Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Judge Rules Against Labor Unions Seeking to Block Mass Firings
The New York Times
By Chris Cameron
Feb. 20, 2025
A federal judge on Thursday denied an effort by labor unions to block the Trump administration’s effort to drastically reduce the size of the federal work force, allowing the mass firings happening across multiple agencies to proceed. In the ruling, Judge Christopher R. Cooper, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, signaled that he was concerned about the upheaval caused by the Trump administration’s actions. But he did not address the legality of the downsizing efforts, writing that the federal court was not the right venue for the dispute.
Labor groups sue Trump administration over mass firings of probationary employees
Reuters
By Jonathan Stempel and Daniel Wiessner
Feb. 20, 2025
The plaintiffs in Wednesday's lawsuit include the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE); the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; AFGE Local 1216 in San Francisco, and the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals. They are seeking to set aside the February 13 directive, and rescind the firings of probationary employees. Unions have filed several lawsuits challenging Trump's efforts to reshape the federal workforce in the month since he took office, and are likely to face procedural hurdles in pursuing them. So far, at least two judges have ruled that unions did not have legal standing to challenge Trump administration initiatives because they could not show how they had been directly harmed.
Trump Tests Fed’s Independence With Order Expanding Authority Over Agencies
The New York Times
By Colby Smith
Feb. 20, 2025
The Federal Reserve’s independence from the White House has long been enshrined in the law. But an executive order that President Trump signed this week seeking to extend his administration’s reach over independent agencies is prompting concerns about how much further he will go to challenge that separation. Mr. Trump’s directive took aim at regulatory agencies that had typically operated with limited political interference as authorized by Congress.
Unions sue over federal worker firings, alleging Trump administration misused probationary periods
AP
By Brian Witte
Feb. 20, 2025
Unions for federal workers have filed a lawsuit to block the mass firings of probationary federal employees by President Donald Trump’s administration, alleging that officials are exploiting and misusing the probationary period to eliminate staff across government agencies. The unions allege in the complaint filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in California that the firings “represent one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”
Unions sue over Trump admin efforts to fire probationary federal employees
The Hill
By Zach Schonfeld
Feb. 20, 2025
The case is brought by several unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO that represent the federal workforce: the American Federation of Government Employees, one of its local chapters, the American Federation of Municipal Employees and the United Nurses Associations of California.
Trump appears to contradict White House, says Elon Musk in charge of DOGE
Reuters
By Andrea Shalal and Nandita Bose
Feb. 20, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he has put billionaire Elon Musk in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency, appearing to contradict the White House over who runs the cost-cutting program. The White House said in a court filing on Monday that Musk's role in the Trump administration was that of a White House employee and senior adviser to the president, and that he had no authority over DOGE and was not an employee of the program.
CNN
By Zachary Cohen, Ella Nilsen, Rene Marsh and Sunlen Serfaty
Feb. 20, 2025
The Trump administration and Elon Musk have insisted that they are carefully purging the federal workforce by firing only low-performing employees serving in non-critical roles, or recent hires on probationary status. But interviews with more than a dozen recently laid-off federal workers, plus documents obtained by CNN, demonstrate that firing decisions are far more arbitrary, and that in many cases the exact opposite is happening — people who have been recently promoted or received strong performance reviews are among those who have been terminated.
‘Air traffic controllers cannot do their work without us’
Politico
By Oriana Pawlyk and Sam Ogozalek
Feb. 21, 2025
More than 130 of the eliminated workers held jobs that directly or indirectly support the air traffic controllers, facilities and technologies that the FAA uses to keep planes and their passengers safe, according to the union that represents them, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists. That alone creates reason for concern about the impact of the cuts, people familiar with the terminations said, even if the initial firings spared the air traffic controllers themselves.
Labor Secretary nominee Chavez-DeRemer attacks worker rights, kowtows to Trump
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Feb. 20, 2025
Republican attacks on workers, particularly union workers, continued as GOP President Donald Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, disavowed her prior support of the Protect The Right To Organize (PRO) Act, while members of Congress’ ruling Republicans are again pushing a national “right-to-work”—for less–law. But in a positive sign for workers and unions, right-to-work went down the drain in the Republican-run New Hampshire legislature on the same day, February 19, that it resurfaced on Capitol Hill. The barrage began when Chavez-DeRemer not only opposed the PRO Act–a comprehensive pro-worker labor law reform—but supported Trump’s power to cut federal programs and federal funds.
