Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST READ
Trump administration moves to end union rights for many federal workers
The Hill
By Rebecca Beitsch
March 27, 2025
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said Thursday that President Trump signed an executive order limiting numerous agency employees from unionizing and instructing the government to stop engaging in any collective bargaining. The OPM memo references an order from Trump that has yet to be publicly posted, but a fact sheet from the White House claims that the Civil Service Reform Act that allows government workers to unionize “enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.”
POLITICS
Trump signs executive order to end collective bargaining at agencies involved with national security
AP
By Darlene Superville
March 27, 2025
President Donald Trump moved Thursday to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government, citing authority granted him under a 1978 law. The order, signed without public fanfare and announced late Thursday, appears to touch most of the federal government. Affected agencies include the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security.
Trump Moves to End Union Protections Across Broad Swath of Government
The New York Times
By Tyler Pager
March 28, 2025
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, estimated that the order would strip labor protections from hundreds of thousands of civil servants, and said it was preparing legal action. “This administration’s bullying tactics represent a clear threat not just to federal employees and their unions, but to every American who values democracy and the freedoms of speech and association,” Everett Kelley, the union’s president, said in a statement. “Trump’s threat to unions and working people across America is clear: fall in line or else.”
Trump Bars Collective Bargaining Talks with Federal Unions
Bloomberg
By Jennifer A Dlouhy
March 27, 2025
President Donald Trump moved Thursday to block a swath of government agencies from bargaining with federal unions, asserting that the change was necessary to bolster national security. Trump signed an executive order directing agencies across the executive branch to cease collective bargaining with federal unions. According to a White House fact sheet, the directive extends from the Pentagon and Homeland Security Department to the departments of State and the Treasury.
Trump signs executive order ending collective bargaining rights for many federal workers
CNN
By Tami Luhby
March 28, 2025
AFGE, which represents more than 800,000 employees, condemned the move in a statement Thursday evening, noting that it affects the collective bargaining rights of more than 1 million federal employees. “President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants—nearly one-third of whom are veterans—simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in the statement. “AFGE is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks,” Kelley said.
Trump order aims to outlaw most government unions on ‘national security’ grounds
Government Executive
By Erich Wagner
March 27, 2025
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order purporting to outlaw collective bargaining across two thirds of the federal government, citing a little-used provision of federal labor law relating to national security issues. A fact sheet announcing the policy document says that Trump cited a rarely used provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act allowing the president to exclude agencies and agency subcomponents from collective bargaining rules if the rules “cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements.”
HHS cuts 10,000 employees in major overhaul of health agencies
CNN
By Meg Tirrell, Tami Luhby, Brenda Goodman and Jamie Gumbrecht
March 27, 2025
HHS sent a formal reduction in force, or RIF, notice to American Federation of Government Employees union leaders early on Thursday morning. About 8,000 to 10,000 employees will be affected by the layoffs, with the probable effective date being May 27, said the email, which was sent by Thomas J. Nagy Jr., deputy assistant secretary for human resources at HHS, and viewed by CNN.
RFK Jr. announces big cuts to Department of Health and Human Services
The Washington Post
By Lauren Weber, Lena H. Sun, Joel Achenbach, Rachel Roubein and Dan Diamond
March 27, 2025
An official notification from HHS to the American Federation of Government Employees union said layoffs are “primarily aimed at administrative positions, including human resources, information technology, procurement, and finance.” The reductions also will focus on “roles in high-cost regions and employees in programmatic areas that have been determined to be redundant or duplicative with other functions in HHS and across the federal government.”
US health department cutting 10,000 workers under Kennedy
Reuters
By Ahmed Aboulenein and Sriparna Roy
March 27, 2025
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will cut about 10,000 full-time jobs and close half of its regional offices, it said on Thursday, a major overhaul of the department under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The latest job cuts, and about 10,000 recent voluntary departures, will reduce the number of full-time employees at the department to 62,000 from 82,000, the department said.
10,000 Federal Health Dept. Workers to Be Laid Off
The New York Times
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Christina Jewett
March 27, 2025
The Trump administration on Thursday announced a layoff of 10,000 employees at the Health and Human Services Department, as part of a broad reorganization designed to bring communications and other functions directly under the purview of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The layoffs are a drastic reduction in personnel for the sprawling health department, which now employs about 82,000 people and touches the lives of every American through its oversight of medical care, food and drugs. Together with previous layoffs and departures, the move will bring the department down to about 62,000 employees, the agency said.
