Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST WATCH
MSNBC
April 6, 2025
In the largest rebuke of the second Trump administration so far, people in cities across the U.S. marched to voice their grievances against President Trump and Elon Musk. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations President Liz Shuler shares her perspective on the rallies and how the Trump administration has inadvertently created new communities.
MUST READ
Second Union Challenges Trump's Order Ending Labor Contracts
Bloomberg Law
By Robert Iafolla
April 4, 2025
“This illegal executive order is a threat to every union, every contract, and the freedom for every single person to organize on the job and speak up for themselves and their co-workers,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement.
POLITICS
Trump Put Labor Unions on a Pedestal. Not All Are Sold on His Tariff Plan.
The Wall Street Journal
By Te-Ping Chen
April 5, 2025
Still, the president’s labor relationships remain tenuous. While AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement that tariffs could be an effective tool, she criticized what she described as Trump’s efforts to weaken union workers’ rights and “critical investments in U.S. manufacturing.”
Federal Worker Unions Sue to Block Trump From Stripping Bargaining Rights
The New York Times
By Rebecca Davis O’Brien
April 4, 2025
Officials at the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal union, which filed the countersuit on Friday, said the president’s move was among the most aggressive they had seen out of the White House so far, one that threatened collective bargaining rights across the work force. The A.F.G.E. alone represents 800,000 workers. The lawsuit called the order an act of retaliation against the union for pushing back against “both his agenda to decimate the federal work force and his broader agenda to fundamentally restructure the federal government through expansive and unprecedented exercises of executive authority.”
Federal Unions Sue To Stop Trump’s Union-Busting Executive Order
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
April 4, 2025
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement Friday that his union is “not going anywhere.” The AFGE was one of six unions that filed the lawsuit on behalf of nearly a million members they represent.
Federal employee unions sue over Trump bid to strip collective bargaining
The Hill
by Rebecca Beitsch
April 4, 2025
A coalition of unions sued the Trump administration Friday over its directive to agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreements with federal employee unions. President Trump last week signed an order directing 18 agencies to end the union contracts, citing a provision of the federal civil service law that allows such exceptions for national security agencies.
Unions Call Trump's Federal Worker Bargaining EO Illegal
Law360
By Beverly Banks
April 4, 2025
Six unions representing thousands of federal employees fought against President Donald Trump's executive order looking to cease collective bargaining at several agencies with "national security" focuses, telling a California federal court that the order violates the First and Fifth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Trump terminates union rights for 1 million federal workers
Northwest Labor Press
By Don McIntosh
April 4, 2025
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler called it “the very definition of union-busting.” “It strips the fundamental right to unionize and collectively bargain from workers across the federal government at more than 30 agencies,” Shuler said in a press statement the day the order was announced. U.S. law provides federal workers fairly weak union rights compared to private sector workers. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 spells out some limited union rights but gives the president the power to exclude any agency or subdivision if he determines that it has “as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.” The language of the statute leaves it up to the president to make that determination. Shuler said the order is meant to punish unions that are fighting the administration’s mass layoffs of federal workers in court.
Lawsuit Says Union-Busting Trump Order Is 'Unconstitutional' Attack on Working Class
Common Dreams
By Jake Johnson
April 4, 2025
"Federal employees have had the right to join a union and bargain collectively for decades—through multiple wars, international conflicts, and a global health emergency during President Trump's first term," said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees. "During all that time, they served the American people with honor and distinction. No one, including President Trump, ever suggested unions were a national security concern."
National Mall Rally to Oppose Trump Administration Policies(Video)
C-SPAN
April 5, 2025
Thousands of progressive advocates and activists of all kinds rallied along members of Congress to protest Trump administration policies that they feel are impeding on constitutional rights. The firing of federal workers, cuts to federal aid programs, and the administration mass deportation operation were among the issues being protested. Rep. Al Green (D-TX) spoke out against President Trump's suggestion of running for a third term. He then committed to introducing articles of impeachment against the president within 30 days following the rally.
