Today's AFL-CIO press clips
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Forward Kentuckystory announcing Tuesday's Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus Labor Roundtable in Frankfort is the lead story in the CIVIL, HUMAN, & WOMEN’S RIGHTS section of Today's clips.
POLITICS
Scientists protest proposed cuts to medical research funding outside HHS
WANE
By Jordan Connell
Feb. 25, 2025
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler called out Elon Musk, addressing his demand for federal workers to email a list of five accomplishments they achieved last week. “I thought I’d start with the five off the top of my head for Elon. We cure cancer, we treat Alzheimer’s, we stop pandemics, we come up with miracle drugs, like Ozempic, that tens of millions of Americans count on, and we save lives,” Shuler said. Leaders from several labor organizations spoke at the rally and urged people to call their Congress members and push back against the proposed cuts.
‘Trump’s Reckless Cuts will Kill’: Rutgers Leads Labor to D.C. DOGE Attacks
Insider NJ
By Max Pizarro
Feb. 25, 2025
Speakers at the rally included Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Other members of the coalition include AAUP, AFSCME, CWA, NEA, OPEIU, SEIU, UAW, UE, Higher Education Labor United (HELU) and the Debt Collective. Liz Shuler, national president of the AFL-CIO, promised that labor intends to “fight like hell.” “I’m here on behalf of 15 million working people and we’re standing up for all working people, on behalf of our heroes, the higher ed workers,” Shuler said. “You’re not just taking them, on you’re taking on the entire labor movement. “Elon,” she added, “if you want to threaten our labs, our equipment, and say curing cancer is a bad investment for the government to be making, then why don’t you give back the $18 billion you’ve taken in federal loans over the last ten years.” “No more billionaire welfare,” someone screamed. “That’s right,” said Shuler. “We are going to fight back.”
Trump's Federal Workforce Cuts Hit Labor Department Enforcement
Bloomberg Law
By Rebecca Rainey
Feb. 24, 2025
The Department of Labor terminated employees across at least six departments in recent weeks, potentially curbing the agency’s ability to conduct inspections and ensure fair pay and safety for workers, according to three sources familiar with the moves. Civil servants at DOL, along with all federal employees, also received an email telling them to submit five bullet points on the work they completed in the last week—with Elon Musk claiming on social media that a failure to respond would be considered a resignation. DOL staff received mixed messages from managers about how and whether to respond, with some leaving it up to individual employee discretion, according to two department employees who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Teachers union files lawsuit over Trump’s crackdown on race, DEI in schools
The Washington Post
By Laura Meckler
Feb. 25, 2025
A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the Trump administration of trying to radically rewrite well-established civil rights law when it issued a sweeping directive barring colleges and K-12 schools from considering race in virtually any way. The guidance from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights was sent as a “Dear Colleague” letter to school officials throughout the country Feb. 14. It threatened to deny federal funding to any school or college that considers race in hiring, discipline policy, scholarships, prizes or any other aspect of campus life. It gave schools a two-week deadline to comply, setting off confusion and panic on campuses nationwide.
As G.O.P. Eyes Medicaid Cuts, States Could be Left With Vast Shortfalls
The New York Times
By Noah Weiland and Sarah Kliff
Feb. 25, 2025
House Republicans hunting for ways to pay for President Trump’s tax cuts have called for cutting the federal government’s share of Medicaid spending, including a proposal that would effectively gut the Affordable Care Act’s 2014 expansion of the program. Cutting Medicaid spending, which is central to the budget bill that House Republicans may bring to a vote on Tuesday, could result in millions of Americans across the country losing health coverage unless states decide to play a bigger role in its funding.
DOGE’s grab of personal data stokes privacy and security fears
The Washington Post
By Faiz Siddiqui, Joseph Menn and Jacob Bogage
Feb. 25, 2025
Deputies of Elon Musk have sought access to massive amounts of information across the federal government, much of it personal and highly revelatory in its insights into the lives of everyday Americans. They justify their work for the U.S. DOGE Service as a dogged quest for government efficiency. But people with deep knowledge of federal data systems and cybersecurity say they’re skirting guardrails meant to protect sensitive data from misuse.
