Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST READ
As Musk steps back, experts say Doge cuts have harmed government services
The Guardian
By Steven Greenhouse
May 5, 2025
Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO, the main US union federation, said Doge’s cuts will hurt workers. She pointed to the sharp cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, saying that that agency, for instance, does important research to ensure that firefighters’ personal protective equipment is safe as possible. “There’s this notion that Doge is just cutting line items on a spreadsheet. It’s hurting real lives and real people,” Shuler said. “They’ve treated federal workers with blatant disregard and have been nothing short of dehumanizing and insulting toward them.”
POLITICS
AFGE president says downsizing after Trump’s order threatens the union’s survival
AP
By Ryan J. Foley
May 5, 2025
The president of the nation’s largest union for federal workers said Monday the organization’s ongoing staff downsizing will devastate the services it provides members and threatens the group’s survival. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March removed over 200,000 of its dues-paying members, or about two-thirds of the total. The order stripped union rights from employees in several executive branch agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. AFGE and other unions are fighting the order in court as illegal and retaliatory. But Kelley said the order has already taken a “very direct hit” on the group’s finances because agencies stopped collecting union dues from paychecks.
Watchdogs reviewing DOGE actions at CFPB, Democratic lawmaker says
Reuters
By Reuters
May 5, 2025
Two watchdog agencies have agreed to review efforts by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to dismantle the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to letters released Monday by a high-ranking Democratic member of Congress. The Government Accountability Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress, and the CFPB's Office of Inspector General, have agreed to review aspects of DOGE's activities at the CFPB, the letters released by Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said.
Trump 'shows an openness' to Medicaid work requirements, committee chair says
Reuters
By Leah Douglas
May 5, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump "shows an openness" to work requirements for Medicaid, Jason Smith, chair of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, said on Fox News Sunday, as lawmakers try to agree on spending cuts to partly offset the cost of a sweeping tax-cut bill. Congressional Republicans are weighing steep cuts to Medicaid in their efforts to piece together a landmark tax-cut bill they hope to enact by July 4.
States Sue Over Trump Administration Cutbacks at H.H.S.
The New York Times
By Zach Montague
May 5, 2025
A coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Monday in an effort to block its slashing of the Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that the significant staff reductions and cuts to public health grants amounted to an “unconstitutional and illegal dismantling” of the agency. The suit comes on the heels of several similar cases seeking to block the termination of billions of dollars in grants awarded by federal health agencies in support of public health research and state health programs.
DOGE wants access to Social Security data. That's a terrible idea.
MSNBC
By Ryan Teague Beckwith
May 5, 2025
Your Social Security records are like a suitcase you pack for a trip, full of things you would rather keep private. Not entirely private, of course. Just as Transportation Security Administration agents can take a quick look inside your suitcase to check for contraband, qualified staffers with the Social Security Administration can also take a look at the records of more than 340 million Americans.
US Labor Department Ending Mental Health, Child Care Benefits For Own Staff
Bloomberg
By Josh Eidelson
May 5, 2025
The US Department of Labor has told staff it is terminating benefit programs supporting mental health and dependent care, with most of the cuts scheduled to take effect this week. DOL’s Worklife4You program, which offers prenatal kits for expecting parents, nurse visits to help with eldercare, and personal finance and wellness advice, is being discontinued effective May 9, a DOL labor relations specialist informed union officials in a March message viewed by Bloomberg News. An employee assistance program, which offers counseling sessions for addressing issues including anxiety and substance misuse, will end the same day, other than a “limited number” of remaining sessions for staff who were in “drug testing designated positions” or had been “recommended for counseling as part of an employee relations matter,” the message stated.
White House eyes big cuts to DOL funding
Politico
By Nick Niedzwiadek
May 5, 2025
The White House wants to lop off more than one-third of the Labor Department’s funding, according to a budget document submitted to Congress on Friday. The “skinny budget” proposal — so named because it lacks much of the granular specificity integral to actually allocating money for the federal government — would shrink DOL’s discretionary budget from its current $13.3 billion to $8.6 billion for next fiscal year, your host reported for Pro subscribers.