AFGE President talks 'Hands Off!' Protests, suing Trump over federal union elimination order (Video)
MSNBC
April 6, 2025
Thousands of protesters in hundreds of cities from coast to coast are telling Donald Trump and Elon Musk: keep your hands off the government. The American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley joins The Weekend to discuss.
Demonstrators rally in 'Hands Off' protests against Trump policies and Musk-led government cuts
NBC News
By Alexandra Marquez and Matt Lavietes
April 5, 2025
At the Washington, D.C., rally, speakers — including several Democratic members of Congress — rallied attendees, including American Federation of Government Employees President Everett B. Kelley. "We will not be silenced. We will not bow down. We’ll stand up and say hands off our union. We’ll stand up and say hands off our contract. We’ll stand up and say hands off our democracy, hands off our freedom," Kelley told the crowd.
Mass Protests Across the Country Show Resistance to Trump
The New York Times
By Shaila DewanMinho Kim and Katie Benner
April 5, 2025
They came out in defense of national parks and small businesses, public education and health care for veterans, abortion rights and fair elections. They marched against tariffs and oligarchs, dark money and fascism, the deportation of legal immigrants and the Department of Government Efficiency. Demonstrators had no shortage of causes as they gathered in towns and cities across the country on Saturday to protest President Trump’s agenda. Rallies were planned in all 50 states, and images posted on social media showed dense crowds in places as diverse as St. Augustine, Fla.; Salt Lake City and rainy Frankfort, Ky.
Mass protests across the U.S. signal opposition to Trump, Musk
The Washington Post
By Dan Morse and Dana Munro
April 5, 2025
Tens of thousands of people crowded in front of the Washington Monument and in cities across the nation on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump and top adviser Elon Musk’s dismantling of federal agencies, imposition of sweeping tariffs and what demonstrators called the circumvention of due process. Organizers said at least 1,300 “Hands Off” rallies were planned by more than 150 groups in all 50 states. Photos and videos on social media showed throngs gathered in public squares or marching through the streets from Boston to Los Angeles.
Thousands march across New England to protest Trump administration, Elon Musk
Boston Globe
By Tonya Alanez, Chris Serres, Esmy Jimenez, Laura Crimaldi, Talia Lissauer, Haley Clough, Alexa Gagosz, Steven Porter and Amanda Gokee
April 5, 2025
Labor organizations turned out in force. Leaders from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts took the stage. “I’m here to say an immigrant is not the one taking jobs from people, a billionaire is,” said Chrissy Lynch, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
Large crowd converges on Boston Common for ‘Hands Off!’ protest
WGBH
By Robert Goulston
April 5, 2025
The protest began at 11 a.m. with Massachusetts AFL-CIO president Chrissy Lynch speaking to demonstrators at the Parkman Bandstand. A sea of protest signs seemed endless as protesters then marched out of the Common, down Tremont Street and into Boston City Hall Plaza.
Thousands rally in Philly against Trump, Musk in nationwide ‘Hands Off!’ protests
Metro Philadelphia
By Jack Tomczuk
April 6, 2025
Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday afternoon in Center City as part of a nationwide movement against the policies of President Donald Trump and his senior advisor, billionaire Elon Musk. Protesters marched from City Hall to Independence Hall, and speakers included Democratic U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle and Madeleine Dean, City Councilmember Rue Landau and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
‘Hands off:’ Thousands rally in Philadelphia against Trump, Musk, and federal cuts
WHYY
By Carmen Russell-Sluchansky
April 5, 2025
At Independence Mall, a diverse lineup of speakers addressed the crowd in addition to Boyle, including state Sens. Vincent Hughes and Chris Rabb, City Council Member Rue Landau, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Kadida Kenner of the New Pennsylvania Project.
'Hands Off' protest against President Trump, Elon Musk draws crowds in downtown Providence
The Providence Journal
By Antonia Noori Farzan
April 5, 2025
Thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday for the "Hands Off!" rally protesting the actions of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, mirroring similar demonstrations nationwide. The "Hands Off!" rally, which took place in conjunction with thousands of similar events around the country, was organized by Indivisible Rhode Island in collaboration with Climate Action RI, the Rhode Island Working Families Party, The Womxn Project, AFL-CIO, SEIU 1199, and other local groups.