Internal White House document details layoff plans across U.S. agencies
The Washington Post
By Emily Davies and Jeff Stein
March 27, 2025
Andrew Huddleston, communications director for the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents the largest number of federal workers, said cuts to support staff would fit “with the narrative that these are administrative people, support people, bureaucrats. But those people are the ones helping veterans get appointments and their paperwork in on time.”
Appeals court refuses to halt an order for the rehiring of thousands of fired federal workers
AP News
By Lindsay Whitehurst and Janie Har
March 27, 2025
An appeals court in California has refused to halt a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to rehire thousands of federal workers who were let go in mass firings. A split 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel turned back an emergency motion late Wednesday to pause the order from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in a case brought by labor unions and nonprofits as Republican President Donald Trump moves to dramatically downsize the federal workforce. Alsup is one of two judges who found legal problems with the way the firings of probationary workers were carried out.
Panel of postal union leaders maps plans to combat privatization threat
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
March 27, 2025
A longtime right-wing goal, the threat of privatization of the Postal Service, and the retirement of controversial Trumpite Postmaster General Louis DeJoy dominated the discussion by three postal union presidents of the USPS and its future. The March 25 panel, with Letter Carriers (NALC) President Brian Renfroe, Postal Workers (APWU) President Mark Dimondstein, and Rural Letter Carriers President Don Maston, not only discussed DeJoy’s departure—and who might succeed him—but who would follow DeJoy’s controversial postal “modernization” plan.
Trump pick to lead markets watchdog willing to work with DOGE on 'efficiencies'
Reuters
By Douglas Gillison
March 27, 2025
Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, told lawmakers on Thursday he would work with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency or others engaged in cost-cutting efforts at the Wall Street regulator.
Atkins told the Senate Banking Committee that he would "definitely" work with Musk's task force and would support efforts to streamline the agency, which is already facing significant reorganization and a shrinking staff.
These departments investigating Elon Musk have been cut by DOGE and the Trump administration
Los Angeles Times
By Laurence Darmiento
March 27, 2025
DOGE has laid off thousands of federal employees, while President Trump fired or replaced Biden-era officials, including more than a dozen inspector generals, as multiple agencies or departments — from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — have been regulating or investigating Musk’s companies.
Fired Federal Workers Find Route to Keep Trump Cases in Court
Bloomberg Law
By Austin R. Ramsey
March 27, 2025
A California federal district court judge threw a wrench into efforts to downsize the federal workforce by granting public-sector unions permission to challenge the government in court rather than deferring to civil service boards the Trump administration has also sought to dismantle. US District Court for the Northern District of California Judge William Alsup reversed a prior decision on Monday when he ruled that the federal judiciary has subject-matter jurisdiction over the unions’ claims.
Hundreds gather to protest ‘state-sanctioned political kidnapping’ of Tufts student by ICE
The Daily Free Press
By Truman Dickerson and Talia Lissauer
March 26,2025
Ozturk is a prominent member of the Tufts pro-Palestine movement and published an op-Ed in the Tufts Daily March 26, 2024, criticizing Tufts President Sunil Kumar and calling for the university to start “acknowledging the Palestinian genocide.” Ozturk is also a member of Service Employees International Union Local 509, a union representing Massachusetts workers, including Boston University faculty, graduate workers and ResLife employees.
Trump cuts 69 global programs tackling child labor and human trafficking
The Guardian
By Joseph Gedeon
March 27, 2025
The Donald Trump administration has terminated 69 international programs aimed at combating child labor, forced labor and human trafficking, potentially undermining decades of progress in protecting vulnerable workers globally. The Washington Post obtained an email detailing how the US Department of Labor’s bureau of international labor affairs (ILAB) will immediately end grants totaling more than $500m that supported labor standard enforcement across 40 countries, including critical initiatives in Mexico, Central America, south-east Asia and Africa.
Judge blocks Trump's Labor Department from requiring grant recipients to abandon DEI
Reuters
By Luc Cohen
March 27, 2025
A U.S. judge on Thursday temporarily allowed Labor Department grant recipients to continue their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, but the judge allowed the Trump administration to bar most "equity-related grants." The order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago will prevent the Labor Department from requiring grantees to certify that they do not operate DEI programs that violate anti-discrimination laws for two weeks, while he considers a longer-lasting injunction against the measure.
