Today's AFL -CIO press clips
MUST READ
Labor unions rise up against Trump’s immigration plans after L.A. raids
The Washington Post
By Praveena Somasundaram
June 10, 2025
In a statement after Huerta’s release Monday, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said that the groups who demanded his release had “shown the power of the union.” “If you come for one of us, you come for all of us,” she wrote in a post on X.
Fortune
By Azure Gilman and Sara Braun
June 10, 2025
The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the country, wrote in a statement on June 7: “As the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda has unnecessarily targeted our hardworking immigrant brothers and sisters, David was exercising his constitutional rights and conducting legal observation of ICE activity in his community.”
POLITICS
Trump Declares Dubious Emergencies to Amass Power, Scholars Say
The New York Times
By Adam Liptak
June 10, 2025
To hear President Trump tell it, the nation is facing a rebellion in Los Angeles, an invasion by a Venezuelan gang and extraordinary foreign threats to its economy. Citing this series of crises, he has sought to draw on emergency powers that Congress has scattered throughout the United States Code over the centuries, summoning the National Guard to Los Angeles over the objections of California’s governor, sending scores of migrants to El Salvador without the barest hint of due process and upending the global economy with steep tariffs.
Republicans back off Medicare changes in GOP megabill
Politico
By Jordain Carney and Robert King
June 10, 2025
Senate Republicans appear to be popping their own trial balloon on including changes to Medicare as part of their “big beautiful bill.” The public shift comes after GOP senators caught their own colleagues off guard — and gave Democrats a new political target — when they opened the door last week to going after “waste, fraud and abuse” within the program to capture savings to satisfy their deficit hawks.
House Republicans Move to Put Their Stamp on D.C. as Budget Fix Languishes
The New York Times
By Michael Gold
June 10, 2025
Three months ago, President Trump urged House Republicans to “immediately” fix a $1.1 billion budget hole they forced on Washington, D.C. This week, the lawmakers have instead advanced bills to impose their policy agenda on the city’s Democrat-led government — without addressing the funding shortfall. The House passed two bills on Tuesday to undo local legislation passed by the district’s government: one to repeal a law letting noncitizens vote in local elections and another removing provisions that make it easier to discipline police officers for misconduct. Both passed with bipartisan support.
Judge determined OPM broke law with DOGE access to data
The Hill
By Rebecca Beitsch
June 10, 2025
A federal judge granted an injunction blocking the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing databases at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The decision from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, an appointee of former President Clinton, found DOGE was unlawfully given access to sweeping databases that cover current and former federal employees and also contain information on prospective hires.
About 100 National Endowment for the Humanities employees laid off, union says
USA Today
By Sarah D. Wire
June 10, 2025
Approximately two-thirds of the staff at the National Endowment for the Humanities will lose their jobs when their "reduction in force" goes into effect June 10, according to their union, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403.
Government Workforce Reductions Hit Black Employees Hardest
BET
By Jasmine Browley
June 10, 2025
Recent federal workforce reductions are having a disproportionate impact on Black employees, raising concerns about long-term economic stability and representation in public service, according to new reports. Black workers make up nearly 19 percent of the federal workforce, despite accounting for about 14 percent of the overall U.S. population, according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Historically, federal employment has provided a critical pathway to the middle class for Black Americans, offering stable wages, benefits, and protection from private-sector discrimination.
Government Executive
By Donald F. Kettl
June 10, 2025
Donald Trump launched his presidency with a blizzard of executive orders unlike anything in recent memory—more than three times as many as in Joe Biden’s first 100 days, seven times as many as Barack Obama, and 13 times as many as George W. Bush. And he expects federal workers to be accountable to him.
How the White House’s War on the Job Corps Is Hurting Trump Country
The Nation
By Deb Vanasse
June 10, 2025
In the department’s official announcement, Chavez-DeRemer asserted the Labor Department’s commitment to transitioning Job Corps participants and providing whatever resources they need to succeed. None of that is actually happening. “We are navigating in the dark,” says a staffer from Tongue Point’s Career Technical Training division.
IMMIGRATION
Determined to create crisis, Trump sends the Marines into Los Angeles
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
June 10, 2025
The whole sequence of Trump escalation followed protests, called on literally a moment’s notice, in more than a dozen cities nationwide on June 9 after Huerta’s arrest. The D.C. protest alone, led by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and other union leaders, plus Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., drew more than 300 people. “Our country suffers when this administration uses weapons of war to produce fear and to further drive us apart,” Shuler told the crowd, as they massed on a street corner across from Trump’s Justice Department.
