Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
MTG prepares for fight in first DOGE hearing
Punchbowl News
By Mica Soellner
Feb. 12, 2025
Also: The AFL-CIO will submit written testimony for today’s hearing condemning Musk’s DOGE efforts and raising concerns about his potential access to private information. Here’s the full statement.
Judge to Consider Restricting Musk Team’s Access to Education Dept. Data
The New York Times
By Zach Montague
Feb. 11, 2025
A federal judge in Washington will consider a legal challenge on Tuesday against the Education Department, which is seeking to bar Elon Musk and his team from gaining access to its data systems.
As Trump hits delete, the race is on to save LGBTQ and climate data
NBC News
By Reuters
Feb. 11, 2025
The race is on to try to stop vital information from being rewritten or scrubbed from U.S. government websites, with researchers warning that the loss of key data could create risks for the environment and marginalized communities. Thousands of U.S. government web pages are being altered or deleted following a slew of executive orders from President Donald Trump targeting what his administration calls “gender ideology extremism” and environmental policies.
Federal workers, lawmakers to rally at Capitol Hill to protect civil service
WJLA
By Ida Domingo
Feb. 11, 2025
Hundreds of federal workers are expected to gather on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) “Rally to Save the Civil Service.” The event, part of AFGE’s annual legislative conference, aims to push back against efforts to politicize federal jobs.
VA nurses are in short supply – unions say Trump’s deferred resignation plan could make things worse
People’s World
By Carla K. Johnson and Brian Witte
Feb. 11, 2025
For the federal government’s largest group of employees — nurses caring for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs — the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer and its looming Thursday deadline come amid longstanding staffing shortages, deemed severe at more than half of all facilities. “Originally, I think people were like, ‘I’m out of here,’” said Burke, a physical therapist and American Federation of Government Employees leader. As more information came from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it started sounding “a little bit too good to be true and people were hesitant.”
Musk Team Announces Millions in Cuts to Education Dept. Amid Legal Pushback
The New York Times
By Zach Montague and Dana Goldstein
Feb. 11, 2025
Elon Musk’s cost-cutting effort announced a variety of cuts at the Education Department totaling over $900 million, apparently aimed at hobbling the department’s research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences. The team Mr. Musk has assembled, which has operated in relative secrecy in shuttering other agencies such as U.S.A.I.D. and slashing government programs, said on Monday that the Education Department had “terminated” 89 contracts, as well as 29 grants associated with diversity and equity training.
Federal Employee Union Sees ‘Amazing’ Growth Amid Trump Attacks
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
Feb. 11, 2025
The largest union for federal employees says it’s seeing unusual growth amid President Donald Trump’s attacks on the government workforce. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, or AFGE, said the union has added more than 8,200 members through the first third of February, after adding nearly 8,000 in January. In normal times, a typical month might see a net gain of a few hundred, he explained.
The Federal Workforce Resistance to Donald Trump Is Here
Vanity Fair
By Cristian Farias
Feb. 11, 2025
In the 90 years the National Labor Relations Board has been in existence—through the Great Depression, World War II, and up to the current era—no president had ever fired a single Senate-confirmed board member. The reason is simple: Congress didn’t make it easy. Under the National Labor Relations Act, lawmakers long ago decided that a “member of the Board may be removed by the President, upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause.” The reason for this provision was to insulate the independent agency and its workings from the whims of politics, if not a mercurial chief executive with little regard for workers and their welfare. That uninterrupted streak ended a couple of weeks ago, when, in a late-night email purportedly sent on behalf of Donald Trump, Gwynne Wilcox—the former chair of NLRB and one of two Democratic members of the board—was unceremoniously fired for not “operating in a manner consistent with the objectives of my administration.”
DOGE slashes millions from Education Department research
USA Today
By Zachary Schermele
Feb. 11, 2025
The U.S. Department of Education moved to terminate nearly $1 billion in research contracts on Monday, a decision critics said depleted the government of vital data sources on American schooling and all but decimated the agency’s research division. The move was announced on social media by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a new quasi-government agency run by X owner Elon Musk. The task force helmed by Musk, a tech billionaire, said it terminated 89 contracts worth $881 million. In another X post, DOGE said it had canceled 29 “DEI training grants” totaling $101 million. Eliminating the agreements effectively halted the work of the Institute of Education Sciences, the arm of the Education Department responsible for gathering information about students and schools nationwide.
Trump continues clearout of top US labor officials with fresh firing
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
Feb. 11, 2025
Donald Trump has fired a top official at the independent agency responsible for labor relations with the federal government. Susan Tsui Grundmann, one of three board members at the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), has been dismissed, a White House official told the Guardian. She served as the agency’s chair. Trump is “committed to building a team fully committed to advancing his America-First agenda”, the White House official said.