Federal employees rally in Detroit for Social Security and labor protections amid continued cuts
Michigan Advance
By Kyle Davidson
April 5, 2025
While closing out the rally, AFGE National President Everett Kelley said people often don’t recognize who federal employees are. “Let me tell you who they are. These are the people that work at the VA that make sure that veterans are cared for every single day, and they do that job so well that nobody pays them attention. These are the people that work at the EPA that do that job so well that nobody pays them attention. Because nobody pays their attention as long as the air that we breathe is good, as long as the water that we drink is good water,” Kelley said. “Nobody pays any attention when they fly through the sky, because there’s a federal employee at the TSA that makes sure that we fly safely,” Kelley said.
Protesters tee off against Trump and Musk in “Hands Off!” rallies across the U.S.
AP
By Dave Collins
April 5, 2025
Opponents of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk rallied across the U.S. on Saturday to protest the administration’s actions on government downsizing, the economy, human rights and other issues. More than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations were planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. The protest sites included the National Mall in Washington, D.C., state capitols and other locations in all 50 states.
Anti-Trump protesters gather in Washington, other US cities
Reuters
By Jonathan Landay and Tim Reid
April 5, 2025
Thousands of protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., and across the U.S. on Saturday, part of some 1,200 demonstrations that were expected to form the largest single day of protest against President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk since they launched a rapid-fire effort to overhaul government and expand presidential authority. People streamed onto the expanse of grass surrounding the Washington Monument under gloomy skies and light rain. Organizers told Reuters that more than 20,000 people were expected to attend a rally at the National Mall.
‘Hands Off!’ protesters across US to rally against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk
CNN
By Alaa Elassar
April 5, 2025
Over 1,400 protests against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are expected across all 50 states on Saturday, organized by a pro-democracy movement in response to what organizers call a “hostile takeover” and attack on American rights and freedoms. The “Hands Off!” mass-action protests will take place at state capitols, federal buildings, congressional offices, Social Security’s headquarters, parks and city halls throughout the entire country – anywhere “we can make sure they hear us,” organizers say. “Whether you are mobilized by the attacks on our democracy, the slashing of jobs, the invasion of privacy, or the assault on our services – this moment is for you,” the event flyers state. “We are setting out to build a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis.”
St. Louis area protests draw thousands, rally against Trump and Musk policies
Spectrum News
By Spectrum News Staff
April 5, 2025
More than a dozen protests were held across Missouri on Saturday, as part of what activists call the national “Hands Off!” protest. Thousands lined the streets of Brentwood, Arnold, St. Charles and surrounding areas to protest the policies and actions of the Trump administration.
Millions March Against Trump-Musk in Nationwide 'Hands Off' Protests
Common Dreams
By Common Dreams Staff
April 5, 2025
The more than 1,300 "Hands Off!" demonstrations—organized by a large coalition of unions, progressive advocacy groups, and pro-democracy watchdogs—first kicked off Saturday in Europe, followed by East Coast communities in the U.S., and continued throughout the day at various times, depending on location.
Huge crowds gather in 'Hands Off' rallies nationwide in protest of Trump administration
ABC News
By Ivan Pereira, Christiane Cordero, and Noah Minnie
April 5, 2025
Osadebe, a union steward with AFGE Local 476, told the crowd the oligarchs do not "value you or your life or your community." "We're seeing that they don't care who they have to destroy or who they have to hurt to get what they want," he said.
‘Hands Off!’ Louisiana joins nationwide rally against Trump policies
WGNO
By Khalale Smith and Isabella Cheng
April 5, 2025
“We are for the people, and I’m here with the people. And I’m ready to stand against the commander in chief, DOGE, and anybody else who wants to take our rights away because it’s not right, and we as people of the United States of America have to come together collectively to defend ourselves. To fight for not only my rights, my kid’s rights, fellow veterans’ rights, and American rights,” says Veteran and AFGE 2525 President, Chantelle Jones.
