Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
The ‘big, beautiful bill’ would secretly dismantle the civil service (Opinion)
The Hill
By Everett B. Kelley
June 4, 2025
The House-passed budget reconciliation bill contains a troubling provision so dangerous and corrosive to the integrity of the federal government that it demands immediate scrutiny and swift rejection by the Senate. Buried in more than 1,000 pages of legislative text is Section 90002, a provision that strikes at the heart of the professional, nonpartisan civil service. It proposes a 9.4 percent salary surcharge on newly hired federal employees who wish to retain their civil service protections, ostensibly to pay for their retirement benefits.
US State Department's planned layoffs may violate court order, judge says
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
June 4, 2025
A federal judge in California on Wednesday said her recent ruling barring President Donald Trump's administration from laying off tens of thousands of federal employees likely blocks the U.S. State Department's reorganization plan that includes 2,000 job cuts. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco during a virtual meeting in a lawsuit by unions, nonprofits and municipalities said she was concerned that the State Department is flouting her May 22 order that broadly blocked government-wide mass layoffs.
Trump Likely Violated Layoff Freeze, Federal Judge Says
Bloomberg Law
By Ian Kullgren
June 4, 2025
The Trump administration appears to be flouting a court order halting mass government layoffs, a federal judge said Wednesday. Judge Susan Illston of the US District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the administration to prove by June 9 that two sets of layoffs—at the departments of State and Housing and Urban Development—don’t violate a preliminary injunction issued by the court last month.
AFL-CIO officials warn Trump is seizing control of all federal agencies
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
June 4, 2025
Republican President Donald Trump’s firing of National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox presages something far worse, two top AFL-CIO officials say: A total—and unconstitutional—takeover of the entire federal government down to the lowest level. And that’s very bad for workers, Jody Calemine, the federation’s Legislative and Advocacy Director, and Matt Ginsburg, its General Counsel, add. In an interview with several reporters, the two said if Trump’s illegal firing of Wilcox stands, Trump could use it as an open signal to reach down to the lowest level of decision-making in any agency, and nobody could stop him.
Trump cannot proceed with gutting US Education Department, court rules
Reuters
By Nate Raymond
June 4, 2025
A federal appeals court on Wednesday declined to lift a judge's order blocking President Donald Trump's administration from carrying out his executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and requiring it to reinstate employees who were terminated in a mass layoff.
Trump administration loses bid to lift bar on big Education Department layoffs
CNBC
By Dan Mangan
June 4, 2025
The Trump administration on Wednesday lost a bid to lift a federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the U.S. Education Department from laying off about half of its more than 4,000 employees. The administration had asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to lift the preliminary injunction issued by a Massachusetts District Court judge that stayed the large “reduction in force” at the department announced by Education Secretary Linda McMahon in March.
Nearly All Remaining Voice of America Employees Could Be Fired Under Plan
The New York Times
By Minho Kim
June 4, 2025
The Trump administration notified Congress this week of a plan that would eliminate nearly all of the remaining employees at Voice of America, a federally funded news network that provides independent reporting to countries with limited press freedom. The staff count at Voice of America would shrink from roughly 1,400 journalists and administrative staff to less than 20 as part of the proposed restructuring, according to a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Senator Jim Risch, Republican of Idaho and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Trump's "one big beautiful bill" continues GOP efforts to roll back Obamacare
CBS News
By Phil Galewitz and Julie Appleby
June 4, 2025
Millions would lose Medicaid coverage. Millions would be left without health insurance. Signing up for health plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces would be harder and more expensive. President Trump's domestic policy legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cleared the House in May and now moves to the Senate, could also be called Obamacare Repeal Lite, its critics say. In addition to causing millions of Americans to lose their coverage under Medicaid, the health program for low-income and disabled people, the measure includes the most substantial rollback of the ACA since Mr. Trump's Republican allies tried to pass legislation in 2017 that would have largely repealed President Barack Obama's signature domestic accomplishment.
Trump proposes policies that would increase the soaring national debt
The Washington Post
By Jacob Bogage and Theodoric Meyer
June 4, 2025
President Donald Trump is pursuing an agenda that would add trillions of dollars to the soaring national debt, ignoring warnings from Wall Street, Republican deficit hawks and his outgoing cost-cutting champion. Though Trump ran for office in part on pledges to slash the size of the federal government and rein in the debt, his record so far has been less fiscally disciplined.
IMMIGRATION
Unsealed records in Abrego Garcia case offer few details that are new, unknown
AP
By Ben Finley
June 4, 2025
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of several court documents in the lawsuit over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation, rejecting the Trump administration’s arguments that it would risk national security. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland issued her order after media organizations, including The Associated Press, argued the public has a right to access court records under the First Amendment.
Labor leaders condemn ICE raid at popular South Park restaurant
ABC 10
By Laura Acevedo
June 3, 2025
"A wave of terror has been unleashed by this administration," said Christian Ramirez, a member of SEIU- United Service Workers West during Tuesday's press conference.
TRADE
‘Another snake-oil salesman’s pitch’: US workers wary of Trump’s steel deal
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
June 4, 2025
Workers are not holding their breath as they await details. “Our members know from decades of negotiating contracts: trust nothing until you see it in writing,” David McCall, president of United Steel Workers, said in a statement last week.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
US economic activity declines as tariffs pressure prices, Fed says
Reuters
By Ann Saphir
June 4, 2025
U.S. economic activity has declined and higher tariff rates have put upward pressure on costs and prices in the weeks since Federal Reserve policymakers last met to set interest rates, the U.S. central bank said on Wednesday in its latest snapshot of the nation's economy. "On balance, the outlook remains slightly pessimistic and uncertain, unchanged relative to the previous report," according to the document, known as the "Beige Book" and which is based on surveys, interviews and observations collected from the commercial and community contacts of each of the Fed's 12 regional banks through May 23. "There were widespread reports of contacts expecting costs and prices to rise at a faster rate going forward."