Many of Trump’s early actions are unpopular, Post-Ipsos poll finds
The Washington Post
By Dan Balz, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin
Feb. 20, 2025
President Donald Trump has opened his second term with a flurry of actions designed to radically disrupt and shrink the federal bureaucracy, but reviews from Americans are mixed to negative on many of his specific initiatives, and 57 percent say he has exceeded his authority since taking office, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.
IRS starts employee layoffs amid federal workforce purge
The Washington Post
By Jacob Bogage and Shannon Najmabadi
Feb. 20, 2025
The Internal Revenue Service on Thursday began firing employees in a massive layoff ordered by the Trump administration, federal workers said, shaking the foundations of the tax agency during filing season. About 7,000 employees were expected to lose their jobs, according to a person familiar with the decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. That’s 7 percent of the roughly 100,000-person agency. Most of the cuts, about 5,000, came in the enforcement and collections section of the tax service, the person said.
FDA staffers told that 'woman,' 'disabled' among banned words; White House says it’s an error
Reuters
By Rachael Levy
Feb. 20, 2025
Some U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists have been told to stop using the words "woman," "disabled" and "elderly" in external communications, two sources familiar with the matter said, part of a list of banned terms that a White House spokesman said had misinterpreted President Donald Trump's executive order. A list with the file name "Prohibited words" has been circulating since at least last week in official work chats, according to two FDA scientists with direct knowledge of the matter who requested anonymity for fear of professional repercussions.
Experts say Trump comes close to the red line of openly defying judges
The Washington Post
By Justin Jouvenal, Leo Sands and Ann E. Marimow
Feb. 20, 2025
Federal judges have blocked President Donald Trump’s attempts to freeze trillions in federal grants and loans, halt billions in foreign assistance and dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development. But in each case, the administration has said it still has legal authority to do at least some of those things, prompting judges and those challenging Trump’s actions to accuse him of failing to comply. Legal experts said the administration’s aggressive maneuvers have approached the red line of openly flouting court orders, as Trump and his top aides and advisers assert vast presidential powers.
Labor unions, U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown vow to fight mass government layoffs
Cleveland.com
By Lucas Daprile
Feb. 20, 2025
Union members and U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown vowed Thursday to fight against efforts to radically downsize the federal workforce. About 100 people demonstrated outside the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in downtown Cleveland in the snow and 19-degree temperatures to protest President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been pursuing layoffs through the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Penn faculty join hundreds to rally against Trump administration’s federal research funding freeze
The Daily Pennsylvanian
By Gabriel Huang
Feb. 19, 2025
Over 300 individuals gathered together in Center City on Wednesday to protest recent federal funding cuts to academic research. The rally, held outside the office of Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) in Center City, was organized by Labor for Higher Education in conjunction with the American Association of University Professors, American Federation of Teachers, United Auto Workers, and other groups. Faculty, students, and staff from several universities — including Penn, Temple University, and Drexel University — rallied in protest of the Trump administration’s changes to federal research funding policies.
White House Signals Medicare Is Not Protected, Despite Trump Promise
Newsweek
By Jasmine Laws
Feb. 20, 2025
National Nurses United, the largest RN union in U.S. history, on X: "Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid would ravage essential health care services for approximately 40 percent of the U.S. population. Nurses are fighting back against these attempts to enrich corporate America at the expense of the working class!"
Under Trump, D.C. Faces More Federal Control, Fewer Federal Workers
The New York Times
By Campbell Robertson
Feb. 20, 2025
Mass layoffs have begun across the city’s largest employer, tipping economic forecasts for the Washington, D.C., region toward recession. Real estate agents are bracing for a housing slump. And the existence of the municipal government itself, which manages the day-to-day affairs of a city with more residents than some U.S. states have, is under direct threat. The Trump administration’s upheaval of the Washington that the president sees as the citadel of the so-called deep state, necessarily also means upheaval of the real Washington, a sprawling metropolitan area of millions of people who go to work every day.
Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say
The Washington Post
By Jacob Bogage
Feb. 20, 2025
President Donald Trump is preparing to dissolve the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service and absorb the independent mail agency into his administration, potentially throwing the 250-year-old mail provider and trillions of dollars of e-commerce transactions into turmoil. Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as this week to fire the members of the Postal Service’s governing board and place the agency under the control of the Commerce Department and Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to six people familiar with the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals.
Treasury agrees to block DOGE’s access to personal taxpayer data at IRS
The Washington Post
By Jacob Bogage
Feb. 20, 2025
The Trump White House and Treasury Department officials have agreed to prohibit the U.S. DOGE Service from accessing personal taxpayer data, according to two people familiar with the arrangement, heading off a brewing privacy crisis at the tax agency.