Chicago groups, protestors rally against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk
NBC Chicago
By Vi Nguyen
April 5, 2025
They’re trying to dismantle the federal government, undermine our communities, steal from workers, and crash the economy," said Bob Reiter, President of Chicago Federation of Labor. “They are destroying institutions we all rely on and putting workers on the streets.”
Supreme Court Lets Trump Suspend Grants to Teachers
The New York Times
By Adam Liptak and Abbie VanSickle
April 4, 2025
The Supreme Court on Friday let the Trump administration temporarily suspend $65 million in teacher-training grants that the government contends would promote diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, an early victory for the administration in front of the justices. The court’s order was unsigned, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. The temporary pause will remain in effect while the case is appealed.
Elon Musk's DOGE teams cut critical funding from America's libraries, officials say
CBS News
By Alyssa Spady
April 4, 2025
On March 20, teams from DOGE — the budget-cutting army led by billionaire Elon Musk — descended on the Institute, a tiny federal department that was created by Congress in 1996 to oversee grants for museums and libraries around the nation. Late Wednesday night, organizations that receive Institute funding "began receiving notification that their grants were being terminated, effective immediately," according to a local branch of the American Federation of Government Employees union.
DOGE expected to take aim at DHS with staffing cuts, including at US Secret Service
CNN
By Betsy Klein and Jamie Gangel
April 5, 2025
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is expected to take aim at the Department of Homeland Security in the coming days, seeking potentially major cuts to personnel across its agencies, including the US Secret Service, multiple sources tell CNN. DHS is bracing for what could amount to significant layoffs, four sources familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to speak freely told CNN, though no final decisions have been made, and the ultimate scale and scope has not been set. This week, two of the sources said, there was back-and-forth negotiation and lobbying between DOGE, the White House, and Homeland Security leadership, with each of the department’s components expected to be impacted differently. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is expected to be decimated, one of the sources said.
‘A huge impact on worker safety’: Protection for miners, firefighters in jeopardy after CDC cuts
CNN
By Meg Tirrell
April 6, 2025
Anyone in the US who’s depended on a respirator to provide protection against dust, smoke, mold or airborne viruses has likely relied on a small but mighty agency within the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assure that they’re shielded from things that could damage their health. The 1,300-person National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, was established in 1970 to ensure “every man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.”
IMMIGRATION
Trump Administration Is Ordered to Return Migrant Deported to El Salvador
The New York Times
By Aishvarya Kavi and Alan Feuer
April 4, 2025
A federal judge gave the Trump administration until the end of Monday to return to the United States a Maryland man who was inadvertently deported to El Salvador last month despite a court order allowing him stay in the country. In a ruling from the bench on Friday, the judge, Paula Xinis, said that administration officials had acted without “legal basis” last month when they arrested the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, and put him on a plane — with no due process — to a notorious Salvadoran prison.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Fed's Powell says larger-than-expected tariffs likely to boost inflation, slow growth
Reuters
By Howard Schneider
April 4, 2025
President Donald Trump's new tariffs are "larger than expected," and the economic fallout including higher inflation and slower growth likely will be as well, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday, while cautioning it was still too soon to know what the right response from the central bank ought to be. "We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation," undermining both of the Fed's mandates of 2% inflation and maximum employment, Powell told a business journalists' conference in Arlington, Virginia, remarks that pointed to difficult decisions ahead for the U.S. central bank and did nothing to staunch a global bloodletting in stock markets.
IRS will cut 25% of its employees, eliminating its civil rights office
The Washington Post
By Jacob Bogage and Shannon Najmabadi
April 4, 2025
The Internal Revenue Service plans to eliminate 20,000 jobs — nearly a quarter of its workforce — in layoffs starting Friday, as part of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting efforts, according to records obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the plans. The agency said it would eliminate its Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, firing roughly 130 employees from a division responsible for protecting taxpayers from discrimination in the tax code, audits and investigations. The remaining employees there will be transferred to other departments.