Trump blocked from imposing sweeping federal funding freeze
Reuters
By Nate Raymond
Feb. 25, 2025
A U.S. judge on Tuesday extended an order blocking President Donald Trump's administration from instituting a sweeping freeze on trillions of dollars in federal funding by pausing grants, loans and other financial support.
Teachers union sues over Trump admin’s DEI warning to schools
The Hill
By Zach Schonfeld
Feb. 25, 2025
The American Federation of Teachers sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its warning to schools that they may lose federal funding if they persist with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Baltimore, alleges the Education Department’s Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter is unconstitutionally vague and runs afoul of the First Amendment’s free speech protections.
Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE
AP News
By Brian Slodysko and Byron Tau
Feb. 25, 2025
More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
'Absolute chaos': DOGE sows turmoil in its quest for 'efficiency'
NBC News
By Jonathan Allen
Feb. 25, 2025
President Donald Trump promised to make the federal government more efficient — to do more with less. He even deputized billionaire Elon Musk to be the face of a new Department of Government Efficiency. But critics say Musk's chainsaw approach to slashing government programs, contracts and workers is having the opposite effect, sowing such confusion that it has hamstrung the bureaucracy's ability to serve the public and even carry out key parts of Trump's own agenda.
Trump's expanded ICE raids are causing big problems for some schools
USA Today
By Trevor Hughes and Bethany Rodgers
Feb. 24, 2025
"Permitting law enforcement to conduct raids on school grounds or in hospitals and clinics, potentially forcibly removing people in front of children, will break trust between families, law enforcement and your administration, as children will be traumatized by the spectacle," Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers warned President Donald Trump. "This will indelibly scar native-born American families as well as immigrant families; the impact and harms will be absorbed by entire communities."
Some GOP lawmakers start to call out DOGE
The Washington Post
By Hannah Knowles, Marianna Sotomayor and Mariana Alfaro
Feb. 25, 2025
Republican lawmakers are starting to call out Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service amid fierce pushback from their constituents, who have packed town halls and bombarded congressional offices with objections to the Trump administration’s dramatic cuts to the federal government. Congressional Republicans have been extremely reluctant to criticize President Donald Trump and his deputies, and GOP leaders remain broadly supportive of Musk’s project to shrink the federal government. But some lawmakers have publicly questioned the billionaire Trump donor’s methods in recent days. One House Republican called a social media post from Musk “unacceptable” on Tuesday after raising concerns about DOGE’s coordination with Congress in a meeting with colleagues.
The Next Phase of Trump’s Large-Scale Work Force Cuts Is Underway
The New York Times
By Eileen Sullivan
Feb. 25, 2025
The next phase in the Trump administration’s effort to rapidly downsize the federal work force was well underway on Tuesday as confusion roiled through the ranks over how employees should respond to an ultimatum from Elon Musk to justify their roles or be fired. Since Sunday afternoon, at least three independent agencies have formally alerted staff members of upcoming dismissals through a “reduction in force” process ordered by President Trump, according to emails shared with The New York Times and employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
As Trump Eyes the Postal Service, Concerns Grow Over Its Independence
The New York Times
By Madeleine Ngo and Michael D. Shear
Feb. 25, 2025
“We believe it would result in a death spiral for whatever is left,” said Brian L. Renfroe, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “People in rural areas would be particularly hard hit.”
