Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Unions, cities, nonprofits sue to block Trump workforce cuts
Reuters
By Jonathan Stempel
April 29, 2025
In a statement, AFGE President Everett Kelley said Trump's cuts threatened "vital services Americans depend on every day--from caring for veterans and safeguarding public health, to protecting our environment and maintaining national security."
Coalition of Nonprofits, Unions Launch Challenge to Trump's 'Unlawful' Attack on Government
Common Dreams
By Julia Conley
April 29, 2025
"The Trump administration's reckless attempt to dismantle our government without congressional approval threatens vital services Americans depend on every day—from caring for veterans and safeguarding public health, to protecting our environment and maintaining national security," said AFGE national president Everett Kelley. "This illegal power grab would gut federal agencies, disrupt communities nationwide, and put critical public services at risk. AFGE is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this coalition to protect not just the patriotic public servants we represent, but the integrity of American government and the essential services that our nation deserves."
New lawsuit argues Trump and DOGE's government overhaul is unconstitutional
NPR
By Andrea Hsu
April 29, 2025
A coalition of labor unions, nonprofits and local governments including Chicago, Baltimore and Harris County, Texas, has mounted the broadest legal challenge yet to President Trump's massive overhaul of the federal government. In a lawsuit filed late Monday, the plaintiffs charge that actions taken by the president, Elon Musk and the heads of nearly two dozen federal agencies to dramatically downsize the federal workforce violate the Constitution because Congress has not authorized them.
The American Prospect
By Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon
April 30, 2025
The AFL-CIO has tried to help fill any representational void by recruiting and training 1,000 lawyers in 42 states to serve as a Federal Workers Legal Defense Network. This group will provide legal advice and support for individual employees who face adverse action by their agencies, but still retain civil service rights and protections.
White House Pushed Job Cuts at Agency That’s Clashed With Musk
Bloomberg
By Josh Eidelson
April 29, 2025
The White House is privately urging the federal labor board to reduce staff, despite pushback by Trump-appointed officials warning that further cuts would imperil the agency's functions. Reviewers from the Office of Management and Budget recently deemed the US National Labor Relations Board’s rationale for avoiding layoffs inadequate. “Without more, the agency cannot fully exempt itself from further staff reductions,” OMB staff said in a response to the NLRB. The memo urged the labor board to “think creatively” about how to use a set of tactics, including layoffs, to reduce headcount.
Trump’s first 100 days, in 10 charts
The Washington Post
By Chris Alcantara, Nick Mourtoupalas, Azi Paybarah and Clara Ence Morse
April 29, 2025
As President Donald Trump passes his 100th day back in office, some key features of this presidency are already coming into focus: the colossal amount of money he raised to celebrate his inauguration; his historic use of executive orders from Day 1 to quickly reshape government; the market slump in reaction to his tariff policies; and his 100-day approval rating, lower than any seen in nearly a century.
Life has 'been turned upside down': Fired federal worker talks DOGE impact on Trump’s first 100 days
Spectrum News
By Taylor Popielarz
April 29, 2025
The president gave Musk sweeping authority to shrink the federal government, despite the fact that Musk never separated from his many companies that have contracts with the government worth billions. DOGE has slashed everything from foreign aid to National Park workers to medical research, saying it’s making the government more efficient and lowering the national debt. On its website, DOGE claims it has cut $160 billion in federal spending. But DOGE has frequently been found to overstate its savings, and even the claim of $160 billion in cuts falls far short of Musk’s initial goal of $1 trillion. DOGE has not said how many jobs it has eliminated, though some estimates claim well over 100,000. Shernice Mundell told Spectrum News her life was upended when she was fired from her job at the Office of Personnel Management in February. “It’s been turned upside down, yes. It’s been turned upside down,” Mundell said.
Fear, anger, uncertainty: The moods of D.C. during Trump’s first 100 days
The Washington Post
By Joe Heim
April 29, 2025
Springtime in Washington feels, in many ways, normal. But underneath the seeming calm there is a deep unease. As it marks the 100th day of President Donald Trump’s second administration, the District is on edge. It is anxious and angry. It is watching its step and watching its mouth. It is exhausted.
