Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Hirono reintroduces bill to protect union rights for federal workers
Spectrum News
BY Michael Tsai
April 9, 2025
“Passing this legislation has never been more urgent — especially now, as federal workers face unprecedented attacks on their collective bargaining rights,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “We believe, as most Americans do, that every worker deserves a union — no matter who they work for. This bill is about something fundamental: respect. Respect for the public service workers who’ve devoted their careers to serving their communities. And respect means the freedom to negotiate.”
Appeals court clears the way for the Trump administration to fire thousands of probationary workers
AP
By Lindsay Whitehurst
April 9, 2025
A federal appeals court cleared the way Wednesday for President Donald Trump’s administration to fire thousands of probationary workers, halting a judge’s order requiring them to be reinstated in a legal win for Trump’s effort to downsize the federal workforce. The decision comes a day after the Supreme Court also sided with the Trump administration in another lawsuit filed over mass firings.
Appeals court pauses Maryland judge’s order to rehire federal workers
The Washington Post
By Katie Mettler
April 9, 2025
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Wednesday paused a Maryland federal judge’s order that directed the Trump administration to rehire thousands of federal probationary workers whose jobs had been terminated across 20 government agencies — finding that the federal government is likely to succeed in its claim that the judge lacks the jurisdiction in the case. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar granted a preliminary injunction request last week from 20 Democratic attorneys general who have sued the Trump administration, alleging the government violated federal procedures regulating how to conduct mass layoffs.
Appeals court frees Trump administration to resume probationary employee firings
The Hill
By Rebecca Beitsch and Zach Schonfeld
April 9, 2025
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court order blocking the Trump administration from firing probationary workers, freeing the White House to fire thousands of federal workers. It blocks a ruling that protected probationary workers from being fired if they live in the 19 states that sued over a Trump directive to fire government workers hired in the last year or two, depending on their agency.
Unions representing federal workers say they still have standing to sue despite Supreme Court’s stay
Courthouse News Service
By Michael Gennaro
April 9, 2025
Unions representing thousands of federal probationary workers fired by the Trump administration argued at a hearing Wednesday morning that their clients still have standing even though the Supreme Court stayed a federal judge’s order to reinstate the workers on Tuesday. Danielle Leonard, counsel for the union plaintiffs, told Senior U.S. District Judge William Alsup, a Clinton appointee, that the Supreme Court’s decision was not a merits decision and the union plaintiffs still have standing because they are suffering from direct, irreparable harm.
Supreme Court lets Trump remove independent regulators, for now
The Washington Post
By Ann E. Marimow
April 9, 2025
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to temporarily remove a pair of independent regulators while the full Supreme Court decides how to proceed with their cases that have broad implications for at least two dozen other agencies, including the Federal Reserve Board. The brief administrative order from Roberts, which does not address the merits of the cases, came less than three hours after the administration asked the court to quickly schedule argument in the matter for May.
Supreme Court says Trump doesn’t have to rehire independent labor board members for now
CNN
By John Fritze
April 9, 2025
Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday allowed President Donald Trump to temporarily remove two board members at independent labor agencies while the justices consider whether the president may permanently fire them. The brief order does not necessarily indicate which way the court is leaning in the case. Instead, the procedural move will give the justices a few days to consider written arguments before deciding whether or not to grant Trump’s request.
CBS News
By Melissa Quinn
April 9, 2025
Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily halted lower court decisions that voided President Trump's firing of a member of the National Labor Relations Board and a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, allowing their removals to go back into effect for now. Roberts issued an administrative stay that gives the Supreme Court more time to consider a Justice Department request to allow Mr. Trump's removal of Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board. He gave lawyers for Harris and Wilcox until 5 p.m. on April 15 to file a response with the court.
Supreme Court permits Trump to fire 2 independent agency leaders, for now
The Hill
By Zach Schonfeld
April 9, 2025
Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday permitted President Trump to fire Democratic appointees serving at two federal independent agencies as the Supreme Court mulls how to handle the administration’s new appeal. Roberts’s administrative stay is not necessarily an indication of how the high court will rule, but it temporarily lifts lower court decisions reinstating the two officials.
Supreme Court allows Trump to fire independent agency members
NBC News
By Lawrence Hurley
April 9, 2025
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that, for now, President Donald Trump is not required to reinstate two members of independent federal agencies he wants to fire. The provisional decision affects Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board. Chief Justice John Roberts issued an order that temporarily blocked lower court rulings that said the two officials should be reinstated.