Trump issues executive order to eliminate ‘anti-American ideology’ from Smithsonian
The Washington Post
By Petula Dvorak
March 27, 2025
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday evening promising to eliminate “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution’s museums and restore “monuments, memorials, statues, markers” that have been removed over the past five years. The “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” order directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate what he finds “improper” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo. The institution, the official keeper of the American story, has operated independently as a public-private partnership created by an act of Congress in 1846. The order comes as the institution has been expanding over decades to include a wider, richer and more diverse telling of the nation’s history.
Trump orders elimination of 'anti-American ideology' from Smithsonian institutions
Reuters
By James Oliphant and Steve Holland
March 27, 2025
President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered that "improper, divisive or anti-American ideology" be removed from the Smithsonian Institution, the vast museum and research complex that is a premier exhibition space for U.S. history and culture. The Republican president, in an executive order, directed that Vice President JD Vance undertake the action.
TRANSPORTATION
Lawmakers Reintroduce Safer Skies Act, Look to Close Security Loophole
WZMQ
By Brendan Scanland
March 26, 2025
“There’s no time like right now to make sure that we get behind this important piece of legislation,” said Captain Jason Ambrosi, President of the Airline Pilots Association, International.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
The job market is ‘frozen.’ That’s not a good sign for DOGE casualties
CNN
By Alicia Wallace
March 27, 2025
The Trump administration’s culling of government programs and agencies has resulted in an unprecedented wave of federal workers joining the ranks of job seekers — and new data shows a spike in job applications from agencies impacted by the Department of Government Efficiency. Those job hunts are coming at a time when rising uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s economic agenda is clouding businesses’ decision-making and further slowing hiring — especially for specialized and white-collar roles.
'Chaos': UAW Local 600 reacts to Cleveland-Cliffs Dearborn Works layoffs
WXYZ Detroit
By Randy Wimbley
March 26, 2025
United Auto Workers leaders say they were blindsided by the announcement of layoffs at Cleveland-Cliffs Dearborn Works, a plant that supplies steel for the auto industry. UAW Local 600 leaders will be scrambling to find work for their members when these layoffs hit this summer beginning July 15. They summed up the reaction among workers with one word.
ORGANIZING
Ohio University faculty approve unionization by wide margin
Athens County Independent
By Dani Kington
March 27, 2025
Nearly 800 Ohio University faculty will soon be part of a union, following a years-long organizing campaign and an election that saw more than 70% of participating faculty vote to unionize, according to unofficial results. “We worked really hard for this, and we actually had a very good sense that we had strong support,” faculty organizer Julie White told the Independent. “It was a pretty overwhelming victory, and now I think the task is to go forward and represent the interest and concerns of faculty.”
Slaughter Lane Alamo Drafthouse employees unionizing amid cost of living struggles
KVUE
By Melia Masumoto
March 26, 2025
Workers at another Alamo Drafthouse location in Austin are seeking to unionize following company-wide layoffs back in January. Employees at the Slaughter Lane location sent a letter to Alamo Drafthouse management on Monday, saying that they deserve to have notice if the company decides to lay people off.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
NYSNA Nurses at Wynn Hospital Ratify Contract
WKTV
By Zach Lewis
March 27, 2025
New York State Nurses Association nurses at Mohawk Valley Health System Wynn Hospital have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a three-year contract. The agreement includes stronger safe staffing enforcement and break coverage to ensure safety at all times, wage increases, and reduced costs for health insurance, according to the union representing 42,000 members in New York State.
Historic VTA Strike Will End After Judge’s Order, Some Service to Resume by Friday
KQED
By Joseph Geha
March 26, 2025
A historic strike by South Bay transit workers that has affected tens of thousands of people who rely on public transportation will come to an end after a Santa Clara County Judge issued a preliminary injunction to halt it Wednesday afternoon. The injunction, signed by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel T. Nishigaya in a San José courtroom, means Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority employees will need to return to work immediately, but it wasn’t clear how long it would take for all transit services to resume. Leaders of the union representing the workers, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, said they were disappointed in the outcome.
‘Poverty-level people’: University of Illinois AFSCME workers rally for higher wages
IPM News
By Emily Hays
March 27, 2025
For 17 years, Sheri Walker’s job has been to teach people how to get healthy meals while on food stamps. As a union employee, Walker earns $17 per hour. She said under that salary, she is also eligible for public assistance. “In our program, we teach poverty-level people. That’s me,” Walker said. Sheri Walker said that she was able to manage her salary while she was married. After getting divorced, she started to realize how low her salary was. For example, she needed to use a subsidy through Ameren to replace her furnace after it broke.