House GOP pushes ‘big’ budget resolution to passage, a crucial step toward delivering Trump’s agenda
AP News
By Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking and Matt Brown
Feb. 25, 2025
With a push from President Donald Trump, House Republicans sent a GOP budget blueprint to passage Tuesday, a step toward delivering his “big, beautiful bill” with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts despite a wall of opposition from Democrats and discomfort among Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson had almost no votes to spare in his bare-bones GOP majority and fought on all fronts — against Democrats, uneasy rank-and-file Republicans and skeptical GOP senators — to advance the party’s signature legislative package. Trump made calls to wayward GOP lawmakers and invited Republicans to the White House.
House Passes G.O.P. Budget Teeing Up Enormous Tax and Spending Cuts
The New York Times
By Catie Edmondson, Andrew Duehren, Maya C. Miller and Robert Jimison
Feb. 25, 2025
The House on Tuesday narrowly passed a Republican budget resolution that calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $2 trillion reduction in federal spending over a decade, clearing the way for major elements of President Trump’s domestic agenda. The nearly party-line vote of 217 to 215 teed up a bitter fight within the G.O.P. over which federal programs to slash to partially finance a huge tax cut that would provide its biggest benefits to rich Americans.
House narrowly passes GOP’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ for Trump’s agenda
The Washington Post
By Jacob Bogage and Marianna Sotomayor
Feb. 25, 2025
House Republicans narrowly approved a framework Tuesday for President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, setting off a sprint with the Senate to reshape the tax code, implement strict new immigration policy, drill for new energy resources and spend billions on national defense. The bill, which passed 217-215, would allow Congress’s GOP majorities to bypass a Democratic Senate filibuster through what’s known as the budget reconciliation process, but Republicans still face significant challenges before they can pass what Trump has taken to calling his “big, beautiful bill.” The House and Senate must agree on competing approaches, even though both chambers have now passed their own versions of the legislation.
IMMIGRATION
Mass Deportation Threats Put Caregivers, Seniors, Disabled People on High Alert
San Francisco Public Press
By Madison Alvarado
Feb. 24, 2025
President Donald Trump’s promises to implement mass deportations and other potential changes to immigration policies could strain an already-understaffed health care workforce, making it harder for older adults and people with disabilities to receive care at home and in nursing facilities. “It’s really hard to make predictions, but if deportation were to happen, as he describes, it would destroy our care economy — destroy it — and we have to fight against that,” said Jodi Reid, executive director at the California Alliance for Retired Americans, a nonprofit that organizes and advocates for older adults.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
When will mass US government firings show up in data?
Reuters
By Reuters
Feb. 25, 2025
Tens of thousands of U.S. government workers have been fired in recent weeks, according to a Reuters tally of announcements tracking President Donald Trump's plan to shrink the federal workforce. So far, few indications of those lost jobs have appeared in the various formal measures of the U.S. job market. Economists will be keeping an eye on the data because federal government hiring has been a steady contributor to overall U.S. employment growth as the pace of private-sector hiring has eased. Over the last two years through January, the ranks of non-U.S. Postal Service federal workers as a share of overall payroll employment has edged up to 1.52% from 1.47%.
MSNBC Layoffs Set to Impact 99 Union Staffers, Guild Claims
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Feb. 25, 2025
As MSNBC continues to make major structural changes to its lineup, members of the union representing the cable network’s writers and producers say that 99 of their number are slated for cuts. The Writers Guild of America East’s bargaining unit at MSNBC decried the “mass layoffs” on “at least nine different shows” in a statement on Tuesday. According to the guild, those shows include The ReidOut, Alex Wagner Tonight, The Weekend, Andrea Mitchell Reports, Ayman Mohyeldin Reports, Weekends with Jonathan Capehart, The Katie Phang Show, José Díaz-Balart Reports and Inside with Jen Psaki.
WGA East Slams MSNBC’s “Mass Layoffs” As 99 Staffers Brace For Impact Amid Network Shakeup
Deadline
By Katie Campione
Feb. 25, 2025
The Writers Guild of America East has denounced a series of “mass layoffs” at MSNBC, where it says 99 of its members are set to be cut amid an ongoing shakeup at the network. The union says staffers from “at least nine different shows” will be affected by what it calls “the slow, painful trickle of announcements regarding a near-total overhaul of the network’s broadcast line-up.”
