Today's AFL-CIO press clips

POLITICS
Trump loves saying 'You're fired.' Now he's making it easier to fire federal workers
NPR
By Andrea Hsu
June 23, 2025
Five months into his second term, Trump is changing long standing norms around hiring and firing federal employees as he seeks to assert far greater control over those tasked with carrying out his agenda. A key part of this makeover is the Office of Personnel Management's proposed rule "Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service." It would allow the administration to move tens of thousands of civil servants into a new category of employees who would serve at the pleasure of the president.
Republican senators’ proposed Medicaid cuts threaten to send red states ‘backwards’
The Guardian
By Jessica Glenza
June 23, 2025
Advocates are urging Senate Republicans to reject a proposal to cut billions from American healthcare to extend tax breaks that primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations. The proposal would make historic cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people that covers 71 million Americans, and is the Senate version of the “big beautiful bill” act, which contains most of Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
GOP senators warn Medicaid cuts in Trump megabill remain a problem
The Hill
By Alexander Bolton
June 23, 2025
Republican senators say the massive spending cuts to Medicaid in the megabill GOP leaders hope to pass to enact President Trump’s agenda are still a major concern, raising questions about whether the bill has the votes to advance on the Senate floor this week. Senators, who have warned for weeks that the Medicaid spending cuts passed by the House last month will have a devastating impact on rural hospitals and reduce health care coverage in their states, say they have yet to see a plan from their leadership that they could support.
Senate Republicans work to salvage SNAP cost-share savings
Politico
By Grace Yarrow and Meredith Lee Hill
June 23, 2025
Senate Republicans believe they can salvage tens of billions of dollars in spending cuts across the country’s largest anti-hunger program to help pay for the GOP megabill by making language tweaks to comply with the Senate’s rules, according to three people familiar with the talks. If the updated text passes muster with the Senate parliamentarian, it would stave off one major problem for GOP leaders as they scramble to find additional savings after several adverse rulings and land final text of the massive bill by Thursday.
Despite Musk’s Departure, Trump’s War Against Unions and Workers Will Continue
Center for American Progress
By Aurelia Glass
June 23, 2025
President Donald Trump’s second administration has been defined by its assault on the federal workforce. With Elon Musk at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration fired tens of thousands of federal workers, jeopardizing services that working families across the country rely on. Yet the attacks on workers have gone beyond firing public sector workers and will not end just because Musk has left the government.
Most fed-targeting provisions in Senate reconciliation bill don’t pass Byrd muster
Government Executive
By Erich Wagner
June 23, 2025
Aseries of plans targeting federal workers’ retirement benefits, their unions and civil service protections were dealt a setback over the weekend when the Senate parliamentarian warned that they violate rules governing budget reconciliation initiatives. Last week, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., unveiled his panel’s portion of congressional Republicans’ budget reconciliation package, which aims to reduce federal spending to partially pay for extended tax cuts for the ultrawealthy and increased immigration enforcement. The measure abandoned a series of House-passed proposals to cut the retirement benefits of currently serving federal workers but would have required future federal hires to pay nearly 15% of their paychecks toward their retirement benefits if they wished to accrue civil service protections.
Senate parliamentarian deals another blow to GOP megabill
MSNBC
By Allison Detzel
June 23, 2025
Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” continues to run into trouble as it makes its way through the Senate. Over the weekend, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that several key parts of Trump’s tax and spending bill violate the chamber’s rules and recommended they be removed from the final package. These parts include Senate Republicans’ attempt to make it significantly more difficult — and more expensive — to challenge the Trump administration in court. The provision would have required plaintiffs seeking an emergency court order to pay the federal government a bond, covering all potential costs and damages, before a judge could impose injunctions or restraining orders against the government.
Here’s what the Senate parliamentarian has struck from Trump’s megabill
The Hill
By Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
June 23, 2025
The Senate parliamentarian has rejected several controversial provisions in the GOP’s ‘big beautiful bill’ over the last few days. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) aims to have the bill on President Trump’s desk by July 4. But first, some of the megabill’s most controversial aspects must undergo the so-called “Byrd bath,” meaning they aren’t eligible to be part of a reconciliation package that can pass with a 51-vote majority.
US State Budget Wounds Intensify From Trump, DOGE Policy Shifts
Bloomberg
By Aashna Shah
June 23, 2025
US states are sounding the alarm over the billions in revenue they stand to lose under the Trump administration’s broadscale government cuts and the impact of his trade policies. In Maryland, the reductions are expected to cost nearly $350 million and led Moody’s Ratings to lower the state’s top-tier credit grade it had held for half a century. California officials say on-again, off-again tariff announcements have dampened the state’s economic outlook. Illinois, already facing fiscal strains, says Trump has made the situation worse. And New Mexico lawmakers are considering a special session to deal with the fallout from DC policy. Even states run by Republicans are bracing for impact.
