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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USDA to Force Thousands of D.C.-based Workers to Relocate or Quit
The Agriculture Department is planning to relocate more than half of its Washington, D.C.–based workforce to five new regional hubs and consolidate regional offices across the country.
Impact:
The reorganization of USDA offices is part of the Trump administration’s larger goal to reduce USDA’s workforce. Workers from one of the two main buildings in D.C., as well as from several regional D.C. area offices in Maryland and Virginia, will be forced to relocate to new regional hubs at lower locality pay or leave the agency.
DOL Announces “Self-Audit” Programs in Many of its Enforcement Agencies
DOL will allow employers to "self-audit" and "self-report" violations of the law with respect to employee benefits, health and safety, wage and hour laws, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Impact:
These amnesty programs offer employers the opportunity to report their own violations of the law which DOL will settle with no penalties and no further enforcement action, providing no incentive for following the law in the first place. A program similar to this in the first Trump administration did not have many employers eager to participate.
OMB Instructs Agencies to Abide by Biden-Era Rule Requiring Project Labor Agreements on Large Federally Funded Projects
A rare pro-worker move from this administration, this instruction will continue to help make jobs created with federal dollars good jobs.
Impact:
Employers on large scale federal contracts will have to enter into pre-contract committments to enter into CBAs with labor unions.
National Association of Building and Trades Unions Releases a “Tracker” of All Federal Building Projects Being Cancelled or Held-Up by the Trump Administration
These projects are fully authorized and funded by Congress and could be putting thousands of workers in good jobs.
Impact:
As projects languish, along with the good jobs they provide, many communities also suffer from the lack of infrastructure.
Office of Personnel Management On Track to Eliminate 1,000 Jobs by End of 2025
This represents a reduction in force of more than one-third of OPM's workforce.
Impact: OPM is the federal government'ss human resources department.
Work Visas Revoked for 200 Workers at Iowa Meatpacking Plant
The Trump administration has revoked the visas of hundreds of workers from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela at an Iowa meatpacking plant who no longer have Temporary Protected Status work authorization.
Impact:
The 200 impacted workers were given notice by their employer JBS—the largest meat processor in the world—that they are no longer employed and must leave the country immediately. The Trump administration has resumed immigration raids on agricultural facilities, including meatpacking facilities. Approximately 42 percent of workers at meatpacking plants are immigrants.
Nearly 300,000 Black Women Have Left the Workforce in the Last Three Months
Largely because of federal policy choices— including the hollowing out of federal sector jobs and the attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs—nearly 300,000 Black women have disappeared from the workforce over the past three months.
Impact: The unemployment rate for Black women is nearly 10 percent—more than twice the rate for all workers.
Trump Signs Executive Order Creating ‘Schedule G’ Political Appointments
This new schedule, which is largely duplicative of the already existing Schedule C, will create more political appointee slots at federal agencies, making their work more partisan.
Impact: Alhough policy priorities change at federal agencies from administration to administration, the core work of agencies is supposed to remain constant regardless of political leadership. By creating more slots for political appointees at agencies, this could make the core work more political and endanger the protective and service delivery functions of government agencies.
Trump Admin Ends Labor Violation Enforcement Program for Undocumented Workers
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) sunsets the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (DALE) program, designed to encourage undocumented workers to come forward with labor violations.
Impact:
Under the Biden-era DALE program, undocumented workers involved in a state or federal labor investigation could apply to USCIS for four years of deferred action from deportation and temporary work authorization. The end of DALE could impede federal and state labor law enforcement efforts.
OPM Issues Memo Instructing Agencies to Allow Telework to Accomodate Religious Observation
Agencies are instructed to "adopt a generous approach" to granting telework to accommodate religious observation. They have not been so instructed to accommodate disabled workers with the same generous approach.
Impact:
All workers in need of legally required accommodations should be given the same generous approach to telework.