UC Santa Cruz workers plan one-day strike April 1
Lookout Santa Cruz
By Lookout Santa Cruz
March 27, 2025
UC Santa Cruz is bracing for major disruptions on campus as some unionized workers prepare for a one-day strike next Tuesday, April 1, as part of a University of California systemwide job action affecting services from patient care to campus transportation. The strike, announced by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME) and University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), will involve workers from multiple sectors including dining, custodial, transportation, information technology, research and patient care services.
In wake of deadly DC crash, these flight attendants in Charlotte demand higher pay
The Charlotte Observer
By Chase Jordan
March 26, 2025
Holding yellow signs with slogans like “Pay us or Chaos,” flight attendants from PSA Airlines walked across the busy intersection by the entrance of Charlotte’s airport Wednesday. Drivers passing blew their horns in support of their protest for more pay and better contracts. They were represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America. The union voted at 99% to authorize a strike in September.
‘Asking for basics’: Napa Valley College employees push for wage gains in next contract
The Press Democrat
By Tarini Mehta
March 26, 2025
Classified staff, represented by the local chapter of Service Employees International Union, noted that their workload has also increased as they support multiple departments, backfill vacant positions and train temporary employees. Between Fall 2019 and Fall 2024, the college’s classified employee count has decreased from 187 to 153, according to chancellor’s office data.
JOINING TOGETHER
Brooklyn Transit Advocates, Unions Urge Bus-Only Lanes on Flatbush Avenue
BK Reader
By BK Reader Staff
March 27, 2025
Over a dozen community institutions and labor unions urged the New York City Department of Transportation to paint bus priority lanes on Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue to speed sluggish service between Grand Army Plaza and the Manhattan Bridge. In a letter to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, the groups said upgrades to the busy transit corridor is long overdue.
STATE LEGISLATION
Frederick’s Mayor Supports Bill To Allow Municipal Employees To Form Collective Bargaining Unit
WFMD
By Staff
March 27, 2025
Frederick, Md (KM) Legislation being considered by the Frederick City Council would allow local municipal employees to form a collective bargaining unit. It would negotiate a contract with the City covering such issues as salaries and benefits. In a recent appearance on WFMD’s “Morning News Express,” Mayor Michael O’Connor noted that police officers have collective bargaining rights, and other employees should have that same opportunity. He was asked about how much it would cost the city. “We’re going to have to pay our employees either way. It’s all about paying people a fair and honest wage,” he said. “Our Police Department bargains for their pay and their benefits. Our Police Department is not overpaid.”
Proposal to let workers opt out of minimum wage gains momentum
Florida Politics
By Gabrielle Russon
March 25, 2025
A bill to create a sub-minimum wage cleared a second House panel with a 12-4 party-line vote. In presenting the bill (HB 541), Republican Rep. Ryan Chamberlin argued that an unintended consequence of Florida’s minimum wage is that employers cannot afford to pay unskilled workers for pre-apprenticeships and other education.
IN THE STATES
Dan Goughnour wins special election, giving Democrats control of PA House
Audacy
By KDKA Radio Staff
March 26, 2025
“Our Labor Council congratulates Dan Goughnour on his big win in the HD-35 special election. We thank the many union members and volunteers who brought this home to help keep our Democratic State House Majority, and we look forward to working with Rep.-elect Goughnour. We miss our friend Matt Gergely but we know he is smiling tonight seeing his seat and the State House remaining in pro-union hands.”
Colorado EPA workers rally to protect jobs
Kiowa County Press
By Lindsey Toomer
March 27, 2025
The union that represents just under 500 Environmental Protection Agency employees in Colorado rallied Wednesday outside of the agency’s downtown Denver headquarters against President Donald Trump’s threats to cut workers. Members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3607 and other supporters marched around the EPA Region 8 headquarters near Union Station to urge the Trump administration to “let us work” as it continues to undermine federal workers.