ORGANIZING
Workers at Richmond Starbucks location vote to unionize
WEKU
By Shepherd Snyder
June 3, 2025
Workers at a Richmond Starbucks have voted to unionize in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. Fourteen staff members at the Eastern Bypass Starbucks voted Monday night in favor of forming a union and four against, according to NLRB filings. They’ll be joining around 600 other branches in the national Starbucks Workers United union. Baristas and shift supervisors would be represented.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Chicopee workers push for wage gains in contract talks
Mass Live
By Namu Sampath
June 4, 2025
After months of talks, a local union representing Chicopee’s administrative and other municipal employees went public this week with unhappiness over the state of collective bargaining. Crystal Bouchie, a representative with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459, said the team negotiating for the city is not showing itself to be receptive to the union’s demands.
Workers approve strikes as they escalate battle with Big Grocery
People’s World
By Cameron Harrison
June 4, 2025
Grocery workers across the U.S., largely represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), are taking a stand this week against the corporate grocery giants, Kroger and Albertsons, as coordinated negotiations gain more support and popularity among the rank-and-file. Strike authorization votes are sweeping through multiple states and several UFCW locals in what could be one of the largest coordinated labor actions in the union’s history.
South Bay Transit Workers Approve New VTA Contract, Ending Stalemate
KQED
By Joseph Geha
June 4, 2025
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority‘s largest labor union has approved the transit agency’s latest contract offer, bringing an end to nearly a year of negotiations that included a historic and disruptive 17-day strike in March. Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, including bus drivers, light rail operators, maintenance workers and dispatchers, voted 689-298 to ratify the new proposal from the VTA, which includes a 14.5% wage increase spread over four years. The voting took place all of Tuesday, and the results were tallied by the early morning hours on Wednesday.
Philly Today: Are We Heading for a Garbage Strike?
Philly Mag
By Patrick Rapa
June 4, 2025
At the moment, AFSCME District Council 33 still hasn’t signed a new 2025 contract with the city, and there are several points of contention including raises, overtime, health plans, sick leave and more. The 33 includes the Sanitation Department, Water Department, Streets Department, etc.
VTA workers approve new contract to raise wages and improve benefits, ending months-long conflict
ABC 7
By Zach Fuentes
June 4, 2025
VTA workers have approved a new contract in a deal that brings a months-long conflict between the workers and the transit agency to an end. Union members have voted 'Yes' on the latest contract proposal after almost three months of negotiations that included a historic strike. Voting closed at 10 p.m. Tuesday and the results were posted just before 2 a,.m. Wednesday. The vote was 689 in favor of ratifying the contract with 298 voting no. This is a major step after the strike earlier this year that shut down VTA service for weeks. A judge ended the strike, but an agreement still wasn't reached between VTA and ATU Local 265 members.
Picketing Butler staff face replacement as hospital advertises job openings
Rhode Island Current
By Alexander Castro
June 3, 2025
Striking Butler Hospital workers may not have a job to return to if and when their strike ends, according to an email sent by the psychiatric hospital’s president on Monday. Butler President and COO Mary E. Marran informed the hospital’s roughly 800 unionized members of SEIU 1199 NE that while management “will continue to work toward a fair and respectful resolution” in bargaining talks for a new contract, the hospital “must also ensure that we fulfill our commitment to providing safe, high-quality care to our patients.”
SAIC nontenure-track faculty ratify first union contract
Chicago Reader
By Shawn Mulcahy and Kerry Cardoza
June 4, 2025
“By improving compensation and protecting their rights, this historic agreement lays a rock-solid foundation on which adjuncts and lecturers can continue to build,” said American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch in a statement. Nontenure-track faculty voted to join Art Institute of Chicago Workers United (AICWU), affiliated with AFSCME Council 31, in December 2022, following the unionization of the staff from the school and the Art Institute of Chicago. The unit is made up of SAIC adjuncts and lecturers, who together represent more than 80 percent of the school’s faculty.
United Airlines flight attendants are set for pay rises of up to 45%
Business Insider
By Pete Syme
June 4, 2025
The United branch of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA reached a tentative deal with the airline on May 23. The first details of the deal were published on Tuesday. It states that cabin crew members would receive pay increases up to 45.6% over the contract's five-year timeframe.
Cascade PBS Union secures pay raises in ratified contract with management
Current
By Julian Wyllie
June 4, 2025
The union representing journalists at Cascade PBS in Seattle has unanimously voted to ratify its second contract with management. Employees voted May 6 after reaching a tentative agreement April 29, according to the union. The new four-year contract will lead to an average pay raise of 6.76% for unit members. Over the term of the contract, employees’ average wages are projected to increase 18.3%. The union represents 23 employees and is under the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild. The latest negotiations began in July 2024, with the union authorizing a strike pledge in February after tensions with management escalated. The union later ramped up organizing activities to draw attention to the stalemate.
STATE LEGISLATION
Texas Legislature passes bill protecting utility workers from assaults, harassment during disasters
KTSM
By Cora Neas
June 4, 2025
“This bill is bipartisan, pro-worker, and common sense,” said Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy in a press release. “Our utility workers shouldn’t be subject to threats and harassment on the job — no one should. These front-line workers deserve our respect and protection.”
Oregon House passes bill allowing striking workers to collect unemployment
Statesman Journal
By Dianne Lugo
June 4, 2025
Proponents of the bill, including major labor unions, argue it levels the playing field during labor disputes by preventing workers from being "starved" into unfair contracts. The Oregon AFL-CIO, which represents more than 300,000 workers, requested the bill and celebrated its passage in the House.