Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Judge Orders Musk’s DOGE, Agency Staff to Testify in Lawsuit
Bloomberg Law
By Zoe Tillman
Feb. 27, 2025
The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency must present a representative to testify under oath at a deposition about the structure of the office, its authority and its work, a judge has ruled. US District Judge John Bates on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to produce witnesses for depositions, as well as produce records and answer questions in a lawsuit brought by labor unions and nonprofit groups. The suit seeks to block DOGE’s access to systems at three federal agencies: the Labor Department, Health and Human Service Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Judge Says Trump Administration Memos Directing Mass Firings Were Illegal
The New York Times
By Zach Montague
Feb. 27, 2025
Judge Alsup’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by several labor unions, including the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the American Federation of Government Employees, contesting the firings of thousands of probationary workers.
A Union Takes On Musk via Tesla’s Stock
The New York Times
By Andrew Ross SorkinRavi MattuBernhard WarnerSarah KesslerMichael J. de la MercedLauren Hirsch and Edmund Lee
Feb. 27, 2025
As Elon Musk’s norm-shattering influence in Washington has grown — consider his unprecedented cameo at President Trump’s first cabinet meeting on Wednesday — he has drawn intense scrutiny and opposition. The latest pushback comes from the American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation’s biggest labor unions, with an unexpected line of attack: applying pressure on some of the largest investors in Tesla, DealBook is first to report. The A.F.T.’s leader, Randi Weingarten, is writing to the C.E.O.s of six asset managers: Larry Fink of BlackRock, Abigail Johnson of Fidelity, Ronald O’Hanley of State Street, Thasunda Duckett of TIAA, Robert Sharps of T. Rowe Price and Salim Ramji of Vanguard. (Musk and the Tesla board were copied.) She is calling on them to review Tesla’s current valuation. “This is about safeguarding workers’ retirements,” she said in a statement. “Just this week we saw Tesla stock continue to sink faster than a Cybertruck in quicksand as European sales fell off a cliff. So, we knew we needed to act.”
Educator coalition sues to block Trump anti-diversity orders: ‘A grave attack’
The Guardian
By Marina Dunbar
Feb. 27, 2025
A coalition of educators has filed a lawsuit to block the US Department of Education from enforcing new Donald Trump-imposed civil rights guidelines that target a range of practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Maryland, is brought by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFT-Maryland and the American Sociological Association. It is a response to a letter given to schools by the department on 14 February, citing the US supreme court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard, which it interprets as banning the practice of race-conscious admissions and policies in higher education.
US judge halts Trump administration's calls for mass firings by agencies
Reuters
By Dan Levine and Daniel Wiessner
Feb. 27, 2025
A California federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ordering the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies to carry out the mass firings of thousands of recently hired employees. U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said during a hearing that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management lacked the power to order federal agencies to fire any workers, including probationary employees who typically have less than a year of experience.
How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy
The New York Times
By Jonathan Swan, Theodore Schleifer, Maggie Haberman, Ryan Mac, Kate Conger, Nicholas Nehamas and Madeleine Ngo
Feb. 28, 2025
What started as musings at a dinner party evolved into a radical takeover of the federal bureaucracy. It was driven with a frenetic focus by Mr. Musk, who channeled his libertarian impulses and resentment of regulatory oversight of his vast business holdings into a singular position of influence.
Judge blocks Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers
The Washington Post
By Salvador Rizzo
Feb. 27, 2025
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Office of Personnel Management to rescind directives that initiated the mass firing of probationary workers across the government, ruling that the terminations were probably illegal, as a group of labor unions argued in court. A group of union plaintiffs and advocacy organizations led by the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 800,000 federal workers nationwide, argued in legal filings that OPM broke the law when it ordered government agencies in mid-February to fire all probationary employees, defined as those who are in the first or second year on the job.
US SEC tells staff to return to office in move union calls illegal
Reuters
By Chris Prentice
Feb. 27, 2025
The head of the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 239, which represents SEC employees, did not respond to requests for comment. But in an email to members seen by Reuters, the union said the SEC's action "plainly violates" the union contract and called the order illegal. "Like you, the union only received notice of this order by the SEC management moments ago," the email said. The union's 2023 collective bargaining agreement outlines telework options for approved employees. That agreement lasts three years.
The NTEU's national office declined to comment. The union said in its email that it will ask the SEC to rescind the directive, clarify it does not apply to members of the union, and admit it violated the statute, among other requests.
'The Chaos Is the Point': Union Blasts Trump Mass Firings as Attack on All Taxpayers
Common Dreams
By Eloise Goldsmith
Feb. 27, 2025
Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees decried the latest move by the Trump administration to drastically reduce the federal workforce, writing in a statement Wednesday that AFGE will not stand idly by as President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their lackeys "run roughshod over the Constitution, federal law, and basic human decency." "Laying off potentially hundreds of thousands of federal workers will mean fewer services at higher costs for the American taxpayer," said Kelley, whose union represents 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers and has been active challenging Trump administration measures in court.