Social Security faces thousands more job cuts even with service in tailspin
The Washington Post
By Lisa Rein
April 4, 2025
The Social Security Administration — already reeling from plunging customer service following a rapid downsizing under the Trump administration — is drafting plans to begin layoffs of potentially thousands more employees as soon as next week. The cuts have been ordered by leaders of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team, the U.S. DOGE Service, which reviewed the agency’s plans to shrink its workforce last week, according to four agency officials familiar with the conversations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans. DOGE determined that the 7,000 jobs eliminated since February under acting commissioner Leland Dudek through early retirements, buyouts, resignations and firings were not enough, the officials said.
Laid-off Insight Hospital workers to get job search help at KSU Trumbull
WFMJ
By Mike Gauntner
April 4, 2025
Workers impacted by layoffs at Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull can attend a rapid response event today to learn about unemployment benefits and job search resources. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced the event, scheduled for Friday, April 4. It will be held in the Kent State Trumbull Auditorium at 4314 Mahoning Avenue. Sessions will be divided alphabetically by last name: 9 a.m. for those with last names A- K, and 11 a.m. for those with last names L- Z. A makeup session will be held at 1 p.m. The rapid response teams, comprised of state and local partners, will provide information on the unemployment process and available resources for displaced workers. A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice issued by Insight Hospital stated that 143 employees were laid off due to funding issues stemming from Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy. Insight also notified AFSCME, Ohio Council 8, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and AFL-CIO that 689 employees would be affected.
ORGANIZING
Resident advisers at Cal State campuses want to unionize
Times of San Diego
By Gabriel Thompson
April 5, 2025
The RA petition comes after several months of organizing across CSU campuses, building on a surge in undergraduate student organizing in California and nationwide. RAs interviewed by Capital & Main cited a number of workplace improvements they would like to see, which include more counseling and mental health resources for those who have responded to traumatic incidents, additional compensation in the form of a financial stipend and formal pathways for RAs to provide input and voice concerns.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
WGA Ratifies New 3-Year Contract With CBS News, Securing Key AI Protections
Deadline
By Katie Campione
April 4, 2025
The Writers Guild of America East and West members at CBS News have ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the company. Per the guild, the 270-plus member unit “overwhelmingly” approved of the deal, which includes AI protections, guaranteed raises, and improved benefits, among other provisions. The WGA had been prioritizing artificial intelligence in these negotiations, in an effort “to safeguard journalism as a profession,” WGA East Executive Director Sam Wheeler told Deadline last month.
ISU and faculty union reach tentative deal, averting strike
WGLT
By Ryan Denham
April 4, 2025
Illinois State University and its faculty union reached a tentative agreement Friday, averting a strike that could have begun at any moment. Terms of the deal were not released. The tentative agreement comes after nearly 50 negotiating sessions between ISU administrators and the United Faculty of ISU union. The union represents 650 tenured and tenure-track faculty and was negotiating its first contract after getting recognition.
SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contracts Expiration Date Extended Again
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 5, 2025
SAG-AFTRA and advertisers have once again decided to extend the expiration date of their current contracts as they hash out successor agreements. The performers’ union and the Joint Policy Committee, which bargains on behalf of advertisers and advertising agencies, together pushed the conclusion of their current deals through April 11. The deals had previously been set to expire by the end of the day on Friday.
University of Oregon faculty ratifies new contract, avoiding strike
OPB
By Chris M Lehman
April 5, 2025
University of Oregon faculty have ratified a collective bargaining agreement, officially taking a strike off the table. An email sent by United Academics of UO president Mike Urbancic to union members Friday afternoon said 97% of the faculty members who cast a ballot voted to ratify the deal. The email said that at the time, 76% of faculty members had voted.
CT-based Pratt & Whitney machinists authorize strike option if contract talks fail
CT Insider
By Paul Schott
April 5, 2025
Machinists at jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney’s plants in East Hartford and Middletown could go on strike if they do not approve a new contract by the time their current pact expires early next month. In a “strike sanction” vote taken on Friday, 99% of members of Local 700 and Local 1746 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) voted to permit a potential strike, according to IAM officials. The vote came two days after the start of talks between the union and the company on a new three-year contract for the two locals, which represent about 3,000 members across Pratt & Whitney's facilities in East Hartford and Middletown. Their current contract expires on May 4.