Comparing Trump's executive orders with Project 2025 promises (Video)
CBS News
Feb. 20, 2025
According to a CBS News analysis, President Trump has signed 73 executive orders so far, targeting everything from the border to the environment and federal spending. Many online users have pointed out that his orders mirror proposals in Project 2025, a conservative blueprint he said he had "nothing to do with" during the campaign. CBS News Confirmed executive producer Melissa Mahtani breaks it down.
Judge rules against union bid to block mass federal layoffs by Trump
NBC News
By Dareh Gregorian and Daniel Barnes
Feb. 20, 2025
A federal judge Thursday denied a bid by labor unions to block the Trump administration from carrying out mass layoffs at federal agencies. U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper indicated in his ruling that he was sympathetic to the National Treasury Employees Union and the four other unions that were seeking a restraining order to temporarily halt the layoffs, but said that federal court was not the appropriate venue for their lawsuit.
Judge rejects unions’ request to pause Trump administration firings
The Washington Post
By Salvador Rizzo
Feb. 20, 2025
A federal judge on Thursday declined to issue a temporary restraining order pausing President Donald Trump’s moves to fire thousands of employees who are on probationary status or deemed nonessential, clearing a roadblock for the new administration as it attempts sweeping changes to downsize the federal government.
How DOGE's Sketchy 'Wall Of Receipts' Set Off Panic Inside A Federal Agency
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
Feb. 20, 2025
A line item from the Department of Government Efficiency’s “Wall of Receipts” sparked alarm inside a federal agency this week and raised new questions about the shaky accounting behind Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts. Employees at the National Labor Relations Board office in Buffalo, New York, were shocked to see on the DOGE site Wednesday that their office lease was set to be canceled.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
US labor market stable; hit from federal government belt tightening awaited
Reuters
By Lucia Mutikani
By Feb. 20, 2025
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, suggesting that the labor market remained on solid ground in February. There were no signs yet in the report from the Labor Department on Thursday of the mass layoffs of federal government workers and deep spending cuts being pursued by Republican President Donald Trump's administration impacting the economy. Economists, who expect a spillover to the private sector, said it was too early for the negative effects to be felt. Thousands of federal government workers from scientists to park rangers, mostly those on probation, have been fired in recent days by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE - an entity created by Trump.
NLRB
NLRB rescinds stack of Biden-era enforcement memos
HR Dive
By Ryan Golden
Feb. 20, 2025
The National Labor Relations Board on Feb. 14 rescinded several enforcement guidance documents issued during the Biden administration in a bid to shift the agency’s policy stance. The affected documents addressed a swath of areas within NLRB’s purview. One of them, a 2022 memo by former General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, said employers’ workplace surveillance programs, artificial intelligence tools and similar technologies may interfere with workers’ ability to exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Alameda County court workers extend strike to second day
NBC Bay Area
By Bob Redell
Feb. 20, 2025
Court workers in Alameda County who walked off the job for a one-day strike Wednesday extended the action into a second day Thursday. In a statement Wednesday, the union that represents Alameda County Superior Court workers said the extension was issued because court management still isn’t hearing what they have to say. Hundreds of workers, including courtroom clerks, walked off the job and picketed Wednesday outside courthouses Alameda County. The strike shut down courtrooms and disrupted the court filings and other document processing. The Service Employees International Union has been negotiating for a new contract since before their last one expired in December. Workers say they’re understaffed and overworked, aren’t paid enough and new hires aren’t trained adequately.
Alameda County Court Strike Continues for Second Day, Disrupting Cases
KQED
By Samantha Lim
Feb. 20, 2025
About 400 Alameda County Superior Court employees continued their strike for a second day on Thursday, demanding that court administrators address ongoing staff shortages and insufficient training. Workers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and other labor unions picketed at several courthouses, including the Hayward Hall of Justice. Criminal, civil and juvenile court proceedings across the county were disrupted. A representative with SEIU Local 1021 said the strike could delay cases ranging from felonies to traffic disputes if it continues. After their first day on the picket line Wednesday, SEIU Local 1021 said court management still wasn’t hearing their concerns.
271,500 workers went on strike in 2024
Economic Policy Institute
By Margaret Poydock, Joe Fast, and Daniel Perez
Feb. 20, 2025
Hundreds of thousands of workers across the United States went on strike in 2024—from health care workers in California to public school teachers in Massachusetts to telecommunications workers in the South. The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that 271,500 workers were involved in “major work stoppages” in 2024. The number of workers involved in these stoppages decreased by 41% compared with 2023 but remained elevated compared with strike activity in the early 2000s and 2010s.