Trump administration mass firings of federal probationary workers likely unlawful, judge finds
PBS News
By Janie Har
Feb. 27, 2025
A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful, granting some temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration’s massive trimming of the federal workforce. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the Office of Personnel Management to inform certain federal agencies that it had no authority to order the firings of probationary employees, including the Department of Defense.
Trump Labor Secretary Pick Advances Closer to Confirmation
Bloomberg Law
By Rebecca Rainey
Feb. 27, 2025
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the US Department of Labor advanced out of committee Thursday, clearing her path to confirmation before the full Senate. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted 14-9 to approve the former Oregon Republican lawmaker’s nomination. During her nomination hearing last week, Lori Chavez-DeRemer backtracked on her support of the union-backed Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which aims to broadly expand collective bargaining rights. Chavez-DeRemer said she only co-sponsored the bill when serving as a member of the House in order to have a seat at the table and be part of the conversation on the legislation.
US officials must testify about DOGE in lawsuit over access to agency systems
Reuters
By Brendan Pierson
Feb. 27, 2025
Trump administration officials must face questioning under oath about the workings of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in a lawsuit by government employee unions seeking to block the secretive cost-cutting department from accessing federal agency systems, a federal judge ruled on Thursday. U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington ruled that the unions can question four officials, opens new tab - one from DOGE itself and one each from the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services and from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The order did not name the individual officials that would be questioned.
Office Closures and Relocations Part of Trump’s Plan for Large-Scale Layoffs
The New York Times
By Eileen Sullivan
Feb. 27, 2025
“HUD has followed almost none of the contractual or statutory requirements of a RIF,” said Ashaki Robinson, a regional president for the Washington local of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union. “They literally only gave us a list of names, what office they work in and with the executive order as the reason for the RIF.”
Judge halts mass firings of federal workers at some agencies
CNN
By Katelyn Polantz
Feb. 27, 2025
A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful, granting some temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration’s massive trimming of the federal workforce. The ruling puts one of the most comprehensive pauses so far on the attempts of President Donald Trump’s administration to carry out mass firings across federal agencies. The case specifically grappled with the involvement and oversight of the Office of Personnel Management, led by acting director Charles Ezell, in directing agencies to cut back their workforces beginning with shorter-term, or probationary, employees.
Court allows labor unions to question DOGE under oath
WUSA9
By Jordan Fischer
Feb. 27, 2025
A federal judge granted a motion for expedited discovery Thursday that will allow labor unions to question an employee of billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under oath about its access to government systems. U.S. District Judge John Bates said it would be “appropriate and beneficial” to speed up the evidence-gathering process to help answer the central questions in the case: Whether DOGE employees accessed highly sensitive data held by the Department of Labor and other agencies and, if so, what they’ve done with it?
Remote US federal employees get ultimatum to move to Washington
Reuters
By Alexandra Alper and Tim Reid
Feb. 27, 2025
The U.S. government's human resources agency has told at least two dozen employees they have just nine days to decide whether to relocate to Washington, a move labor unions and governance experts say is another ploy by the Trump administration to force federal workers to quit. The National Federation of Federal Employees, a union which represents 110,000 government workers, said this was the first time it was aware of that the Trump administration had told people to relocate to Washington.
Judge orders Trump administration to rescind directives on probationary employee firings
Government Executive
By Staff
Feb. 27, 2025
The American Federation of Government Employees and other groups brought the suit, arguing the Trump administration had ignored federal laws governing probationary employee staff and had essentially issued reductions in force without following the proper procedures.
Trump fires hundreds working on weather forecasts, satellite data and radar systems
The Washington Post
By Scott Dance
Feb. 27, 2025
The Trump administration on Thursday informed hundreds of probationary employees responsible for producing critical weather forecasts, maintaining radar systems, gathering data from satellites and monitoring key commercial fisheries that they were fired. Termination letters were sent to staff in offices across the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and to the National Weather Service, multiple employees told The Washington Post. Hours later, a federal judge ordered the administration to reverse directives for mass firings of government workers, ruling they may be illegal. It was not immediately clear how the ruling would affect Thursday’s firings at the weather and climate agencies.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
U.S. Economy Shows Signs of Strain From Trump’s Tariffs and Spending Cuts
The New York Times
By Alan Rappeport
Feb. 27, 2025
The United States economy is starting to show signs of strain as President Trump’s abrupt moves to shrink federal spending, lay off government workers and impose tariffs on America’s largest trading partners rattle businesses and reverberate across states and cities. Funding freezes and firings of federal workers combined with the prospect of costly trade wars are souring consumer sentiment, raising inflation expectations and stalling business investment plans, according to recent economic surveys.