JOINING TOGETHER
Federal workers protest against layoffs at Penn Station
WMAR
By Raven Payne
April 4, 2025
But Courtney Jenkins, President of the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO, said this cause is personal. "I spent 12 years with the United States Postal Service, and I'm a proud Union member, and I know we've fought battles day in and day out to make sure it remains a public postal service because we know the haves would rather have it privatized so they can make a profit off of a service that's older than the nation itself," Jenkins said.
DOGE cuts the target of North Chicago protest; ‘What they are doing to our veterans is simply wrong’
Chicago Tribune
By Steve Sadin
April 4, 2025
Cars and trucks honked regularly in support as more than 150 members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the National Nurses United (NNU) held signs outside the James. A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago protesting cuts to veteran’s care. ”Let there be cure, not cuts. Let there be cure, not cuts,” the men and women chanted in protesting the spending cuts aimed at the U.S. Veterans Administration by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as the vehicles drove by them.
STATE LEGISLATION
Unions call for restored unemployment benefits in wake of Amana Whirlpool layoffs
CBS2 Iowa
By Nick El Hajj
April 4, 2025
Union leaders and Democratic lawmakers gathered Friday at the IBEW Local 405 office in Cedar Rapids to demand the Iowa Legislature restore another 10 weeks of unemployment benefits cut by lawmakers in 2022. The call comes just days after Whirlpool Corporation announced the largest round of layoffs in the state so far this year.
Unemployment benefits for striking workers being considered in Oregon, Washington
KREM
By Associated Press
April 4, 2025
Lawmakers in Oregon and Washington are considering whether striking workers should receive unemployment benefits, following recent walkouts by Boeing factory workers, hospital nurses and teachers in the Pacific Northwest that highlighted a new era of American labor activism. Oregon's measure would make it the first state to provide pay for picketing public employees — who aren't allowed to strike in most states, let alone receive benefits for it. Washington's would pay striking private sector workers for up to 12 weeks, starting after at least two weeks on the line.
IN THE STATES
Maine sues Trump to save library, museum funding from eradication
News Center Maine
By News Center Maine Staff
April 4, 2025
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has joined 20 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of three federal agencies that provide funding and services for public libraries, museums, workers, and minority-owned businesses. The lawsuit challenges a March Executive Order that would eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)—agencies created by Congress to support vital public programs across the country.
From Des Moines to Washington, unions will endure despite attacks (Opinion)
Des Moines Register
By Samantha Groark
April 6, 2025
President Donald Trump’s recent executive order terminating collective bargaining rights of more than a million federal employees (including thousands in Iowa) is just the latest attempt to weaken organized labor. But if history tells us anything, it’s this: Unions aren’t going anywhere.
Sen. Jim Justice’s Coal Companies Accused of Failing to Provide Retiree Health Care
Mountaineer Journal
By Staff
April 6, 2025
Five coal companies tied to Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV), and his family are once again failing to provide health care coverage to retirees, violating a collective bargaining agreement, according to a new federal court filing. In a court document filed Wednesday, retirees and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) alleged that the Justice companies have not been processing or paying outstanding medical bills. These bills were submitted to the companies’ current health administrator under a union retiree benefit plan.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Union nurses at Anaheim hospital raise safety concerns amid contract talks
Los Angeles Times Daily Pilot
By Gabriel San Román
April 4, 2025
The day before key negotiations, dozens of registered nurses at Anaheim Regional Medical Center held an information picket on Wednesday to draw the public’s attention to safety issues at the hospital. Mara Flicker, a labor and delivery nurse, walked with fellow nurses represented by SEIU Local 121RN during the action. She stressed that safety is a top priority for nurses — and is a sticking point in trying to win the union’s first-ever collective bargaining agreement with the hospital.