Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
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Trump Sues to End Union Contracts for Federal Workers
The Trump administrations filed a lawsuit against the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to invalidate existing collective bargaining agreements between workers and federal agencies.
Impact:
The lawsuit comes after Trump’s executive order attempts to revoke collective bargaining rights for most of the federal workforce. Trump is asking U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, a Trump appointee, to reinterpret federal law that would allow federal agencies to rescind labor contracts. Around 32 percent of public sector workers are members of unions, which is more than five times the rate of private sector employees.
Federal Judge Temporarily Protects U.S. Agency for Global Media
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order halting the effort to fire some 1,200 Voice of America employees. The order bars the agency from “any further attempt to terminate, reduce-in-force, place on leave, or furlough” employees or contractors, and from closing any offices or requiring overseas employees to return to the U.S.”
Impact:
The agency has more than 2,000 employees, broadcasts in 49 languages, and reaches a weekly estimated audience of more than 361 million people.
Trump Signs an Executive Order Ending Collective Bargaining at Federal Agencies he Claims are Involved in National Security
The EO ends collective bargaining at a wide swath of agencies and sub-agencies that have functions that have nothing to do with national security including HHS, the Department of Commerce, and Veterans' Affairs. However, the U.S. Customs and Border Control agents' union is NOT covered by this order, likely because the union endorsed Trump for President, nor are agency police officers, security guards, or firefighters.
Impact:
Unions have been leading the resistance efforts to this administration's illegal actions with regard to public servants and workers at large. This latest attack, right out of the Project 2025 playbook, is retaliation for their successes thus far in the federal courts, and is trying to take away federal public servants' legal rights to collectively bargain with their agencies.
Reinstated Department of Housing and Urban Development Workers Refused Back Pay and Still Lack Benefits
The Trump administration is denying back pay to the probationary Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) workers that have been reinstated, and reinstated workers still have yet to receive their current pay and benefits.
Impact:
The federal judge in Maryland that reinstated HUD workers did not directly address back pay. Even so, some other agencies that are reinstating workers have stated that they plan to provide back pay to previously fired workers. HUD is in the process of reinstating about 300 probationary workers who were fired on February 14. The fired workers were first notified of their reinstatements on March 17.
Trump Admin Files Lawsuit To End Union Contracts for Some Federal Workers
The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to invalidate existing employment contracts with some federal workers and federal agencies in another attempt to more easily fire workers.
Impact:
The lawsuit asks Trump-appointed District Judge Alan Albright to rescind some collective bargaining agreements in order to give Trump and the executive branch more control over federal agencies. Much of the federal workforce has been unionized for decades and approximately 32 percent of public sector workers are members of unions.
Trump Administration Cancels $500 Million in Grants Designed to Combat Child Labor, Trafficking, and Forced Labor
The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) was ordered to cease all grantmaking, being told that it no longer aligned with agency priorities or the national interest.
Impact:
ILAB makes these grants not just to protect workers abroad, but also to make sure that foreign based work doesn't have an unfair advantage over goods produced in the United States.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Plans to Shut or Downsize Several Agencies, Laying Off 10,000 People
The Administration is continuing its careless cutting of government jobs, hindering HHS from doing the work it needs to do to protect the public health.
Impact:
The planned closures include departments within the Centers for Disease Control, which could have widespread implications for public health as well as workplace health.
ICE Detains a Washington State Farmworker Union Leader
Alfredo Juarez Zeferino, a DACA applicant who had no criminal record, was taken into custody on March 25th.
Impact:
This is clearly an attempt to chill union organizing activities among immigrant workers.
Trump Nominates Andrea Lucas for Another Term on the EEOC
Since becoming Acting Chair of the EEOC, Lucas has led the agency in abandoning claims on behalf of transgender individuals, has issued statements and documents purporting to be guidance attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and is making demands of 20 large law firms, without any legal authority to do so, to turn over information about their DEI practices.
Impact:
Lucas, who voted with the Democrats on some matters in the past, has been completely catering to the Administration's attacks on civil rights and has shown no evidence of independence since Trump has taken office.
OFCCP Director to Weaponize Agency Against Civil Rights
The new Trump-appointed director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), Catherine Eschbach, told employees that the agency must “conduct an autopsy” of its actions and regulations. Eschbach wrote that the agency has until late April to verify that companies are no longer utilizing affirmative action plans, and will advise Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer on ways to use the agency’s investigative authority to intimidate corporations, nonprofits, foundations, associations, and universities that practice diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Impact:
Until Trump’s rescission of Executive Order 11246, OFCCP was dedicated to ensuring equal opportunity in workplaces at companies and other institutions that contract with the federal government. The Trump administration now seeks to both rescind most of the agency’s mission and weaponize the agency against entities that attempt to continue to protect civil rights and utilize best practices to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.