Trump policy concerns send US consumer confidence plummeting to eight-month low
Reuters
By Lucia Mutikani
Feb. 25, 2025
U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated at its sharpest pace in 3-1/2 years in February while 12-month inflation expectations surged, offering further signs that Americans were growing anxious about the potential negative economic impact of the policies of President Donald Trump's administration. The Conference Board survey on Tuesday noted that "comments on the current administration and its policies dominated the responses." It followed on the heels of surveys last week showing steep declines in business and consumer sentiment in February. Tariffs on imports, which Trump has already imposed or is planning to, have been singled out as the major issue in almost every survey of households and businesses.
NLRB
Trump’s Changes to NLRB Could Slow Momentum of Campus Unionizing
The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Adrienne Lu
Feb. 25, 2025
Labor organizers on college campuses are adjusting their tactics after President Trump abruptly shifted the course of the National Labor Relations Board, the independent federal agency that protects employees’ rights to organize and addresses unfair labor practices. Just days after his second inauguration, Trump fired both the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board and one of the board’s Democratic members, Gwynne A. Wilcox. While the removal of the general counsel was expected under a new president, Wilcox, who had three years remaining in her term, has filed a lawsuit challenging her termination, calling it unprecedented and illegal; under the National Labor Relations Act, a president can remove a board member only “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause.” With Wilcox gone, the board has two remaining members, one Democrat and one Republican, and three vacancies awaiting nominations by Trump; at least three members are required for the board to take action.
ORGANIZING
Grocery workers union seeks inroads at Tony’s Fresh Market
Chicago Tribune
By Talia Soglin
Feb. 25, 2025
More than 2,000 grocery workers employed at Tony’s Fresh Market could unionize if they vote to be represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881. UFCW filed petitions for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board on Feb. 14. The local is seeking to represent about 2,400 grocery clerks, assistant managers and department managers at the 21 Tony’s grocery stores throughout Chicago and its suburbs.
Workers at DC's St. Anselm secure unionization as STARR group challenges vote outcome
WUSA 9
By Amber Anderson
Feb. 24, 2025
Hundreds of employees at some of D.C.'s most lucrative restaurants are overjoyed following the news of their union vote. On Friday, St. Anselm employees voted 51-42 in favor of unionizing. In mid-January employees with five restaurants: Le Diplomate, Pastis, and St. Anselm, operated by STARR Restaurant Group; and Rasika and Modena, operated by Knightsbridge restaurant group, announced they were organizing a union with UNITE HERE Local 25. The unit covers the front and back of house and includes servers, bussers, dishwashers, cooks and bakers.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
ONA reaches deal with Providence, historic strike ends after 46 days
KOBI 5
By Lauren Pretto
Feb. 24, 2025
The strike is over. ONA frontline nurses at Providence have voted to end their historic strike. The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) announcing what it’s calling a major victory for its nearly 5,000 nurses.
Providence nurses across Oregon approve deal to end strike
OPB
By Michelle Wiley
Feb. 24, 2025
After 46 days on strike, nurses at Providence hospitals across Oregon have approved a deal that will see them return to work. The nurses, who are represented by the Oregon Nurses Association, began their indefinite strike in early January. The strike, which is one of the largest health care worker labor actions in state history, included thousands of nurses at all eight Providence hospitals in the state. In a statement, Providence officials said they’re pleased that the deal passed.
Two UC labor unions set to strike, alleging unfair labor practices
The Daily Californian
By Miles Kofman
Feb. 25, 2025
The local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299, or AFSCME, and University Professional and Technical Employees 9119, or UPTE, are set to go on strike starting Wednesday. AFSCME 3299 is striking through Feb. 27, and UPTE 9119 through Feb. 28 across all UC campuses, both alleging unfair labor practices imposed by the University of California. Negotiations between the university and both unions are currently at an impasse.