New Details Emerge on Trump Officials’ Sprint to Gut Consumer Bureau Staff
The New York Times
By Stacy Cowley
April 27, 2025
A judge has again stopped the cuts for now. But the details of what happened at the agency, which oversees banks and lenders and enforces consumer protection laws, will be vital to determining if the firings can proceed. Hundreds of pages of newly released agency records, supplemented by narrative accounts filed in court by more than 20 agency employees, were submitted ahead of a hearing this week before Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the Federal District Court in Washington. Judge Jackson halted the planned firings less than a day after the notices went out, saying that they went far beyond what the appeals court had allowed. Starting Tuesday, she will hold a two-day hearing to take witness testimony and decide whether to extend her order blocking the firings.
ALA and AFSCME Prepare Their Case for IMLS
Publishers Weekly
By Nathalie op de Beeck
April 29, 2025
On the eve of an April 30 motion hearing on the future of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, attorneys for the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees have responded to last week’s filing by the defendants in ALA v. Sonderling. The plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction to a White House executive order that they say takes a “chain-saw approach to federal agencies chartered by Congress of which it does not approve,” IMLS among them. Since the “implementation of the decision to dismantle IMLS is already well along,” they write, the case is “ripe for review.”
In Breakneck 2nd Term, Trump Turns to Falsehoods to Justify His Agenda
The New York Times
By Linda Qiu
April 29, 2025
President Trump, intent on enacting an expansive agenda, has moved at a dizzying pace in the first 100 days of his term, issuing a barrage of executive actions and seeking to expand the scope of his presidential power. Underlying those efforts is a nonstop distortion of basic facts as Mr. Trump has sought to reconfigure the global economy, reshape the federal government and restrict immigration. To justify his executive actions and policies, Mr. Trump has relied on false, misleading and hyperbolic claims, deflecting blame for catastrophes, boasting about purported achievements and trying to seek leverage with Ukraine in negotiating a peace deal with Russia.
Judge: Trump’s national security reasoning for anti-union EO was 'pretext for retaliation'
Government Executive
By Erich Wagner
April 29, 2025
Afederal judge on Monday wrote that President Trump’s controversial invocation of a provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act to strip two-thirds of federal employees of their collective bargaining rights on national security grounds was “mere pretext” for retaliating against unions resistant to his workforce policies. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman issued the finding Monday in a 46-page opinion explaining his decision last week to enjoin the administration from implementing the March executive order, following a lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union.
Medicare for All, Says Sanders, Would Show American People 'Government Is Listening to Them'
Common Dreams
By Eloise Goldsmith
April 29, 2025
"The goal of the current administration and their billionaire buddies is to pile on endless cuts and attacks so that we become too demoralized and overwhelmed to move forward," said Bonnie Castillo, registered nurse and executive director of NNU. "Even on our hardest days, we won't stop fighting for Medicare for All."
How Trump's policies and Project 2025 proposals match up after first 100 days
CBS News
By Melissa Quinn
April 29, 2025
President Trump repeatedly distanced himself from Project 2025 on the campaign trail, saying he had "nothing to do with" the initiative spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, had not read it and didn't have any plans to. But as the president marks 100 days in the White House, many of the plans he has rolled out since the start of his second term closely align with those in the pages of Project 2025's sprawling, 900-page policy blueprint, which lays out an overhaul of the executive branch. Overseen by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 was an initiative that was designed to provide a roadmap for the next Republican president, now Mr. Trump. On the campaign trail, the president called some of its proposals "abysmal" and said he knew nothing about it, though CBS News' analysis showed many of its proposals were similar to his own.