IMMIGRATION
Senate Bill Would Protect Thousands of Migrants From Deportation
Newsweek
By Dan Gooding
June 23, 2025
Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO president, in a press release: "Immigrant workers are under unprecedented attack: hundreds of thousands of people have been stripped of their legal status and work authorization, throwing families and industries into chaos and uncertainty. "Workers with Temporary Protected Status, many of whom have lived and worked in our country for decades, are vital members of our communities and our unions. The SECURE Act is common-sense legislation that would provide TPS holders with stable, permanent lawful status so they can continue to raise their families, work, and contribute to our economy."
Judge says government ‘failed’ to prove Kilmar Abrego García poses a danger
The Washington Post
By Maria Sacchetti and Jeremy Roebuck
June 22, 2025
A federal judge on Sunday ruled that Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland resident wrongly deported to El Salvador, is eligible for release from criminal custody, saying the government’s allegations that he is a flight risk or a danger to the community are based on problematic testimony and scenarios that “defy common sense.” U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes said the government “failed” to prove the Trump administration’s allegations that Abrego García poses enough of a danger to society that he should be held while he awaits trial on charges that he participated in a migrant smuggling ring for nearly a decade. She issued her 51-page decision more than a week after a highly unusual, hours-long hearing in U.S. District Court in Nashville earlier this month.
MANUFACTURING
Tax credits that bring good union jobs home to Ohio and America should be preserved (Opinion)
Ohio Capital Journal
By David Green
June 23, 2025
In 2019, GM closed the Lordstown Complex, where I worked for 30 years. Donald Trump, president at the time, promised revival but delivered nothing. With the rise of EVs, Lordstown got a glimmer of hope. Lordstown Assembly stayed closed, but GM formed a new company, Ultium, which opened a massive EV battery facility right around the corner, buoyed by federal subsidies for the emerging industry. As the U.S. Senate debates Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the people of Lordstown, Ohio, have a simple message: don’t shut us down again. I am the proud leader for the United Auto Workers in Region 2B, which covers Ohio and Indiana, and I hope the U.S. Senators representing our states will hear that message.
NLRB
Nurses Run Up Against Labor Board Stalled By Trump
Capital and Main
By Kalena Thomhave
June 23, 2025
Hundreds of nurses employed by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center — the city’s largest employer — say they are having to fight just to schedule a union election. Meanwhile, their employer is justifying delays by citing the Trump administration’s changes to the National Labor Relations Board. On June 13, a throng of scrub-clad nurses and supporters gathered in the damp shadow of Pittsburgh’s iconic U.S. Steel Tower — which now bears the UPMC logo across its roofline. Joined there by a range of elected officials, including city councilmembers, U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio, and Pittsburgh’s mayor, Ed Gainey, they demanded a date for their union election.
Labor Board Loses Edge in Court Review as Judges Avoid Precedent
Bloomberg Law
By Robert Iafolla
June 23, 2025
Several appellate courts ignored US Supreme Court precedent privileging the NLRB’s takes on federal labor law in their decisions discussing a landmark ruling that ended deference to agencies’ interpretations of vague laws. Five circuit courts have considered how Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo affects their assessment of the National Labor Relations Board’s legal interpretations since the high court handed down that decision a year ago, according to a Bloomberg Law review of cases.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Giant Eagle workers approve new contract with 94% support, securing wage increases
WPXI
By Kali Burke
June 23, 2025
Almost 5,000 Giant Eagle union workers have agreed to terms on a new four-year agreement with the grocery chain. UFCW Local 1776 members at 34 Giant Eagle stores across Pennsylvania and West Virginia approved a new four-year contract. UFCW Local 1776 President Wendell Young IV said the members voted 94% in support of the new agreement. “I want to thank our bargaining committee for their hard work in negotiating a strong contract. This agreement provides wage increases, improved retirement plan funding, and maintains the excellent health and welfare benefit our members have,” Young said in a release.
'Idaho won't be left behind': Albertsons workers in Boise, Nampa authorize strike
KTVB
By Tracy Bringhurst
June 23, 2025
Albertsons employees in the Boise and Nampa areas have voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike following weekend balloting, union officials announced. According to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, the vote, conducted June 15-16, received overwhelming support from hundreds of workers at affected locations. The authorization allows union leadership to call a strike in response to what they describe as violations of federal labor law by the grocery chain.
Safeway on North Circle Drive joins strike
Fox21
By Brett Yager
June 23, 2025
On Sunday, June 22, the Colorado Springs Safeway location 1466 reported it was joining the unfair labor practice strike. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 announced on Sunday that the Safeway located at 1121 North Circle Drive. 99% of Safeway meat and retail workers in Colorado Springs voted in favor of the strike, announced UFCW on June 17. The strike began on Sunday, June 15, with UFCW alleging unfair labor practices such as short-staffed stores and frozen wages.
