AFT SUES ADMINISTRATION OVER VIRTUAL SHUTDOWN OF LABOR MEDIATION SERVICE
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and 10 other unions have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to prevent the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)’s dismantling. FMCS is a federal agency that mediates labor disputes in both public and private sectors and has played a key role in workplace negotiations at companies like Starbucks, Boeing, and Apple. Following the administration’s March 14 executive order, which directed FMCS to significantly downsize, the agency placed 90% of its employees on administrative leave and shut down all of its field offices. The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s actions are unconstitutional and that FMCS’s compliance with the order violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
Adding another item to the attack on workers the Trump administration is dishing out, the US Department .of Agriculture on March 18 issued waivers to rules that limit line speeds in pork and poultry production plants across the country. The faster line speedups cuts down the time workers in these plants have to process the meats and increases the risk of accidents to workers and disease to consumers.
“Increased line speeds will hurt workers – it’s not a maybe, it’s a definite – and increased production speeds will jeopardize the health and safety of every American that eats chicken,” declared Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents over 15,000 poultry workers at facilities across the southern United States, as well as meatpacking and processing workers in other parts of the country. “The announcement by the USDA and Secretary Rollins echoes the same lack of consideration they had for our essential food processing workers during the first Trump administration and it will put us all at risk. We rely on the thousands of workers to safely produce the food on our tables every single day, they can’t do that safely at these speeds – we learned that lesson the hard way just five short years ago – let’s not irreparably injure workers to learn what we already know.
“Worker safety must be a priority, and these facilities cannot operate at these speeds without increased staffing, which cannot happen the way they are constructed now. Issuing waivers to a multi-billion dollar industry with no oversight to ensure it’s done safely and properly is a recipe for disaster
“The USDA must make worker safety a priority, not profits.”
WORDS OF CAUTION OVER TRUMP LABOR SECRETARY PICK PROVE TRUE
When Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) was first chosen by Donald Trump to be Secretary of Labor, some saw it as an act friendly to unions and a possible glimmer of hope. But many labor leaders, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and National Education Association President Betsy Pringle were saying “not so fast.” They warned not too much should be made of the appointment. Trump “has threatened to take the unprecedented action of removing current pro-worker NLRB members in the middle of their term,” Pringle pointed out, “replacing them with his corporate friends. And he is promising to appoint judges and justices who are hostile to workers and unions.” (See item Union Leaders Urge Caution” on Labor News Page of this site.)
Their words didn’t take long to be proven true. At her Senate confirmation Feb.19, she clearly stated that she supports so-called “right to work” laws of many states that outlaw union shops in collective bargaining agreements, allowing workers receiving the benefits of those agreements to not belong to the union or pay union dues, thereby severely weakening the union bargaining position.
The reason for the guarded optimism of some over her appointment was that she was one of only three Republicans in the House of Representatives who sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act that would weaken these “right to work” state laws. Now she says that she signed onto the bill only because she “wanted to be at that table,” not because she was fully supportive of its provisions. When asked directly by anti-labor Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) if she still supports the PRO Act, she made it very clear that she did not. Paul is the lead sponsor of a National Right to Work Act currently in Congress.
SEVERAL UNIONS SUE TO STOP MUSK FROM ACCESSING PRIVATE DATA ON PEOPLE
Three Trump administration agencies were sued on Feb. 23 by several unions in an attempt to stop Elon Musk’s DOGE operation from getting into sensitive federal data on millions of Americans.
The suit, filed in a federal court in Maryland by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the National Federation of Federal Employees alleges that the Treasury Department has disclosed the contents of a government system that includes records on Americans’ tax refunds and Social Security benefits.
The suit also asserts that the Department of three agencies of the Trump administration Education has unlawfully disclosed data on the system that houses personal information on 43 million recipients of student loans. And people on Musk’s staff have been given the authority to access information from the Office of Personnel Management on people applying for federal jobs, as well as current and former federal employees.