UAW Is About To Strike Against Rolls-Royce, But It's Not About Cars
Jalopnik
By Brad Brownell
Feb. 24, 2025
United Auto Workers at Rolls-Royce North America in Indianapolis, Indiana have voted to authorize a strike if their collective bargaining demands are not met by the new five-year contract deadline Wednesday night. Not the Rolls-Royce that makes extravagant cars, but the one that makes aircraft engines. The UAW says that workers were overwhelmingly supportive of a walk-out, with 99.5 percent of Local 933 workers voting in favor of the strike. UAW represents the interests of over 800 workers within the Indiana-based Rolls-Royce aircraft engine facility. The local already has picket assignments prepared for Thursday, and UAW President Shawn Fain will be arriving to Indianapolis on Tuesday to help the local prepare for final negotiations, and striking if the contract doesn't get ratified.
JOINING TOGETHER
Letter Carriers rally to preserve Postal Service
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Feb. 25, 2025
The crowd, led by Letter Carriers President Brian Renfroe, were upset by reports that Musk and Trump—whom at least one speaker called “president” and “vice president” in that order—plan to dismember and privatize the USPS, which has been independent of presidential control since the great postal strike of 1970 forced wide-ranging reforms. The crowd’s repeated response to the dismemberment/privatization threat: “Hell no!”
IN THE STATES
VA fires several employees at its Maine headquarters
Bangor Daily News
By Billy Kobin
Feb. 25, 2025
Maine AFL-CIO Executive Director Matt Schlobohm said in a statement Tuesday the probationary employees who are often in their first year in a new position include military veterans who were “arbitrarily fired as part of a widespread purge of federal workers being carried out by Elon Musk and the Trump administration.” “The impacted VA employees whom we’ve spoken to have served our country honorably and took great pride in their work supporting other veterans,” Schlobohm said. “These firings will hurt Maine veterans and undermine the services they rely on.”
New Evanston law protects hospitality workers at large employers like Northwestern
WBEZ Chicago
By Esther Yoon-Ji Kang
Feb. 24, 2025
On Monday night, the Evanston City Council passed the Workers’ Retention Ordinance, making the north suburb the first municipality in Illinois to enact such a law. “[The ordinance] is about understanding that if you continue to do your job well, your employment is not going to vanish one day for some sort of bureaucratic reason — whether you’re the president of the university or somebody who serves food to undergraduates,” said Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
SEPTA stress tests bulletproof glass enclosures to protect bus drivers
CBS News
By Joe Brandt, Eva Andersen
Feb. 25. 2025
"This safety measure is necessary because of the outrageous and grotesque level of violence against front-line transit workers," TWU International President John Samuelsen said in a statement. "We need to completely encapsulate Bus Operators to protect them from all sorts of attacks and threats, including gunfire. It's unacceptable that Bus Operators leaving home for work worry they might wind up in the emergency room, or worse."
CIVIL, HUMAN, & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Event: Black Legislative Caucus to host Labor Roundtable
Forward Kentucky
By Staff
Feb. 25. 2025
This important event will focus on the deep connection between civil rights and labor rights, the contributions of African Americans to the labor movement, and the current state of organizing in Kentucky. Senator Gerald Neal has chosen to honor APRI President Cylister Williams at this great event for his lifelong service to the movement.
How Healthcare Workers Are Defending Their Transgender Patients from Trump’s Attacks
The Nation
By Sarah Lazare
Feb. 25, 2025
“Gender-affirming care is life-saving care for any patient,” Nancy Hagans, a registered nurse, the president of the New York State Nurses Association, and one of the copresidents for NNU, told me over the phone. “Everyone deserves to be taken care of properly, the way they need. If you have a heart condition, you go to a cardiologist and take care of your heart. When someone decides to go to gender-affirming care, it’s not only helping them physically, it’s helping them mentally.”