Fired US government coal-safety workers brought back - for now
Reuters
By Valerie Volcovici
April 29, 2025
About 40 federal government employees who worked on coal-mining and firefighter safety before their jobs were eliminated were asked to return to work this week, although it's unclear if their positions will be permanently reinstated, West Virginia's senator and the agency's union said on Tuesday. The employees are from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Health and Human Services Department, and worked on coal miner health and firefighter fatality prevention programs.
IMMIGRATION
Trump Says He Could Free Abrego Garcia From El Salvador, but Won’t
The New York Times
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs
April 29, 2025
President Trump, whose administration has insisted it could not bring Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador to the United States, said he does have the ability to help return the wrongly deported Maryland man, but is not willing to do so because he believes he is a gang member. “You could get him back, there’s a phone on this desk,” said Terry Moran, an ABC News correspondent, noting a Supreme Court order to “facilitate” the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia. “I could,” Mr. Trump replied. Mr. Moran said Mr. Trump could call President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador and get Mr. Abrego Garcia back immediately.
ORGANIZING
Video Interpreters for Deaf Callers Are Organizing Against Burnout
Labor Notes
By Marina Martinez
April 29, 2025
Growing up, I never considered myself an interpreter. It was just life as the daughter of two Deaf parents, in a world where sign language was a lifeline. I learned from a young age that the quality and availability of interpreters could determine whether a Deaf person had access to the services and rights that hearing people take for granted. I became a professional interpreter because I understood how vital this access was. But I never expected to be exploited in this work, or to burn out from providing the service that had always come so naturally to me. That’s why I’ve decided to join the union.
St. Mary’s Essentia EMS votes to form union
DL-Online
By News Staff
April 29, 2025
On April 21, Emergency Medical Service staff at St. Mary’s EMS Essentia Health voted to form a union with AFSCME Council 65, according to a news release from the union. St. Mary’s EMS Essentia Health provides emergency care to Detroit Lakes and surrounding areas. “This is a historic moment for us,” said Logyn Saewert, NREMT. “We’ve decided collectively to unionize with an overwhelming majority. We are standing together.”
SAG-AFTRA Launches Influencer Committee Amid Further Push Into Creator Economy
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 28, 2025
In an acknowledgement of the shifting balance of power and attention in today’s media landscape, SAG-AFTRA is stepping up its efforts to represent and support influencers. National board members of the union unanimously voted to create an influencer and digital creator committee during the organization’s latest two-day plenary, SAG-AFTRA announced on Sunday, as the labor group eyes an expansion into the digital performance space beyond branded content.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Thousands of county workers march in downtown LA amid strike; arrests made after traffic blocked
ABC7
By Sid Garcia
April 29, 2025
Tens of thousands of striking Los Angeles County workers flooded the streets of downtown L.A. on Tuesday, marching to demand a new labor contract. This was day one of their planned 48-hour strike. Picket lines began forming at 7 p.m. Monday after a deal was not reached by the union's deadline. When some of the protesters began blocking traffic, police moved in and started making arrests.
More Than 50,000 Workers Go on Strike as Budget Woes Disrupt L.A. County
The New York Times
By Shawn Hubler
April 29, 2025
The walkout by the public employees union, SEIU Local 721, came as contract negotiations between the nation’s largest county and the county’s largest union snagged in the face of intense budget pressures. Both the city and county governments in Los Angeles have struggled in recent months to deal with an onslaught of financial problems, including huge legal liabilities, threats to federal funding under the Trump administration and the cost of the January wildfires.
Mass Live
By Jeanette DeForge
April 29, 2025
But every time the union tried to open negotiations, MGM has delayed or rejected overtures, which is surprising since the same union also represents about 500 other employees, such as porters, bartenders, wait staff and slot machine attendants, he said. Members of the new union, Local 301 of New England Joint Board UNITE HERE, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, saying casino officials have refused to negotiate. MGM has denied the charges, Snow said.