Unemployment claims rise to 242,000, the highest in 3 months
CBS News
By Staff
Feb. 27, 2025
Applications for U.S. jobless benefits rose to a three-month high last week but remained within the same healthy range of the past three years. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time rose by 22,000 to 242,000 for the week ending Feb. 22, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts had projected that 220,000 new applications would be filed. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs. The four-week average, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, climbed by 8,500 to 224,000. Some analysts say they expect layoffs ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency to show up in the report in the coming weeks or months.
ORGANIZING
Aquarium workers to vote on potential unionization after voluntary recognition is rejected.
Monterey County Now
By Katie Rodriguez
Feb. 27, 2025
About a month after union organizers sent a request for voluntary recognition of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers United (MBAWU) union, which would represent all non-management staff at the Aquarium, the request was denied by Aquarium management. Executive Director Julie Packard, who recently announced her retirement, sent a message to Aquarium employees stating: “We want to be sure we honor each of your voices… That’s why holding a secret ballot election is the best path forward.” There are two main ways workers can form a union with a private company, says Shane Anderson, organizing director with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of the largest labor unions in the country which is representing MBAWU. The first is through voluntary recognition if a majority of workers show support, and the second is through a formal union election filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Brightline's 'onboard service' employees vote to join union
WFLX
By WPTV - Staff
Feb. 27, 2025
About 100 Brightline employees will join the Transport Workers Union (TWU) following a vote with the National Mediation Board last month. In a news release after the Jan. 14 vote, the Transport Workers Union of America said, "this is the largest newly organized group of railroad workers nationwide in over 20 years." Brightline's 'onboard service' employees vote to join union
Documents from the National Mediation Board, the government agency that facilitates agreements between labor and management for railroads and airlines, shows workers have waited more than a year for the vote. The union said these workers are people who provide food and drink service while working on passenger concerns on the train.
Workers at Delta Air Lines Ground Handling Subsidiary Vote to Join IAM Union
Aviation Pros
By Staff
Feb. 27, 2025
Approximately 60 Unifi Aviation ground handling workers based in San Jose, CA, last week voted nearly 70 percent to join the IAM Union, according to a report from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Unifi Aviation is 49% owned by Delta Air Lines Inc. and waged an aggressive campaign, led by the law firm Jones Day. Workers cited low and stagnant wage rates, poor benefits and working conditions as reasons to form a union. “I am very proud to welcome these determined and courageous workers into aviation’s largest union, the IAM,” said IAM Air Transport Territory General Vice President Richie Johnsen. “And a special thanks to District 141 Director of Membership Services Frank Giannola, Local 1781 veteran organizer Danny Paulazzo, and the IAM Legal Department for leading the campaign to a successful conclusion.”
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Actors’ Equity And The Broadway League Reach Agreement On Thorny Issues Around New Work Development
Deadline
By Greg Evans
Feb. 27, 2025
Actors’ Equity Association has reached a deal with the Broadway League on a new five-year Development Agreement, resolving an eight-month strike prohibiting Equity members’ participation in early stages of development work. The National Council of Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, announced today that it had voted to ratify a new five-year Development Agreement, concluding an eight-month strike against The Broadway League, the trade organization representing theater producers and owners.
UC workers continue strike over wages, conditions
Fox 11 Los Angeles
By FOX 11 Digital Team
Feb. 27, 2025
Thousands of healthcare, research, and technical workers across the University of California system have commenced a statewide strike, protesting unfair labor practices and the university's attempts to silence whistleblowers. The strike, organized by the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) and AFSCME 3299, runs through Feb. 28.
Actors’ Equity, Broadway League Reach New Developmental Work Agreement
The Hollywood Reporter
By Caitlin Huston
Feb. 27, 2025
Actors’ Equity has voted to ratify a new five-year agreement after an eight-month strike against developmental productions. The new contract includes a cumulative pay increase of more than 8 percent for Equity members, which was the union’s top priority in the agreement. It also includes increased pre-production time for stage managers and the creation of a joint working group between the union and the employers to create a new audition access program.
UAW reaches tentative agreement with Rolls-Royce, boosts pay and retirement benefits
Indiana Public Media
By Timoria Cunningham
Feb. 27, 2025
United Auto Workers Local 933, representing more than 800 workers at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis, announced a last-minute deal with the company Wednesday night. The tentative contract includes pay increases, a cost-of-living adjustment for all employees and better retirement benefits. The full details of the agreement aren’t public yet. But UAW President Shawn Fain said the union stood up to the company — and won.