Charlotte protest calls for end to nationwide ICE raids
WCCB Charlotte
By Gary Brode
June 9, 2025
Members of SEIU here in Charlotte called for Huerta’s immediate release. They say he was hurt while observing and documenting an ICE raid last week. Huerta was released from a LA jail on Monday. Those at the Charlotte rally say they worry the ICE raids will only get worse in our community.
Charlotte rally calls response to anti-ICE protests in LA ‘state-sanctioned violence’
The Charlotte Observer
By Abby Pender
June 10, 2025
“Today, we are here to show that this is not going to fly in this country,” Jacob Plitman, lead organizer with SEIU 32BJ, said at the rally. “It’s not going to fly in the City of Charlotte, and we demand that they stop the raids.” Organizers also called for the release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU United Service Workers West, who was arrested Friday during the L.A. protests for allegedly interfering with law enforcement activity.
Minnesota’s Labor Movement is Demanding an End to ICE Raids
Workday Magazine
By Amie Stager
June 10, 2025
“Whether it’s on Lake Street or all the way in Los Angeles, you can count on the labor movement to keep raising our voices and keep standing up for our fellow workers in the face of injustice,” said Minnesota AFL-CIO president Bernie Burnham. “We refuse to let ICE in their masked, secret police cosplay uniforms intimidate us.”
Immigration fight moves to the workplace
Axios
By Emily Peck
June 10, 2025
Unions rallied around the country on Monday to protest the increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement actions by the Trump administration. Why it matters: The White House has taken its immigration efforts inside the American workplace, conducting raids at worksites in Los Angeles on Friday and elsewhere, and unions have been a key player in pushing back. The big picture: Immigrants, documented or not, are a crucial part of the resurgent labor movement — especially at the SEIU, which organized the protests — and represent a growing share of the working class.
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Is a Crackdown on Unions
Jacobin
By Alejandra Quintero and David Abud
June 10, 2025
The assault on and arrest of California labor leader David Huerta during the brutal immigration crackdown in Los Angeles this weekend is part of a broader attack on unionized workers by Donald Trump’s deportation machine. Unions are mobilizing in response.
WHYY
By Cory Sharber
June 10, 2025
Monday’s protest in Philadelphia and other major U.S. cities was organized by the Service Employees International Union, which Huerta leads in California, as part of a nationwide day of action to bring attention to the Los Angeles clashes. Huerta was arrested Friday during the LA protests, which resulted in a series of clashes with law enforcement. On Saturday, ICE announced on X that it had arrested 118 immigrants during operations in Los Angeles last week.
‘They belong here’: Demonstrators in Louisville voice frustrations with I.C.E.
WAVE3
By Logan Perrone
June 10, 2025
From the steps of Metro Hall to stepping out into the street, hundreds of people from across the Louisville metro and beyond expressed their frustration, fueled by three letters. Signs read “Abolish I.C.E.,” “NO I.C.E.,” and “Louisville stands against I.C.E.,” just to list a few. Air Force veteran Ken Beitler from Georgetown carried his own sign as a number of groups marched from a rally at Metro Hall to the immigration office on S. 7th Street.
‘IAM Max’: Machinists Rally for Member Detained by ICE
Labor Notes
By Zack Pattin
June 9, 2025
Rallying under the banner “IAM Max,” 200 union members and supporters gathered outside the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington, on June 6 to demand the release of Maximo Londonio, a member of Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 695 who has been imprisoned by ICE since mid-May. “He should not be here, he should be at home with his wife and family,” said Machinists International President Brian Bryant at the rally. “We want everyone that’s illegally in this facility set free.”
Trump Has Put a Target on SEIU, and the Labor Movement Is Fighting Back
In These Times
By Luis Feliz Leon
June 10, 2025
As federal agents strapped on their tactical gear and picked up rifles to sweep workplaces, parking lots and streets in Los Angeles, workers and residents mounted what is shaping up into the boldest organized defiance to the Trump administration yet. And when a state labor leader observing the raids got swept up in the brutal immigration crackdown, it sparked nationwide action by labor unions against federal raids, detentions and deportations.