Supreme Court Sides With Trump, for Now, on Firing Agencies’ Leaders
The New York Times
By Adam Liptak
April 9, 2025
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday temporarily let the Trump administration remove the leaders of two independent agencies while their challenges to their dismissals move forward in court. The chief justice, acting on his own, issued an “administrative stay,” an interim measure meant to give the justices some breathing room while the full Supreme Court considers the matter. He ordered the officials to file briefs in their cases by Tuesday.
US Supreme Court clears way for Trump to remove two Democratic members of labor boards for now
Reuters
By John Kruzel
April 9, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way on Wednesday for President Donald Trump to remove Democratic members of two federal labor boards for now, putting on hold a pair of judicial orders that had shielded them from dismissal. Chief Justice John Roberts, acting on behalf of the court, halted the orders by two Washington-based federal judges that blocked Trump's firing of Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board before their terms expire.
Trump administration ends union dues collection for most feds without notice
Government Executive
By Erich Wagner
April 9, 2025
Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, said that the news trickled out this week as employees began receiving their paychecks—and union locals stopped receiving payments. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service; which provides payroll services to the Defense, Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs departments; also canceled deductions for a union-supplied supplementary vision and dental insurance plan. Approximately one-third of IFPTE’s membership is federal workers, mostly within the Defense Department. “DFAS apparently just cut off the union dues and did not notify—none of the unions got notice among our locals, at least,” he said. “And from my understanding, even the agencies themselves within DOD didn’t get notice that they were cutting them off. It happened unilaterally, without notice, and it happened quickly.”
WUSA9
By Sophie Rosenthal
April 9, 2025
Now, the ALA, along with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest union representing museum and library workers, both represented by Democracy Forward, is arguing that only Congress can dismantle the agency and that the Trump administration's attempts to shutter IMLS will cut programs that are protected by law.
American Library Association is latest to sue Trump administration over DOGE cuts to libraries
KCRA
By Nijzel Dotson
April 9, 2025
The library association's lawsuit, which was also filed Monday in behalf of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), aims to block the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). It was filed in the the US District Court for the District of Columbia. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 14 calling for several government entities, including IMLS, to undergo significant budget and personnel downsizing.
Project 2025 wanted to hobble the federal workforce. DOGE has hastily done that, and more
Government Executive
By Rebecca Kern
April 9, 2025
Project 2025, a comprehensive policy blueprint backed by influential conservative think tanks, laid out an ambitious plan for the Trump administration to tackle inefficiencies across the federal government. Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump and his Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have set forth executing that plan in the most chaotic way possible – eliminating entire agencies, firing tens of thousands of workers, and testing the legal system and reach of the executive branch.
‘It’s a shambles’: DOGE cuts bring chaos, long waits at Social Security for seniors
Los Angeles Times
By Jenny Jarvie and Nathan Solis
Apri 9, 2025
Elderly and disabled people — and those who care for them — are encountering a knot of bureaucratic hurdles and service disruptions after the Trump administration imposed a sweeping overhaul of the Social Security Administration system.
'We keep the country running': Federal workers rally in Pittsburgh for union rights
Trib Live
By Julia Burdelski
April 9, 2025
The rally comes as unions representing federal workers have sued the Trump administration over a March executive order that seeks to end collective bargaining with federal unions in agencies with national security missions. The order impacts a litany of government agencies, including the Departments of State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among others.
Educators rally in Newark to ‘Stand up, fight back’ against Trump cuts
NJ.com
By Steve Strunsky
April 9, 2025
The Newark event was one of 30 rallies around the country sponsored by the AFT on Tuesday, dubbed a Kill the Cuts National Day of Action. Randi Weingarten, the AFT’s national president, was one of the featured speakers in Newark. Weingarten likewise called for unity and said educators at all levels play a key role in preserving democracy.
‘Workers Over Billionaires’: Local Union Members Rally at Lincoln VA Clinic
KLIN
By Chase Porter
April 9, 2025
But members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2200, which represents VA workers in Lincoln, say Trump’s order erodes worker rights and undermines a fair process for resolving disputes. Protesters told KLIN News that union representation protects them from being treated as “at-will employees” — meaning they can’t be fired at any time, for any reason. Instead, under collective bargaining agreements, workers are typically offered a “performance improvement plan” that allows time for training, feedback, and a chance to improve before facing termination.
PYOK
By Mateusz Maszczynski
April 9, 2025
The largest flight attendant union in the United States, which represents crew members at several major carriers, including United Airlines, whose chief executive is a supporter of President Trump, has claimed that a “billionaire-led assault on federal workers” with the blessing of the White House is putting airline passengers in “great danger.” During a meeting of the board of directors of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), the union unanimously passed a scathing resolution attacking the Trump administration and its “illegal” assaults on union workers and federal employees.