Tens of thousands of Los Angeles County workers begin 2-day strike
CNN
By Associated Press
April 29, 2025
More than 50,000 Los Angeles county workers began a two-day strike Monday evening, closing libraries and disrupting administrative operations across the nation’s most populous county. The two-day strike was initiated in response to failed negotiations with the county for a new contract after the last one expired in March, according to Service Employees International Union Local 721 leaders. The union represents more than 55,000 workers including public health professionals, social workers, parks and recreation staff, custodians, clerical workers and more serving a county of 10 million residents. It will be the first time all of its members go on strike, the union said.
CBS News
By Amanda Starrantino
April 29, 2025
About 55,000 workers across Los Angeles County are off the job Tuesday morning after a union representing workers approved a two-day strike after failed contract negotiations. Hundreds of thousands of union members hit the picket lines in a rally throughout downtown, stopping traffic at times. Workers off the job include public works crews, people who work on traffic and lighting on the streets, public and mental health workers and social workers. "We can't afford not to get a raise, this is ridiculous. That's why we're here fighting to get this raise," a woman at the rally said.
850 utility workers working on expired contract as bargaining continues
26 Northeast Wisconsin
By Karl Winter
April 29, 2025
As we enter severe weather season, the men and women that keep the power lines in working order across northeast Wisconsin are in a precarious situation. 850 Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) utility workers are working on an expired contract right now, as their union negotiations with WPS for higher wages. The contract of the utility workers from the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 420 expired on April 16, according to union leaders.
Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Musicians Agree on New Contract
Symphony.com
By Staff
April 29, 2025
In Monday’s (4/28) Wichita Business Journal (Kansas), Shaheer Naveed writes, “The long-standing Wichita Symphony Orchestra has agreed on a new contract with Wichita musicians. The orchestra, established in 1944, announced Monday it has completed negotiations with the Wichita Musicians’ Association, local union No. 297 of the American Federation of Musicians, and reached an agreement on a contract that will run … through June 2028.
'We are frustrated:' ZeniMax union workers continue to pressure Microsoft over contract negotiations
Game Developer
By Chris Kerr
April 29, 2025
Unionized workers at The Elder Scrolls and Fallout maker ZeniMax Media have again called out parent company Microsoft for purportedly failing to negotiate in good faith. A number of employees represented by Communications Workers of America (CWA) Locals 2100, 2108, and 6215 (ZeniMax Workers United-CWA) claim Microsoft is intentionally hindering contract talks with union members—leaving them in the lurch more than two years after negotiations began on April 25, 2023.
IN THE STATES
Bernie Sanders will be in Philly on May Day for a rally with AFL-CIO
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Aliya Schneider
April 28, 2025
Sanders will attend a May Day event on Thursday, hosted by Philadelphia’s AFL-CIO chapter, called the “Workers over Billionaires” rally. The event is scheduled for 4 p.m. outside the north side of City Hall. Access for the public begins at 3:15 p.m. “Bernie knows that when the working class — labor, immigrants, community members — stand together, we are [a] force that can defeat any bad boss,” the union chapter posted on Facebook.
Arizona unions, labor groups will join Phoenix May Day march against billionaire takeover
KJZZ
By Matthew Casey
April 29, 2025
Thurs. May 1 is International Labor Day, which has origins in American workers’ fight for shorter daily hours. Nearly a dozen Arizona unions and pro-labor groups are planning to take part in a national May Day action against what organizers call a billionaire takeover of government.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Michigan’s labor movement rallies to honor fallen workers
WILX
By Eisele Hirschel
April 28, 2025
“If it’s mining, it’s likely to be collapses. If it’s forestry, it’s likely to be a tree that falls the wrong way, or it fell the way they intended, but you weren’t properly warned, these kinds of things. If it’s agriculture, heat, heat stroke,” said Ian Robinson, Huron Valley labor federation president. Michigan’s Labor Movement held a ceremony today to honor the lives lost while on the job.
Dozens of people gather in honor of Workers Memorial Day in North Carolina
CBS17
By Brea Hollingsworth
April 28, 2025
MaryBe McMillan, President of the North Carolina American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), called on lawmakers and employers to do more when it comes to workers safety. “We need stronger standards, we need consistent enforcement, and we need real penalties for companies that endanger workers,” McMillan said.