EDUCATION
Not All Students Go to College. We Need to Make That OK. (Opinion)
The New York Times
By Randi Weingarten
May 6, 2025
For years, America’s approach to education has been guided by an overly simplistic formula: 4+4 — the idea that students need four years of high school and four years of college to succeed in life. Even with this prevailing emphasis on college, around 40 percent of high schoolers do not enroll in college upon graduating, and only 60 percent of students who enroll in college earn a degree or credential within eight years of high school graduation.
MAY DAY
Thousands of union members march for May Day rally organized by UC worker unions
USCD Guardian
By Isaac Burge
May 5, 2025
At 11 a.m. on May 1, thousands of union workers and San Diego community members marched from Hillcrest Medical Center to Balboa Park for a rally commemorating International Workers’ Day, also referred to as May Day. The event was primarily led by American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 3299 and University Professional Technical Employees CWA Local 9119. Both of these unions represent University of California employees across service, healthcare, and technical positions. Both unions have been on strike for several months while they negotiate new contracts with the UC bargaining team. UPTE-CWA 9119 has been striking for nine months, and AFSCME 3299 has withheld labor for over a year at time of publishing.
LABOR AND TECHNOLOGY
SAG-AFTRA Chief Lays Out What AI Protections It Will Be Looking For In Next Studio Contract
Deadline
By Peter White
May 5, 2025
Artificial intelligence was a major factor in the actors strike of 2023 and the burgeoning technology will remain a key element in next year’s negotiations. SAG-AFTRA chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland has laid out some of the guilds plans ahead of its contract with the studios expiring in June 2026.
Video Game Companies Release Final Offer to SAG-AFTRA Addressing AI Demands Amid 9-Month Strike
Variety
By Jennifer Maas
May 5, 2025
The major video game companies involved in negotiations with SAG-AFTRA, which represents voice and motion capture performers in video games, say they have made their final offer in negotiations to end the actors strike as it approaches its 300-day mark. In a statement provided to Variety Monday, SAG-AFTRA “condemns” the video game companies’ move to release the proposal for publication and says its negotiating committee “responded to that offer within 72 hours – on May 2 – with our own response to the open issues relating to artificial intelligence” and that “we have to date received no response to our counter offer.”
ORGANIZING
Slaughter Lane Alamo Drafthouse workers vote to unionize
KVUE
By Morgan McGrath
May 5, 2025
Alamo Drafthouse employees recently voted to unionize at one of the movie theater chain's Austin locations. On May 2, workers at Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane shared a release stating they are joining together with United Auto Workers (UAW) after nearly 100% of employees voted in favor of creating the union.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Thousands of machinists union members go on strike at jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney
ABC News
By The Associated Press
May 5, 2025
About 3,000 labor union members went on strike early Monday at jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut, as negotiations over wages, retirement benefits and job security broke down. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were picketing at manufacturing locations in East Hartford and Middletown, after about 77% of nearly 2,100 union members voted to approve their first strike since 2001, union officials said. Their contract expired late Sunday.
Butler unionized workers plan strike for May 15
PBN
By Katie Castellani
May 4, 2025
Hundreds of employees at Butler Hospital are planning to go on an “open-ended” strike beginning May 15. Members of Service Employees International Union 119 New England, which represents more than 800 employees at Butler, say the strike comes after months of negotiations with management has failed to produce “ any meaningful progress to address chronic short staffing, low wages and workplace violence issues.”
UAW Workers Go on Strike at Lockheed Martin
Assembly
By Staff
May 5, 2025
Members of the United Auto Workers union (UAW) have gone on strike at Lockheed Martin assembly plants in Denver and Orlando, FL, and after negotiations over a new labor agreement were rejected. The union alleges unfair labor practices by Lockheed Martin, as well as disagreements over starting salary, pay scale and raises, and recognizing Veterans Day as a company holiday. Lockheed Martin claims its best-and-final offer to the union was rejected by its members.