US DOGE Service Agreement With Department of Labor Shows $1.3 Million Fee—and Details Its Mission
Wired
By Leah Feiger and Tim Marchman
April 9, 2025
An unsigned agreement between the US DOGE Service (USDS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) provides significant insight into the evolving working protocols between DOGE and federal agencies.
Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Getting Audited
Wired
By Leah Feiger and Tim Marchman
April 9, 2025
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is auditing Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The probe, which has been ongoing since March, covers DOGE’s handling of data at several cabinet-level agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, the Treasury, and the Social Security Administration, as well as the US DOGE Service (USDS) itself, according to sources and records reviewed by WIRED.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
MSHA pauses new silica rule, citing changes with federal agencies
WVTF
By Roxy Todd
April 9, 2025
The federal government is pushing back a deadline to implement a new silica rule in mines. According to the rule which went into effect last year, coal mines were supposed to be in compliance April 14, and that’s now scheduled to take effect in August. A week before this announcement, MSHA held trainings across the country to explain how the new silica rule would work, attended by coal operators and miner advocates.
ORGANIZING
Staffers at L.A.’s Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits Form Union
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 9, 2025
A union representing around 300 workers — from performers to engineers to educators — has been voluntarily recognized by management of the institutions, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced on Wednesday. An earlier card count found that around 70 percent of the bargaining unit supported joining AFSCME Cultural Workers United, Council 36, which represents staff at institutions including the Academy Museum, the Academy Foundation and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
SWC-UAW pickets amid allegations of University interference with open bargaining
Columbia Daily Spectator
By Spencer Davis, Molly Bordoff, and Saul Quintanar
April 9, 2025
Dozens of demonstrators gathered at the Sundial on April 2 for a picket organized by Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers to demand open bargaining. The University refused to allow the union to broadcast its negotiations over Zoom at its March 28 bargaining session, according to the union. The union wrote in a March 29 blog update that the University only supplied about 50 chairs at the bargaining session despite providing a room with a capacity of 100 people. 250 union members attended the session, according to SWC-UAW.
Meriter hospital nurses rally for public backing during contract negotiations
Wisconsin Examiner
By Erik Gunn
April 9, 2025
Union nurses at UnityPoint Health-Meriter hospital in Madison rallied Tuesday, warning that they would strike if they can’t reach a satisfactory labor agreement in their current contract talks. The rally was held in advance of a bargaining session scheduled for Wednesday between the hospital and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents about 800 nurses at the hospital. The nurses are currently working without a contract after their previous agreement expired March 16 and was extended to March 23.
SMART-TD reaches tentative agreement with Caltrain operator
Trains Magazine
By Trains Staff
April 9, 2025
SMART-TD has reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract with TransitAmerica Services Inc., contract operator for Caltrain commuter service, the union announced Tuesday (April 8, 2025). The union, the International Asssociation of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division, represents 150 conductors and assistant conductor.
Meriter Hospital nurses rally for safer work environments, prepare for possible strike
The Daily Cardinal
By Zoey Elwood
April 9, 2025
Around 100 nurses, community members and labor allies rallied Tuesday at Brittingham Park to address safety concerns within the nurses’ contracts at Meriter Hospital, emphasizing that nurses are prepared to strike if their demands continue to go unmet. Meriter nurses have been working without a contract since March 23. They began negotiating their contract in January with Meriter management to improve safety for nurses and patients, according to Pat Raes, president of Service Employees International Union Wisconsin and a registered nurse at Meriter.
RETIREMENT SECURITY
Social Security abandons DOGE phone service cuts amid chaos, backlash
The Washington Post
By Hannah Natanson and Lisa Rein
April 9, 2025
Now, after nearly a month of chaos and backlash, the DOGE plans are dead. According to an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post, plans to force people awarded retirement, disability and Medicare benefits to set up direct-deposit payments online or in person have been canceled after the agency concluded it could vet these transactions for fraud by phone. Those applying for benefits can also continue the process by phone without the need to go online or visit an office in person, according to the Monday memo from acting deputy commissioner Doris Diaz to acting commissioner Leland Dudek.
LABOR AND ENTERTAINMENT
RIAA CEO, Grammys CEO and SAG-AFTRA’s Chief Negotiator Pen Open Letter Backing “No Fakes” Bill
The Hollywood Reporter
By Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Mitch Glazier, Harvey Mason Jr.
April 9, 2025
Deepfakes are dangerous — imposters that take an artist’s voice or likeness without their permission in order to say, do, or endorse something they didn’t approve. It’s the most personal and costly kind of violation, damaging reputations, careers, and worse. Unfortunately, by now, the examples are too many to count. The music industry, working together, has led the way in search of fair and practical solutions that protect every person’s right to their face and voice while encouraging the responsible development of AI, and protecting free expression and speech.