Atlantic Theater Strike May Be Just the Beginning
American Theatre
By Stuart Miller
Feb. 27, 2025
In summer 2023, theatres around the country were still reeling in the aftermath of the Covid shutdowns of the previous few years. When New York City’s Public Theater laid off nearly 20 percent of its employees, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) responded by holding a town hall for Off-Broadway workers. As Liv Rigdon, who works as a costume supervisor at the Atlantic Theater Company, looked around and saw how many of her colleagues from that theatre had come to check it out, she thought to herself, “I guess we’re ready. I guess we’re going to do this.” “This,” in the case of Rigdon and her Atlantic comrades, meant not only unionizing, which Atlantic crews did almost exactly a year ago, but ultimately calling a strike, which began on Jan. 12 and has thus far shut down the Atlantic’s season. (Two shows then in previews, Grief Camp and I Assume You Know David Greenspan, were cancelled, and there is no word on the progress of upcoming productions, including Ethan Coen’s Let’s Love!, Abby Rosebrock’s Lowcountry, and NSangou Njikam’s A Freeky Introduction.) “We hoped we wouldn’t have to do this,” explained Rigdon, who serves on IATSE’s bargaining committee with the Atlantic. “But it was inevitable, because they put us in a position where we have no choice.”
RTD and workers union to enter federal mediation in March
Denver 7
By Brandon Richard
Feb. 27, 2025
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) and the union representing over 2,000 RTD workers will enter federal mediation next month after unsuccessful efforts to reach a deal on wages. Both sides have been negotiating a new contract since last August. “Basically, the only topic left is wages,” said Ronald Short, recording secretary for Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 100. “The wages that RTD proposed, we feel as though are unacceptable.”
Volkswagen offers conditional contract to UAW amid ongoing negotiations
News Channel 9
By WTVC
Feb. 27, 2025
Volkswagen Group of America says it has extended a conditional contract offer to the United Auto Workers (UAW), the company announced Thursday. The offer includes a 20% wage increase, but requires the UAW to withdraw some of their demands. A release from Volkswagen says it has resolved 90% of the union's more than 800 demands, offering double-digit wage increases, lower health care costs, cost-of-living adjustments, and a ratification bonus.
JOINING TOGETHER
Variety
By Jazz Tangcay
Feb. 27, 2025
DGA western executive director and President of the Entertainment Union Coalition Rebecca Rhine is leading a series of calls to action. 100 workers from the EUC’s member unions and guilds – including the American Federation of Musicians, California IATSE Council, Directors Guild of America, LiUNA! Local 724, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters Local 399, and Writers Guild of America West – will travel to Sacramento next month advocating for a jobs-based incentive program that attracts production back to California and strengthens local and state economies.
Hollywood Unions Traveling to Sacramento to Lobby for California’s Film and TV Tax Credit Expansion
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Feb. 27, 2025
As concerns about runaway production mount while California looks to balance its budget and prepares for potential federal funding cuts, top entertainment unions are pulling out all the stops to support proposed expansions to the state’s film and TV tax incentives program. A group of industry labor groups called the Entertainment Union Coalition is traveling to Sacramento on March 4 and 5 to lobby for the California governor’s proposed boost to film and television tax incentives and two bills set to further bolster the program. As part of that effort, the unions have produced a 22-page pamphlet for lawmakers and created a website encouraging visitors to contact legislators, sign a pledge and post their support for local production on social media. The “Keep California Rolling” campaign launched on Thursday, a few days before the trip and as details of proposed legislation is still being hashed out.
Deadline
By Katie Campione
Feb. 27, 2025
On March 5, nearly 100 workers from across the Entertainment Union Coalition’s member entities will travel to Sacramento to lobby lawmakers on the jobs-based program. Among those represented will be the American Federation of Musicians, California IATSE Council, Directors Guild of America, LiUNA! Local 724, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters Local 399, and the Writers Guild of America West.
STATE LEGISLATION
I refuse to stand by while KY lawmakers try to gut protections for workers (Opinion)
Courier Journal
By Dustin Reinstedler
Feb. 27, 2025
As a former bricklayer and the president of the Kentucky AFL-CIO, I know firsthand the dangers workers face on the job. Our state has spent decades crafting occupational safety and health (OSH) regulations designed to protect the men and women who build our communities, teach our children and keep our economy running. House Bill 398 threatens to erase those protections overnight. This bill is not just an attack on workplace safety—it's an attack on every working Kentuckian.
IN THE STATES
Maine Veterans Affairs workers dismissed as part of federal layoffs
WMTW
By Cate McCusker
Feb. 25, 2025
The Maine AFL-CIO, a state federation of about 200 local labor unions, represents federal employees at the Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta. They say at least one of its members received an email at 7 p.m. Monday notifying them that they were laid off. “They say they’re terminating these workers for 'poor performance,' but this is just boilerplate language that they’re sending to all probationary employees across the country," said Andy O'Brien, communications director for the AFL-CIO.