IAFF discuss VA Gov rejecting legislation to expand collective bargaining rights
Fire & Safety Journal Americas
By Isabelle Crow
March 27, 2025
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has announced that he would veto H.B. 2764, legislation that would greatly expand collective bargaining rights for public employees across the commonwealth. As shared by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) the legislation would have guaranteed firefighters, police officers and other public employees’ rights to collectively bargain. The news comes after the Republican governor announced he had vetoed more than 150 pieces of legislation sent to him by the Virginia General Assembly during its session. General President Edward Kelly said: “The IAFF doesn’t have permanent friends; we don’t have permanent enemies. We have permanent interests. “And ensuring our members have a seat at the negotiating table – no matter what state they live in – is a critical part of our mission to improve the safety and well-being of America’s firefighters. “The General Assembly knows the value of firefighters having a say in their working conditions, staffing, pay and benefits. Shame on the Governor for not seeing the value in that.”
‘Officers are upset’: TSA workers rally at Indy airport to restore union protections
WRTV
By Naja Woods
March 26, 2025
Members of the union that represents Transportation Security Administration workers rallied at the airport Wednesday. They spoke out against the Department of Homeland Security's decision to end the collective bargaining agreement that it says protects 47,000 federal airport workers on the front lines. "They’re the people in the blue shirts that screen property. People check baggage to make sure there's no prohibited items that get onto an aircraft, like guns, bombs, incendiaries, and it's an extensive process,” said Myles Wagner, the executive vice president of AFGE Local 618.
Postal unions warn privatizing mail industry could hurt West Virginia's rural communities
WV News
By Jack Walker
March 27, 2025
“Do you really think that they’re going to want to deliver one piece of mail to you all the way up a holler in West Virginia, versus concentrate on the inner city and the corporations here inside the city?” said Tim Holstein, vice president of Charleston’s American Postal Workers Union Local 133.
Lawmakers continue push to roll back child labor laws, undercut minimum wage
Tallahassee Democrat
By Gray Rohrer
March 25, 2025
“Right now parents and students have the flexibility. They have the flexibility because of the waiver program. This bill takes that flexibility away and gives it to the employer,” said Rich Templin, director of public policy with the Florida AFL-CIO.
APWU: ‘Hands off our Postal Service’
Queens Chronicle
By Kristen Guglielmo
March 27, 2025
Nationwide, members of the American Postal Workers Union, post office retirees and others on March 20 held a “day of action,” rallying against layoffs and potential privatization of the United States Postal Service at the behest of the federal government. Then-Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in a recent letter to Congress said he intends to cut 10,000 workers through voluntary early retirement and has agreed to work with the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, to achieve “further efficiencies.” DeJoy resigned Monday, the USPS confirmed, after he announced his pending departure in February. Privatizing would likely drive up the costs of postage to create more profit for the agency, critics argue. The Queens Area Local of the American Postal Workers Union, located in Ozone Park, took to the Howard Beach Post Office, at 160-50 Cross Bay Blvd., to make their voices heard.
Union reps discuss attacks on TSA workers at community gathering
People’s World
By Michael O’Dea
March 27, 2025
A coalition of unions led by the AFGE filed a lawsuit against the DHS, TSA, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and TSA Senior Official Adam Stahl for the “unlawful and unilateral termination of a negotiated union contract, which protects approximately 47,000 Transportation Security Officers.” The community event was organized as part of Chicago Jobs for Justice’s “Civil Servants Speak Out” series and was held at the Unity Center in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. Attending alongside English was Scott Pejas, the local president of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA). The AFA-CWA is among the unions included in the lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department.
Labor advocates lay out priorities for Maine lawmakers
Maine Public
By Kaitlyn Budion
March 27, 2025
"We call on our elected representatives here in Augusta to stand up for working class Mainers and fight for an economy that works for the many, not just for a few," said Cynthia Phinney, president of Maine AFL-CIO. Phinney said although the state is facing a tight budget, these are key issues for working Mainers.
EPA employees rally in Denver against President Trump’s job and funding cuts
CPR News
By Sam Brasch
March 26, 2025
Dozens of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers marched through downtown Denver on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s attempts to rapidly shrink the federal agency. “We don’t exactly know what’s going to go down with our jobs or our funding, but we’re not going to wait for the cuts to happen to say: you’re going to miss us when we’re gone,” said Miles Batson, an EPA employee who led the rally in his role as vice president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3607, a labor union representing federal employees.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Corpus Christi Fire Department 'Fill the Boot' benefits Muscular Dystrophy Association
KRIS 6 News
By Myra Sanchez
March 27, 2025
The Corpus Christi Fire Department (CCFD) and Corpus Christi Professional Firefighter Association’s annual Fill the Boot campaign collected donations throughout March. Firefighters were at intersections in various parts of the city, collecting donations to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.