TRADE
United Steelworkers International demands details on U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel partnership
WPXI
By Paul J. Gough
June 10, 2025
The lack of detail irked USW, whose international president, David McCall, has continuously opposed the deal. McCall has said the international union doesn’t have the details and wasn’t consulted; the Mon Valley Works local union leadership had broken with the union to support the U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) merger with Nippon Steel and now the partnership.
Steelworkers union demands details of U.S. Steel partnership
Chicago Tribune
By Maya Wilkins
June 10, 2025
The United Steelworkers Union has filed an official information request to U.S. Steel regarding its proposed partnership with Nippon Steel. A Northwest Indiana steel expert said that while details of the deal aren’t known, he’s confident it will benefit region steelworkers. “There’s a commitment to not only keeping Gary Works functioning but investing further and extending (the facility’s) life,” said Micah Pollak, associate professor of economics at Indiana University Northwest. “From that perspective, that will translate into more jobs, both in the relining process and the other investments and upgrades, and it will also be a commitment to maintain jobs here.”
Trump tariffs may remain in effect while appeals proceed, US appeals court rules
Reuters
By Dietrich Knauth and Nate Raymond
June 10, 2025
A federal appeals court allowed President Donald Trump's most sweeping tariffs to remain in effect on Tuesday while it reviews a lower-court decision blocking them on grounds that he had exceeded his authority by imposing them. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. means Trump may continue to enforce, for now, his "Liberation Day" tariffs on imports from most U.S. trading partners, as well as a separate set of tariffs levied on Canada, China and Mexico.
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Ohio Electrical Workers unite to support solar jobs, federal tax credits
Solar Builder
By SB Staff
June 10, 2025
“Clean energy tax credits are putting IBEW members to work in every state—and there are still hundreds of billions of dollars in projects ahead,” said IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper. “Stripping these investments now hands the advantage to foreign competitors, particularly China, and tells American workers their jobs don’t matter.”
NLRB
Labor Board Member Nominations on the Horizon, Chair Says
Bloomberg Law
By Parker Purifoy
June 10, 2025
Nominations to fill three vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board are “imminent,” according to NLRB Chair Marvin Kaplan. “I know at least a couple people on the list and everyone is fine, but these things take time,” Kaplan said during remarks Tuesday at a labor and employment law conference at New York University. The board has been without a quorum since January when President Donald Trump fired member Gwynne Wilcox.
ORGANIZING
Lake County Health Department unionizing; 600 to join AFSCME
Chicago Tribune
By Joseph States
June 10, 2025
Lake County Health Department employees are moving forward with unionization efforts with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which will bring about 600 county staff under the union’s umbrella. Last week, the workers filed a majority-interest petition with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, according to a news release. The board will verify that the petition includes the signatures of a majority of employees and certify the bargaining unit. This process could take several weeks or months, union organizers said.
Oakland University Medical School faculty votes to unionize. Provost reacts
The Detroit News
By Aya Fayad
June 10, 2025
The tenured and tenure-track, non-clinical faculty of the Oakland University Medical School voted in favor of unionization Tuesday and joined the existing AAUP-AFT Local 6762, the university's American Association of University Professors said Tuesday. The faculty of the Oakland University William Beaumont Medical School took part in a Michigan Employment Relations Committee-run election in which a majority voted in favor of joining the union.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
SAG-AFTRA and Video Game Companies Reach Tentative New Deal, Strike End In Sight
Variety
By Jennifer Maas and Jack Dunn
June 9, 2025
The video game actors’ strike may soon come to an end. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the major video game labels, which include Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc. and WB Games Inc., have reached a tentative deal on the terms for the Interactive Media Contract after months of work stoppage.
New York Air Brake, union ratify contract
WWNYTV
By 7 News Staff
June 10, 2025
New York Air Brake says it has a new contract with a labor union representing 50 local workers.
The company says it recently ratified a three-year pact with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. New York Air Brake says it employs about 250 people, including the nearly 50 union members at its location on Starbuck Avenue in Watertown. “This is an important step in supporting the stability of our operations, while enhancing the depth and scope of our overall market and product positions,” said Kevin Hoyt, vice president of manufacturing.
SAG-AFTRA Reaches Tentative Contract Deal With Video Game Companies After Nearly a Year on Strike
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
June 9, 2025
In an agreement that could eventually mark the end of a nearly yearlong strike, SAG-AFTRA and major video game companies have reached a tentative deal on a contract agreement. The performers’ union announced the provisional deal on Monday night without getting into specifics on the terms of the agreement. The work stoppage against video game firms will continue until the terms of a strike suspension agreement have been fully hammered out, the union stated.