Washingtonian’s union contract negotiations are going on four years with no end in sight
Editor & Publisher
By Vince Morris
Feb. 20, 2025
Negotiations between Washingtonian owner and CEO Cathy Merrill and her unionized staff have gotten so bad that neither side has bothered to schedule another bargaining session. The most recent such meeting, in December 2024, was the 26th bargaining session since the staff voted in August 2021 to form the Washingtonian Guild, an affiliate of The NewsGuild. The two sides have been unable to make significant progress on an initial collective bargaining agreement in a dispute that has now entered its fourth year.
Lane Transit District finalizes new labor agreement with union
KEZI
By Robert Desaulniers
Feb. 20, 2025
The Lane Transit District announced that it has secured a new labor contract with the union that represents workers who keep LTD’s transportation infrastructure running. According to the Lane Transit District, on February 19 the LTD Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union 757, which represents staff at LTD’s Facilities Department. The Facilities Department helps maintain LTD’s transportation infrastructure. LTD officials said the ATU also unanimously voted to approve the agreement after only two collaborative bargaining sessions earlier in 2025.
JOINING TOGETHER
Stop & Shop workers threaten to strike across New England
NBC Boston
By Thea DiGiammerino
Feb. 20, 2025
Members of the unions representing thousands of Stop & Shop workers have threatened to strike over a breakdown in negotiations between the company and workers at the Freetown, Massachusetts, warehouse. According to a letter from the New England Council of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), they are calling on the company to come back to the table after contract negotiations between Stop & Shop and Teamster Local 25 fell apart. The letter says that Stop & Shop has threatened to close the Freetown warehouse, which employs nearly 900 people.
Thousands of Stop & Shop employees across New England announce possible strike
The Providence Journal
By Catherine Messier
Feb. 20, 2025
Stop & Shop employees from all over New England are preparing to strike. A contract dispute over a distribution warehouse in Freetown, Massachusetts between the store and Teamsters Local 25, a Boston-based labor union representing many local Stop & Shop employees, is at the core of the possible strike. This would not be the first time Stop & Shop employees have posed a strike – back in 2019, over 30,000 workers went on strike for 11 days while a contract agreement was being made between the store and the union.
IN THE STATES
Chattanooga area unions defend federal employees in response to Elon Musk’s efficiency effort
Chatanooga Times Free Press
By Kailee Shores
Feb. 19, 2025
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing agency heads to cooperate with DOGE in significantly reducing the size of the federal workforce. The aftermath has been sweeping layoffs and firings on grounds of poor performance, all affecting government employees, said Jacob Morrison, president of the North Alabama Area Labor Council, during the news conference. "These are not make-work jobs," Morrison said. "These are jobs that keep our houses lit and our power on. These are nurses that care for our nation's veterans. These are administrators who make sure our elderly get their rightfully owed Social Security checks."
New KyPolicy report highlights benefits of increased auto industry unionization in Kentucky
Forward Kentucky
By Staff
Feb. 19, 2025
As workers at Kentucky’s Blue Oval/SK (BOSK) battery plants have filed for an election to unionize their workforce, a new report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KyPolicy) demonstrates that auto worker job quality has declined over decades in the commonwealth even as the industry has grown with the help of large public subsides. But the report also demonstrates how those trends could be reversed if BOSK workers are successful in their drive to join the United Auto Workers (UAW).
EDUCATION
Our Schoolkids Aren’t Cannon Fodder for Trump’s Culture Wars
Word in Black
By Aziah Siid
Feb. 20, 2025
After a series of sweeping executive orders aimed at federal hiring, contracts, and research grants, the Trump administration’s assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion has set its sights on a new target: the Department of Education. On Monday, the DOE issued a memo declaring that it cut more than $600 million in K-12 teacher training grants because institutions and nonprofits “were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies” like anti-racism, social justice and the value of diversity.
UNION BUSTING
Downtown’s Iconic Pantry Cafe Diner Could Close Due to Ongoing Labor Dispute
Eater Los Angeles
By Mona Holmes
Feb. 20, 2025
Unite Here Local 11 represents the Original Pantry’s workers, including cooks, bussers, and servers. The workers protested in front of the restaurant on Wednesday, February 19. The union suggests that the trust’s threat of closure is a deliberate one intended to weaken the union effort, calling for job security and continued union representation if the restaurant changes hands. According to KNX News, the Riordan Trust has not confirmed if there is a buyer for the Original Pantry. Unite Here filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the threatened closure violates federal labor law.