Trump Fires Democratic Member of Federal Staff Appeals Board
Bloomberg Law
By Parker Purifoy
Feb. 11, 2025
President Donald Trump fired Cathy Harris, a Democrat and member of the appeals board for terminated federal workers, and stripped another member of his vice-chair position. The Merit Systems Protection Board received notice of Harris’s termination on Monday evening, agency spokesperson William Spencer said Tuesday. Trump also removed Democrat Ray Limon’s vice-chair title, but left him on the board. His term expires on March 1.
How Trump and Musk are eviscerating workers’ rights (Opinion)
MSNBC
By Ben Burgis
Feb. 11, 2025
Last Thursday, President Donald Trump’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced its intention to commit institutional suicide. The NLRB enforces workers’ rights to organize unions and collectively bargain over their wages and working conditions. At the end of January, Trump essentially shut it down by firing one of its members. This leaves the board below the quorum it needs to operate (beyond issues that can be handled by regional offices). The law creating the NLRB specifies that its members can be fired “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause.” Trump’s decision to fire NLRB board member Gwynne Wilcox blatantly violates this provision. On Wednesday, she filed a lawsuit to get her job back.
Lawmakers and Gov't Union Members Hold Save the Civil Service Rally (Video)
C-Span
Feb. 11, 2025
"The attack on you, the attack on the civil service is unacceptable, unconscionable, un-American, and we are going to stand with you until each and every one of those unlawful executive orders are fully and completely reversed, buried in the ground, never to rise again," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). His comments came as he spoke to federal workers, union members and labor activists at the American Federation of Government Employees' (AFGE) "Save the Civil Service" rally on Capitol Hill. The Democrat leader said, "we are here to push back," and vowed to fight the administration's attempts at dismantling the federal workforce. Others delivering remarks were Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), and union leaders, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and AFGE President Everett Kelley.
Trump Orders Plans for ‘Large Scale’ Work Force Cuts and Expands Musk’s Power
The New York Times
By Theodore Schleifer and Madeleine Ngo
Feb. 11, 2025
President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday directing agency officials to draw up plans for “large scale” cuts to the federal work force and further empowered the billionaire Elon Musk and his team to approve which career officials are hired in the future. The order gives the so-called Department of Government Efficiency vast reach over the shape of the Civil Service as the Trump administration tries to sharply cut the number of employees working for the federal government. It states that, aside from agencies involved in functions like law enforcement and immigration enforcement, executive branch departments will need hiring approval from an official working with Mr. Musk’s team.
Trump executive order vows substantial cuts to federal workforce
The Washington Post
By Dan Diamond and Emily Davies
Feb. 11, 2025
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that requires federal agencies to work with the U.S. Doge Service to cut their existing workforce and limit future hiring — the most explicit statement yet by the president that he supports “large-scale” cuts to the federal workforce. The executive order gives billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE, tasked with finding government inefficiencies, even more power than it has amassed in the first three weeks of the new administration. The order installs a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency and gives that person oversight over hiring decisions. DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency.
Where Trump, Musk and DOGE Have Cut Federal Workers So Far
The New York Times
By Amy Schoenfeld Walker, Ashley Wu, Jon Huang and Elena Shao
Feb. 11, 2025
President Trump has moved swiftly to wage his war on the federal bureaucracy, defying norms and legal limits. On Tuesday, he signed a new executive order to limit new hiring and commence what he called a “critical transformation” of government. Mr. Trump has specific targets: foreign aid workers, inspectors general, Jan. 6 investigators, and diversity, equity and inclusion workers. He has also given broad powers to Elon Musk’s government efficiency operation, which has inserted itself into more than a dozen agencies in search of spending and staffers to cut. Many of those agencies had been investigating Mr. Musk’s companies.
Teachers Rally Against Musk's Education Control
Diverse Education
By Walter Hudson
Fwb. 11, 2025
In a mounting crisis at the U.S. Department of Education, teachers, students and union leaders are planning to rally Wednesday against recent actions by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that they say threaten both educational research and student privacy.
ORGANIZING
Retail Unions Are Gaining Ground As Employee Dissatisfaction Grows
Forbes
By Pamela N. Danziger
Feb. 11, 2025
Americans are increasingly taking the side of workers as public opinion has turned overwhelmingly pro-union in recent years. Fifteen years ago, only about half of Americans approved of unions. Last year, it rose to 70%, just one percentage point below the 71% hit in 2022. That was a historic high since 1972 when Gallup began tracking union approval ratings annually.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Minneapolis workers at First Avenue ratify debut union contract
Star Tribune
By Emma Nelson
Feb. 11, 2025
First Avenue workers have ratified a contract more than a year after moving to unionize. The three-year contract — which covers 230 service and event staff across the club’s seven venues — includes pay raises, improved scheduling, training and safety policies and protections for LGBTQ workers, according to a news release Tuesday from Unite Here Local 17.