Remembering lives lost: Workers Memorial Day ceremony held in Raleigh
WPTF
By Staff
April 29, 2025
The observance not only paid tribute to fallen workers but also served as a platform for worker advocates to raise concerns about how proposed federal budget cuts could impact workplace safety. At a rally held in downtown Raleigh, MaryBe McMillian, President of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, outlined specific cuts she believes could threaten worker protections. “Gutting the national institute for occupational safety and health known as NIOSH, eliminating 34 offices of the Mine Health and Safety Administration, and eliminating 11 offices of the occupational safety and health administration,” said McMillian.
Too many workers die on the job every year. Trump’s attacks on OSHA will kill more.
The Economic Policy Institute
By Emma Cohn and Jennifer Sherer
April 29, 2025
This Monday marked Workers Memorial Day, an annual international day of remembrance of workers who have died on the job, as well as a day of action to continue the fight for workplace safety. An estimated 140,587 U.S. workers died from hazardous working conditions in 2023, according to a new AFL-CIO report. This amounts to roughly 385 workplace-related deaths a day. While mourning these lives lost, there is also reason to fear this death toll will only rise due to aggressive Trump administration attacks on basic health and safety protections long taken for granted in most U.S. workplaces.
A day to remember the dead ends with an urgent message: fight for the living
Pittsburgh Union Progress
By Steve Mellon
April 29, 2025
Monday’s remembrance ceremony for those whose jobs killed them during the past year was brief and focused. The reading of names, a Workers Memorial Day tradition, took 7 minutes and 15 seconds. It’s chilling to think it may take longer next year. What do we expect to happen with drastic cuts to agencies tasked with making certain that people in this country can work to support themselves and their families and not get killed in the process? It’s a safe bet we’ll experience more workplace injuries, disease and death. The list for Workers Memorial Day 2026 will be longer. We’ll have to squeeze more of those small crosses onto the lawn.
Labor and allies mark Workers Memorial Day with worker safety bills
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
April 29, 2025
The uphill battles don’t faze AFSCME President Lee Saunders, Teachers President Randi Weingarten or Reps. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. Saunders pushes the OSHA expansion, the Protect American Workers Act, and the others push protecting working women against violence on the job. “Every person should be able to earn a living in a workplace that’s free of violence, health hazards and other threats, so they can safely return home to their families each day. This is a fundamental freedom that the world’s largest economy is more than capable of guaranteeing,” Saunders said. “We should never be satisfied with a status quo that prioritizes profits over workers’ health and safety.
112 Wisconsin workers died on the job in 2023, according to AFL-CIO report
Spectrum News
By Colton Pemble
April 28, 2025
This was a decrease from 125 workplace deaths in 2022, although the rate of workplace deaths in Wisconsin remains above the national average. Each year, the AFL-CIO Death on the Job report looks at workplace deaths around the country, as well as additional information including workplace injuries and illnesses and Occupational Safety and Health Administration penalties.
LABOR LEADERSHIP
Cinematographers Guild Elects John Lindley Its National President
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 29, 2025
The Sum of All Fears and Pleasantville cinematographer John Lindley has been elected as the International Cinematographer Guild’s next national president, returning to a role he vacated in 2022. With 1,482 votes, Lindley prevailed over sitting president and first camera assistant Baird B. Steptoe (who earned 591 votes) and cinematographer Dave Perkal (with 685 votes). Turnout for the election was 35.6 percent of eligible voters.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
District Council 9 Painters Volunteer At Alzheimer’s Foundation In National Community Day
Harlem World Magazine
By Staff
April 29, 2025
On Saturday, April 26, 2025, members of District Council 9 volunteered their time and skills to repaint offices and common areas at the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s main office in New York City. In addition to maintenance of the Foundation’s offices, the project offered apprentices valuable hands-on training while strengthening the union’s ties to the community. This project was part of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades National Community Day of Action, a coast-to-coast effort to give back to their communities through service.