Connecticut shipbuilders prepare to strike at midnight May 18
People’s World
By Louis Henry
May 5, 2025
On May Day, over a thousand union workers in red rallied and held a practice picket outside the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard here to tell the company that the clock is ticking. At midnight, May 18, the 2,500 MDA-UAW Local 571 members will strike if the company refuses to present a new contract offer. One month earlier, the membership voted to strike by over 65%. On April 14, over 1,200 members packed the union hall to support the message from MDA president Bob Louis – workers are disgusted by management’s refusal to bargain collaboratively and tired of being disrespected.
Thousands of machinists union members go on strike at jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney
WTOP
By The Associated Press
May 5, 2025
About 3,000 labor union members went on strike early Monday at jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut, as negotiations over wages, retirement benefits and job security broke down. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were picketing at manufacturing locations in East Hartford and Middletown, after about 77% of nearly 2,100 union members voted to approve their first strike since 2001, union officials said. Their contract expired late Sunday.
JOINING TOGETHER
Charlottesville-Albemarle unions gather to show solidarity, spread awareness
29 News
By Gabby Womack
May 4, 2025
Labor unions from across Charlottesville and Albemarle County gathered at IX Park on Sunday, May 4, to raise awareness about unions and what they stand for. United Campus Workers of Virginia, United Food and Commercial Workers, and Albemarle Education Association were just a few unions there. From fighting for fair pay to better work conditions, it was a chance to show there’s power in standing together. “Everybody has to make a living. A union empowers the employees,” said Matthew Ray, a Charlottesville Area Transit driver and head shop steward for the local Amalgamated Transit Union. “It doesn’t take away from the places you work. It actually builds, it engages the employees with any business.”
STATE LEGISLATION
Colorado House gives initial OK to bill that would ease union formation despite veto threat
Colorado Newsline
By Sara Wilson
May 5, 2025
The Colorado House of Representatives on Monday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would eliminate a second election requirement, unique to the state, for union formation, four months after the legislation was introduced and two days before the end of the lawmaking term. After months of negotiation between labor and business groups, there was no deal reached among groups on opposing sides of debate around the measure, and the bill is the same as it was in January. That will set up a likely clash with Gov. Jared Polis, who has signaled opposition to the measure.
IN THE STATES
Hundreds gather in OKC’s Scissortail Park for ‘March Until They Hear Us’
KOCO 5
By Olivia Hickey
May 4, 2025
“Everything that gets done in this country and in Oklahoma is done by workers, and we need to respect that,” said Tim O’Connor, president of the Central Oklahoma Labor Federation.
How many federal workers have been fired in Alabama? Here’s what we found
AL.com
By Hannah Denham
May 5, 2025
“Local Presidents have tried FOIA request and talking to Labor Relations officers with the agencies,” said Jonathan Mungo, a legislative and political organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees. “It seems to be a concerted effort [to] hide actual numbers.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Remaining NIOSH employees told jobs will be cut July 2
WV Metro News
By Mike Nolting
May 5, 2025
The remaining employees at NIOSH in Morgantown who were told last month they may lose their jobs in federal budget cuts were told Friday evening they will lose their jobs July 2. The first notices on April 1 were sent to 185 members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3430. There were non-union workers who were also part of that original notification at NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). Those jobs will be sliced in early June. It is not known how many notices were sent last Friday or what functions those employees performed.
CIVIL, HUMAN, & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Explainer: Why Trump is ending enforcement of civil rights laws that ban 'disparate impact'
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
May 5, 2025
President Donald Trump recently ordered federal agencies not to enforce laws that prohibit policies and practices with discriminatory impacts that are often unintended. Curbing so-called "disparate impact" liability, which is common in employment-related cases, removes a critical tool the government has used for decades to also police discrimination in housing, education, lending and other areas.