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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Under Trump, National Labor Relations Board Rescinds Policy Guidance on Key Labor Enforcement Mechanisms
Trump-appointed leadership at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rescinded many of the policy memos issued by former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. This includes several memos focused on how the Board can use creative remedies to compensate workers harmed by illegal employer practices (GC 21-06, GC 21-07, GC 22-06, GC 24-04), memos focused on the ability of the Board to order employers to halt ongoing illegal practices and allow organizing activity to continue (GC 21-05, GC 22-02, GC 23-01, GC 24-05), and ensure that any settlement between workers and employers is fair to the workers and the public (GC 25-02).
Impact:
General Counsel memos provide policy guidance to NLRB field staff, workers, and employers that indicates how the general counsel understands the law and plans to apply it. With the rescission of these memos by Acting General Counsel William Cowen, workers will face an environment where it is even harder for them to enforce their right to organize. NLRB field offices may use fewer creative remedies to compensate workers, making it less costly for employers to engage in illegal retaliation. The Board may no longer use injunctions to halt and prevent illegal union-busting in progress. And the agency will likely no longer stand in the way when employers force workers to accept unfair settlement agreements.
Under Trump, National Labor Relations Board Rescinds Policy Guidance on Exploitative “Non-Compete” and “Stay-or-Pay” Agreements Between Employees and Employers
Trump-appointed leadership at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rescinded many of the policy memos issued by former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. These rescinded memos sought to address unlawful and overbroad “non-compete” and “stay-or-pay” agreements between employers and employees where workers are either restricted in which jobs they can take or forced to pay their employer a monetary fee or payment in the event that they leave their job.
Impact:
Imposing so-called “non-compete” and “stay-or-pay” agreements on workers interferes with an employee’s right to take collective action to improve their working conditions because such agreements are coercive and can have a chilling effect on worker organizing and worker job mobility. Employers now have more ability to impose these exploitative restrictions and payment schemes on their workers.
Under Trump, National Labor Relations Board Rescinds Policy Guidance That Student Athletes Have Rights to Collectively Bargain and Join a Union
Trump-appointed leadership at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rescinded many of the policy memos issued by former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. This rescinded memo (GC 21-08) states that student athletes were statutory employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and therefore subject to the rights and protections under federal labor law, including the right to engage in union activities.
Impact:
General Counsel memos provide policy guidance to NLRB field staff, workers, and employers that indicates how the general counsel understands the law and plans to apply it. With the rescission of this memo by Acting General Counsel William Cowen, student athletes will no longer be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act. This means that student athletes will no longer be recognized by the NLRB and academic institutions as having rights and protections to collectively bargain to improve the terms and conditions of their work as student athletes.
Trump Administration to Fire 200,000 Federal Workers Still On Probation
The Trump administration orders the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to begin firing federal workers still in the multi-year probationary period, risking severe disruption of critical work across government agencies.
Impact:
Around 200,000 federal workers could be targeted for firing. This is a reversal of an earlier OPM directive that initially ordered agencies to begin firing federal workers on probation for “poor performance.” The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, has pledged to fight back against this latest assault on federal workers.
U.S. Department of Justice Will No Longer Defend Independence of Federal Agencies, Including EEOC and NLRB
In an unprecedented attack on the rule of law, Trump fired members and commissioners of several independent federal agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board as well as agencies that protect civil servants and other federal employees. Trump-appointed leadership at the U.S. Department of Justice changed the department's historic position and now asserts that the rules protecting those officials from being fired for political reasons are unconstitutional.
Impact:
These agencies were designed by Congress to be independent and bipartisan and their officials are not part of the president’s cabinet. Their independence is a core part of their mission to protect working people - just as the independence of the U.S. Department of Justice is a core part of its mission.
Trump Seeks to Turn a Wide Range of Non-Partisan, Civil Service Federal Jobs into Partisan Appointments
The Trump administration has submitted draft regulations to eliminate civil service protections for a wide range of non-partisan, civil service federal employees so that they can be fired and replaced by partisan appointees. Federal employees enjoy civil service protections so they can perform their work objectively, without fear of reprisal for not following a political agenda, and be honest brokers to the general public.
Impact:
The Trump administration is seeking to aggressively gut and control the federal government in unprecedented and apparently unlawful ways, including by gutting civil service jobs. Several lawsuits have been filed by labor unions and worker organizations challenging the Trump administration Executive Order seeking to reclassify federal workers under the so-called “schedule F” making it easier for them to be fired.
Trump Orders More DOGE Oversight and Drastic Reduction of Federal Workforce
The Trump administration’s latest executive order plans for massive layoffs of the federal workforce and authorizes DOGE oversight for hiring of vacant positions within federal agencies.
Impact:
This executive order is another attempt to gut the federal workforce by ordering agencies to prepare for "large scale" layoffs and requiring that agencies “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart.” This is all being contemplated without any regard for the civil service protections that these workers have--namely the right to keep their jobs absent just cause to fire them--and without regard for the important functions civil servants perform that protect the health, safety, economic security, and general well-being of the public.
Trump Fires the Chair of Federal Labor Relations Authority Chair In Apparent Violation of Federal Law
The Trump administration unlawfully fired Chair Tsui Grundmann from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), an independent agency that ensures federal workers can form unions, collectively bargain, and file complaints against adverse employment actions.
Impact:
Grundmann’s removal is the latest example of the Trump administration’s seemingly illegal efforts to neuter the agencies that protect the rights of federal workers, as he prepares to fire large percentages of them without justification. According to federal law, FLRA members can only be removed for specified reasons, and they must be given a hearing first. Grundmann’s term was supposed to end on July 1, 2025.
Trump Administration Fires Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board In Apparent Violation of Federal Law
The Trump administration unlawfully fired Chair Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), an independent, quasi-judicial agency established to protect the rights of federal workers.
Impact:
The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) hears appeals from federal workers who challenge their discharge or disciplinary actions against them. The MSPB is one of the few enforcement authorities to protect federal workers against unjust firings and unfiar discipline due to political partisanship. The MSPB now has only two members, one a Democrat and one a Republican. Although federal workers can still appeal their discharge or discipline to an administrative law judge, if they get a favorable opinion and the government appeals to the MSPB, the Board is likely to deadlock on any novel or politically charged issues, leaving federal employees without this important resource to protect their job security.
Trump Signs Executive Order to Abolish the Federal Executive Institute
Trump’s latest executive order eliminates the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the leading training and development center for federal workers in leadership.
Impact:
The Executive Order to close the FEI is another example of Trump’s attack on the federal civil service. FEI was first opened in 1968 by the Office of Personnel Management to help federal workers develop leadership skills and training. The closure of the FEI could impact over 100 workers in Charlottesville.