Mayo Clinic Methodist workers OK labor deal
Becker’s Hospital Review
By Kelly Gooch
June 10, 2025
Members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa at the Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus in Rochester, Minn., have approved a new three-year labor contract, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The agreement, approved June 6, covers 700 members at Methodist, Hallie Wallace, the union representative and lead negotiator on the contract, told Becker’s. This includes patient care assistants, sterile processing technicians, linen transporters, environmental services technicians, surgical technologists, maintenance workers, and patient escorts.
Managers, firefighters up for raises in Palo Alto
Palo Alto Online
By Gennady Sheyner
June 9, 2025
Hundreds of City of Palo Alto employees, including firefighters, department heads and utility managers, will receive raises of at least 9% spread out over three years as part of a series of contracts that the City Council plans to approve just before going into its summer recess. The new contracts, which council members are expected to endorse on June 16, apply to 248 positions in the “managers and professionals group,” which includes department heads and division managers throughout the city’s organization. This is the only group of employees that is not unionized and it’s compensation adjustments tend to mirror those negotiated by other labor groups.
Planned Parenthood Central Coast Strike Averted
Santa Barbara Independent
By Vince Grafton
June 10, 2025
Planned Parenthood California Central Coast and its employees’ union negotiators reached a tentative agreement on Monday, June 9, averting a strike that was set to begin Tuesday, June 10. The strike, which would have affected six clinics across the Central Coast, was originally voted into action due to several charges by the union — the United Healthcare Workers West local of the Service Employees International Union. The union wanted the health-care provider to improve staffing and patient care, and charged unfair labor practices.
NJ Transit Engineers Union Votes in Favor of New Wage Agreement
Bloomberg
By Sri Taylor
June 10, 2025
New Jersey Transit’s locomotive engineers ratified the new wage contract which was the result of an agreement following a three-day strike that halted rail service in May. Union workers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen approved the contract that will raise hourly pay to more than $50 per hour, as well as a signing bonus, according to a statement from the union. Voting concluded Tuesday.
JOINING TOGETHER
PA AFL-CIO & union leaders to rally in Harrisburg for workers’ rights and wage increases
WTAJ
By Trevor Miller
June 10, 2025
A major labor rally is set to take place Tuesday at the state Capitol as the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO joins union, community and faith leaders in a statewide push for better protections and support for working families. The “Fight for the Future: Rally for the Working People” will bring hundreds to Harrisburg in support of public sector workplace safety laws, increased minimum wages, union rights, safe staffing in health care, and stronger public education funding.
STATE LEGISLATION
Bill to grant striking workers unemployment pay fails final vote in Oregon Senate
OPB
By Dirk VanderHart
June 10, 2025
A contentious bill that would allow striking workers in Oregon to receive weekly unemployment checks saw a surprise defeat Tuesday when a key lawmaker pulled his support. Now, lawmakers will consider slashing total benefits workers could receive in order to revive the bill. State Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, had voted in favor of Senate Bill 916 when it first came before his chamber in March. But after small changes in the House, the bill needed another approval from the Senate in order to advance to Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk.
Thousands of workers caught in middle of transit fiscal cliff talks
Chicago Tribune
By Talia Soglin
June 10, 2025
Illinois lawmakers ended their spring legislative session without finding a way to plug the gaping $771 million budget gap facing the region’s mass transit systems next year. Thousands of jobs hang in the balance. The Regional Transportation Authority has estimated that nearly 3,000 workers could lose their jobs if lawmakers don’t fund the transit system. The CTA alone could lay off more than 2,000 workers, acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen said at an RTA board meeting this year. “It’s a scary number to look at, and I hope we don’t come anywhere close to it.”
LABOR AND ENTERTAINMENT
Actors' Equity Association Applauds CA Legislature Restoration of Cut Live Arts Funding
Broadway World
By A.A. Cristi
June 10, 2025
“The Equitable Payroll Fund supports critically important arts programs in dozens of small nonprofit live arts organizations, from live theatre to orchestras, operas, chorus and dance,” said Brooke Shields, president of Actors' Equity Association. “The legislature restored this funding because they understand that it means more jobs and more arts programs in small and midsized communities in California. And that means even more economic activity, since each ticket holder for one of these shows generates an average of $38.46 in additional economic activity for local businesses. I'm grateful for the state legislature in fighting for this program which so many nonprofit employers have been counting on.”