Workers at First Avenue, its 6 sister clubs, ratify first union contract
CBS News
By Stephen Swanson
Feb. 11, 2025
Workers at legendary Minneapolis music venue First Avenue and its six Twin Cities sister clubs have ratified their first-ever union contract in a unanimous vote this weekend. UNITE HERE Local 17 announced the ratification on Tuesday for 230 event and service staff at the downtown Minneapolis spots First Avenue, neighboring 7th Street Entry and Union Depot, and Fine Line. It also covers three St. Paul venues: Fitzgerald Theater, Palace Theater and Turf Club.
JOINING TOGETHER
UW advisers file unfair labor practice complaint, allege withheld pay amid unionization push
The Daily
By Sophia Sostrin
Feb. 11, 2025
A group of UW advisers filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) complaint against the university with the state Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), claiming that UW withheld merit pay from multiple employee divisions since June 2024 as part of an ongoing effort to prevent unionization. In response to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 925’s filing for union recognition, the group of advisers alleged that UW violated the “status quo” by denying advisers across multiple employee divisions hundreds of dollars per worker in merit pay. This amounts to more than $111,000 per month withheld from advising staff across all three UW campuses, impacting hundreds of employees.
Alamo Drafthouse Locations Threaten Strike Over Layoffs
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Feb. 11, 2025
Employees at an Alamo Drafthouse theater in Colorado have authorized a strike over layoffs that their union claims violated federal labor law, joining staffers at two theaters in New York that have done the same. One hundred percent of participating staffers at the theater chain’s Sloans Lake location voted on Feb. 5 and 6 to greenlight the potential work stoppage. Days earlier, the chain laid off 47 out of nearly 300 workers across three Colorado locations, a move that Denver-based Communications Workers of America Local 7777 — which has a certified union in Sloans Lake — claims is illegal. The CWA Local is also attempting to organize theaters in Littleton and Westminster, Colorado; the fate of those drives will be determined by ongoing proceedings at the National Labor Relations Board.
STATE LEGISLATION
Iowa businesses will face smaller fines for violating child labor laws beginning Wednesday
Des Moines Register
By Stephen Gruber-Miller
Feb. 11, 2025
Pete Hird, a lobbyist for the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, told lawmakers the rule change "is not the direction the state should take with respect to child labor enforcement." "We believe the law should act as a deterrent to discourage employers from employing children at times when kids should either be receiving education or getting necessary rest," he said.
Utah legislature attacks public workers collective bargaining rights
People’s World
By Cameron Harrison
Feb. 11, 2025
In a narrow 16-13 vote, the Utah Senate passed HB267, an anti-worker bill that eliminates the ability of public sector unions to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. The bill, which now heads to Republican Governor Spencer Cox’s desk, is fiercely opposed by both teachers unions, the Firefighters, AFSCME, and other public workers who say the bill undermines their ability to advocate for safer workplaces and fair treatment.
With new laws taking effect in 10 days, Michigan Senate panel holds off on changes to sick time
Michigan Advance
By Kyle Davidson
Feb. 11, 2025
While most of Tuesday’s testimony centered around the impact the ordered changes would have on employers and small businesses, representatives from the Michigan Association of Justice and the Michigan AFL-CIO each took issue with S.B. 15 striking out language allowing employees to civil action against their employer for violating the Earned Sick Time Act.
Bill seeks to expose hospitals' pay for replacement workers during strikes
KGW8By Katherine Cook
Feb. 11, 2025
Striking nurses from eight Providence hospitals packed Hearing Room D at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday to support legislation requiring hospitals to disclose replacement worker costs during strikes. The House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards heard testimony on House Bill 2792 from supporters and opponents.
IN THE STATES
Ordinance to protect contract workers at Northwestern moves forward to final vote
Evanston Roundtable
By Bob Seidenberg
Feb. 11, 2025
Food service and hospitality workers employed on Northwestern University’s Evanston’s campus cleared another hurdle Monday in their bid for job protection in the event the university changes contractors. Evanston City Council members voted in favor of introducing the city’s first Workers’ Retention Ordinance, which would require that a new contractor retain the previous contractor’s existing workforce for a 90-day transition. Council members voted in support of introducing the ordinance as part of their consent agenda, where a list of items considered noncontroversial are passed in a single motion.
LABOR HISTORY
From Wash Tubs to Union Halls: Black Women’s Legacy in the Labor Movement
Word in Black
By Levi Perrin
Feb. 11, 2025
Rosina Corrothers Tucker, born the same year of the Atlanta labor action of 1881, helped form the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union recognized by the AFL-CIO. She also organized laundry and domestic workers. She lived to 105 and was an active labor force until her passing. At 100, she narrated a documentary of the Sleeping Car Porters, “Miles of Smiles. Years of Struggle.” The impact of such initiatives is profound. Black women are increasingly taking leadership roles in labor unions, transforming priorities to focus on issues like family-friendly benefits, healthcare, and protections against sexual harassment. Their presence has led to significant strides in workplace equity, reshaping union policies and representation.