APRIL BITS AND PIECES
Labor BriefsAFT SUES ADMINISTRATION OVER VIRTUAL SHUTDOWN OF LABOR MEDIATION SERVICE
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and 10 other unions have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to prevent the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)’s dismantling. FMCS is a federal agency that mediates labor disputes in both public and private sectors and has played a key role in workplace negotiations at companies like Starbucks, Boeing, and Apple. Following the administration’s March 14 executive order, which directed FMCS to significantly downsize, the agency placed 90% of its employees on administrative leave and shut down all of its field offices. The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s actions are unconstitutional and that FMCS’s compliance with the order violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
On Labor, 4/15
MARCH BITS AND PIECES
Labor BriefsUNION HITS SPEEDUP ON POULTRY PRODUCTION LINES
Adding another item to the attack on workers the Trump administration is dishing out, the US Department .of Agriculture on March 18 issued waivers to rules that limit line speeds in pork and poultry production plants across the country. The faster line speedups cuts down the time workers in these plants have to process the meats and increases the risk of accidents to workers and disease to consumers.
“Increased line speeds will hurt workers – it’s not a maybe, it’s a definite – and increased production speeds will jeopardize the health and safety of every American that eats chicken,” declared Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents over 15,000 poultry workers at facilities across the southern United States, as well as meatpacking and processing workers in other parts of the country. “The announcement by the USDA and Secretary Rollins echoes the same lack of consideration they had for our essential food processing workers during the first Trump administration and it will put us all at risk. We rely on the thousands of workers to safely produce the food on our tables every single day, they can’t do that safely at these speeds – we learned that lesson the hard way just five short years ago – let’s not irreparably injure workers to learn what we already know.
“Worker safety must be a priority, and these facilities cannot operate at these speeds without increased staffing, which cannot happen the way they are constructed now. Issuing waivers to a multi-billion dollar industry with no oversight to ensure it’s done safely and properly is a recipe for disaster
“The USDA must make worker safety a priority, not profits.”
Labor Start, 3/18
FEBRUARY BITS AND PIECES
Labor BriefsWORDS OF CAUTION OVER TRUMP LABOR SECRETARY PICK PROVE TRUE
When Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) was first chosen by Donald Trump to be Secretary of Labor, some saw it as an act friendly to unions and a possible glimmer of hope. But many labor leaders, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and National Education Association President Betsy Pringle were saying “not so fast.” They warned not too much should be made of the appointment. Trump “has threatened to take the unprecedented action of removing current pro-worker NLRB members in the middle of their term,” Pringle pointed out, “replacing them with his corporate friends. And he is promising to appoint judges and justices who are hostile to workers and unions.” (See item Union Leaders Urge Caution” on Labor News Page of this site.)
Their words didn’t take long to be proven true. At her Senate confirmation Feb.19, she clearly stated that she supports so-called “right to work” laws of many states that outlaw union shops in collective bargaining agreements, allowing workers receiving the benefits of those agreements to not belong to the union or pay union dues, thereby severely weakening the union bargaining position.
The reason for the guarded optimism of some over her appointment was that she was one of only three Republicans in the House of Representatives who sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act that would weaken these “right to work” state laws. Now she says that she signed onto the bill only because she “wanted to be at that table,” not because she was fully supportive of its provisions. When asked directly by anti-labor Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) if she still supports the PRO Act, she made it very clear that she did not. Paul is the lead sponsor of a National Right to Work Act currently in Congress.
Common Dreams, 2/19
SEVERAL UNIONS SUE TO STOP MUSK FROM ACCESSING PRIVATE DATA ON PEOPLE
Three Trump administration agencies were sued on Feb. 23 by several unions in an attempt to stop Elon Musk’s DOGE operation from getting into sensitive federal data on millions of Americans.
The suit, filed in a federal court in Maryland by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the National Federation of Federal Employees alleges that the Treasury Department has disclosed the contents of a government system that includes records on Americans’ tax refunds and Social Security benefits.
The suit also asserts that the Department of three agencies of the Trump administration Education has unlawfully disclosed data on the system that houses personal information on 43 million recipients of student loans. And people on Musk’s staff have been given the authority to access information from the Office of Personnel Management on people applying for federal jobs, as well as current and former federal employees.
Politico, 2/10