CBS News
By Aki Nace and Marielle Mohs
June 23, 2025
A Minnesota nurses union is holding an unfair labor practice strike vote on Monday as thousands of employees are working without a contract, and others are facing a contract expiration at the end of the month. The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents 15,000 nurses across 13 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth area, says if a supermajority of nurses pass the vote, it would give negotiators the ability to call for a strike at any time, after providing a 10-day notice.
A change in tenor: Springfield Symphony, union announce labor contract
MassLive
By Jim Kinney
June 23, 2025
Finally on the same page of music after years of labor strife, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Local 171 of the American Federation of Musicians have reached a new two-year collective bargaining agreement.
STATE LEGISLATION
Vote on repealing Utah’s anti-labor union law will happen during 2026 midterms, Gov. Cox decides
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Robert Gehrke
June 23, 2025
A vote on whether to repeal a law banning public employee unions from negotiating contracts with their government employers won’t be on the ballot until Nov. 3, 2026, Gov. Spencer Cox announced Monday. The governor had the option of calling a special election to put it before voters during municipal elections this November, but that would have come with some additional costs and logistical challenges. In 2023, when the state had a special election to replace retiring 2nd Congressional District Rep. Chris Stewart, lawmakers allocated $2.5 million to cover the extra costs.
Gov. Ned Lamont issues vetoes of hotly debated housing, striking workers bills
WTNH
By Mike Cerulli
June 23, 2025
Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) has issued vetoes of two hotly debated bills that were passed during this year’s legislative session. At a press conference on Monday morning, Lamont stated that he would veto Senate Bill No. 8 and House Bill No. 5002. Both bills won approval by the legislature earlier this year. In both instances, Republicans uniformly opposed the bills, with a faction of moderate Democrats joining them.
Gov. Cox signs executive order sending anti-union bill to a voter referendum in 2026
KVNU
By Staff
June 23, 2025
Once again, the will of the Republican super-majority in the Utah Legislature has been thwarted – at least temporarily – by a public petition drive. House Bill 267 (Public Sector Labor Union Amendments) was passed by the Legislature during its 2025 General Session to prohibit collective bargaining by public sector unions in Utah. On June 23, Gov. Spencer Cox acknowledged that a coalition of 19 labor unions, led by the Utah Education Association, had gathered enough voter signatures to send the law to the ballot in the 2026 general election.
IN THE STATES
Scenes from Bernie Sanders’ ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ Tour stop in Tulsa
Examiner-Enterprise
By Andy Dossett
June 23, 2025
Oklahoma AFL-CIO President Jimmy Curry introduces Sen. Bernie Sanders as he takes the stage at the Arvest Convention Center in Tulsa during the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour stop, June 21, 2025.
Healthcare workers, public employees rally at Rep. Kean's office
Hunterdon Review
By Rikki Massand
June 23, 2025
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) New Jersey Council 63 union members rallied outside the district office of U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-7, on Friday, June 20. Representing healthcare and public service workers across the 7th Congressional District, rally attendees called on Kean to stop supporting the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that President Donald Trump and Kean's Republican Party advanced through the House of Representatives last month.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
IAFF launches online energy hazard guide for fire fighters
Fire & Safey Journal Americas
By Iain Hoey
June 23, 2025
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has launched a new digital Energy Hazard Guide to support safe response to incidents involving modern energy systems. The IAFF stated that the guide is designed to help members identify risks and make informed decisions when facing energy-related hazards at emergency scenes. It covers utility vaults, electric vehicles, battery storage, solar panels, and high-voltage equipment increasingly present in both residential and industrial contexts. The IAFF noted that the tool is hosted on its Online Learning Center and contains reference material, personal protective equipment (PPE) advice, video demonstrations, and hazard identification markers.
VOTING RIGHTS
US Supreme Court lets challenge to Virginia lifetime ban on felon voting proceed
Reuters
By John Kruzel
June 23, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear Virginia's bid to scuttle a lawsuit challenging an 1869 state constitutional provision that imposes a lifetime voting ban on convicted felons, one of the toughest restrictions in the United States. The justices turned away an appeal by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, of a lower court's ruling that let the lawsuit led by two would-be voters in the state with felony records proceed.
LABOR LEADERSHIP
North Carolina AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan on the state of the labor movement and her tenure
NC Newsline
By Clayton Henkel
June 23, 2025
For the past two decades, no single individual has played a more prominent or important role in championing the rights and wellbeing of average working people in North Carolina than MaryBe McMillan. McMillan, who grew up in Hickory, served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the North Carolina AFL-CIO from 2005 to 2017, at which point she was elected as the first woman president of the federation in the state’s history – a role that she has served in ever since and will retire from later this summer. And recently, as she prepared for her final months in office, McMillan was kind enough to join NC Newsline to share some reflections on the state of the labor movement and on her years of service – the victories, the frustrations, and some of the key challenges that lie ahead for her movement and the working people it strives to represent.