to federal workers, even as a U.S. official told Reuters that more than 20,000 employees are planning on quitting. The American Federation of Government Employees and two other unions claim the buyout offer is "arbitrary and capricious" and violates federal law, according to the complaint.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Unfortunately, the Economy Runs On the Data Trump Is Trying to Delete
Slate
By Lizzie O’Leary
Feb. 4, 2025
On Friday, at 8:29 a.m., markets across the world will slow what they’re doing to wait for data—specifically, the monthly jobs report, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases at 8:30 a.m. It’s not an exaggeration to say that trillions of dollars (U.S. equity markets alone are worth $62 trillion) turn on what the BLS says. The stock market, bond market, and Federal Reserve act and react based on this report. But Friday’s release, which covers the month of January, also has the unfortunate distinction of relying in part on government data that was taken offline this week and is, as of this writing, inaccessible to the public. Economists, business owners, and even everyday people are entitled to understand the full picture of who lives and works in this country, and the Trump administration just made that harder.
US job openings decline as labor market steadily slows
Reuters
By Lucia Mutikani
Feb. 4, 2025
U.S. job openings fell by the most in 14 months in December, but steady hiring and low layoffs suggested the labor market was not abruptly slowing down and that the Federal Reserve probably can hold off on cutting interest rates until at least June.
ORGANIZING
How Philadelphia Whole Foods Clerks Won Their Union Drive
Forbes
By Errol Schweizer
Feb. 4, 2025
On January 28th, 130 Philadelphia Whole Foods employees at the grocer’s Center City location voted to approve the company’s first trade union in nearly 20 years. The nascent union put out the following statement: “Yesterday, we, the workers of Whole Foods’ flagship store in Center City Philadelphia, made history by voting to unionize with UFCW Local 1776. This victory is not just ours—it belongs to every worker who believes in the power of standing together for fair wages, better benefits, and a safer, more supportive workplace… This win is a testament to the strength of solidarity. It proves that when workers come together, even against a billion-dollar corporation, we can achieve meaningful change. We are incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished, and we hope our success inspires workers at other Whole Foods locations and beyond to stand up for their rights.”
Workers uniting: Florida A&M University employees launching new staff labor union
Tallahassee Democrat
By Tarah Jean
Feb. 4, 2025
Florida A&M University’s staff is launching a new labor union on campus – the FAMU Chapter of United Campus Workers – to address the need for higher wages, adequate staffing and workplace safety after the employees have not had an active union since the end of 2023. A group of about 20 individuals, including university staff members and other supporters, rallied Monday at the roundabout at FAMU Way and Railroad Avenue to bring awareness to the concerns.
Aircraft fuelers at Orlando International Airport unanimously vote to unionize
Orlando Weekly
By McKenna Schueler
Feb. 4, 2025
A group of aircraft fuelers at Orlando International Airport employed by contractor PrimeFlight Aviation unanimously voted to unionize Monday with the Transport Workers Union, a labor union that represents roughly 155,000 working people nationwide. Out of 60 eligible voters, 42 of the aircraft fuelers at MCO voted in favor of the union, according to a union spokesperson, with zero votes in opposition. This is the first group of PrimeFlight employees anywhere to unionize with the TWU. The union represents aviation laborers across the country including flight attendants and other aircraft workers at MCO for airlines such as Southwest, JetBlue and American Airlines.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
AFSCME Local 3088 employees hold informational picket in downtown Mansfield
Mansfield News Journal
By Mark Caudill
Feb. 4, 2025
A dozen negotiation sessions between the city of Mansfield and members of AFSCME Local 3088 have not produced a new contract. As a result, more than 50 union members held an informational picket Monday afternoon in downtown. Many of them held signs on either side of Park Avenue West, encouraging drivers to honk their horns in support.
KU faculty union rallies for fair contract after months of negotiations
The Lawrence Times
By Cuyler Dunn
Feb. 4, 2025
Liz Berghout, an associate professor in the KU School of Music, had to fight to retain her job a few years ago. The experience taught her about a seat at the table and encouraged her to brave the cold to support KU’s faculty and staff union at a rally Tuesday afternoon. Members of KU’s faculty and academic staff union urged administrators to sign a fair contract before the end of the year at the rally outside the Kansas Union on KU’s campus. Around 40 people gathered to chant, sing, hand out flyers and hold signs as part of the rally. The United Academics of KU, or UAKU, won its election in April with 86% of academics voting in favor.
Marquette County Board approves new contracts for county employees
Upper Michigan Source
By Jerry Tudor
Feb. 4, 2025
The Marquette County Board approved the remaining contracts for county employees during its regular meeting Tuesday. With unanimous approval, the board agreed to terms with the Teamsters Local 406 and two units of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Now, all eight bargaining units and employees have new three-year contracts. County Board Chair Joe Derocha says it’s important for the county to have solid contracts for county employees.
CIVIL, HUMAN, & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Faith and Labor Leaders Continue to Fight Arm-in-Arm
Word in Black
By Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware
Feb. 4, 2025
When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood with Memphis sanitation workers in 1968, he wasn’t just fighting for fair wages — he was embodying a centuries-old alliance between the faith community and labor. From the secret meetings of enslaved people plotting liberation to the pulpit speeches of modern-day labor leaders, the bond between faith and labor has long been a cornerstone of the fight for justice. This partnership, a bedrock of the civil rights movement, continues as leaders like the Rev. William J. Barber II and unions like the AFL-CIO carry the torch, advocating for living wages, voting rights, and economic equity.
LABOR AND ENTERTAINMENT
Alamo Drafthouse Layoffs Prompt Unfair Labor Practice Charge
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Feb. 4, 2025
The layoffs hitting Alamo Drafthouse have roiled the union representing employees at two locations in New York, which is hitting back with a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board. The theater chain, known for its in-theater dining, strict cellphone policy and cinephile-targeted programming, is the subject of an unfair labor practice charge filed on Monday by the United Auto Workers Local 2179. The union, which represents staffers at the company’s lower Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn locations, alleges in its complaint that the theaters “failed or refused to bargain in good faith” around reductions in force and requests for information from the union.