BlueCollarWriter Labor News Update

Labor News

On April 5, workers are joining with our allies and community members across the country to tell President Trump and Elon Musk: Hands Off Our Unions!aflcio.org/2025/4/3/event-alert-join-us-saying-hands-our-unions

Uncommon Grounds workers in Saratoga County seek to unionizeUncommon Grounds Workers United call for pay transparency, upgraded equipment and better health and safety standards.

As a strike looms, ISU's lab school workers await decision on their own union recognitionEducators in ISU’s K-12 lab schools are trying to get recognition for their first union, called the Lab School Education Association. They petitioned for that recognition last summer and recently won a favorable decision from an administrative law judge with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. A full board decision is expected soon.

After 4-year deal pushed CNA wages over $20 hourly, union threatens massive strike if state doesn’t do moreA union threatens massive strike lawmakers don't more to help nursing homes ensure their employees’ pay keeps up with inflation.

Workers at AT&T Southwest Continue to Mobilize During BargainingCWA members at AT&T Southwest continue to show support for their bargaining team with creative signs.

ZeniMax union votes to strike Members of the ZeniMax Workers United union have "overwhelmingly voted" to strike against its parent company, Microsoft.  Per a press release from the Communications Workers of America , over...

UNITED AIRLINES TEAMSTERS TO RALLY AT ORLANDO MAINTENANCE BASEAviation Technicians Demand Strong Contract, Jobs Stay in United States

Kaiser Permanente CLS/MLT Bargaining UpdateWhat happened during our first bargaining session? We Set Expectations and Cleaned up Some Language Yesterday we met with Kaiser Permanente for our first day of bargaining on our CLS/MLT […]

IUE-CWA Members Aim High for Upcoming GE Aerospace Contract BargainingThe more than two thousand workers covered by this contract are ready to fight.

Upcoming Events & Useful Links

Hands Off! Join the National Mobilization to Fight Back · Hands Off on MobilizeFind events, petitions, volunteer opportunities, fundraisers and more with Hands Off.

50501 — 50 protests, 50 states, 1 movementJoin the movement to uphold the Constitution and end executive overreach. 50 protests, 50 states, 1 day: #50501.

Appalshop: Appalachian Flood Support Resources

In February 2025, Eastern Kentucky experienced another catastrophic flood. We are updating this page, originally made for the 2022 floods, to share resources and means of support to aid the recovery process.

Below are clean-up resources and ways for folks to make financial donations that will continue to help those in need as we go through the long path to recovery.

MORE...

2025 UAW-Union Built Vehicle Guide - UAW | United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of AmericaThese vehicles are made in the United States or Canada by members of the UAW and Canada’s Unifor union, formerly the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). Because of the integration of vehicle production in both countries, all of the vehicles listed as made in Canada include significant UAW made content and support the jobs of UAW members.

Form a Union!

Organizing a union in your workplace is about getting more rights and more power. Thousands of working people—all across the country and in all kinds of jobs—organize unions every year because unions are the best way to secure the things you care about.

Government & Politics

Federal Unionists Say It’s Not Game Over, It’s Game OnA scrappy network of federal unionists is leading the response to the Trump administration’s attacks on their workplaces, including Trump’s March 27 order purporting to end union contracts covering most federal workers. Where the Federal Unionists Network has led, union leaders have followed. In a Zoom event that drew 65,000 viewers, FUN got official support from all the significant federal unions for their bottom-up organizing approach to the Trump onslaught.

Public Sector Unions Stand Against "Biggest Attack on the American Labor Movement in History"Unions in the United States are standing against the Trump administration's illegal attempts to strip over one million federal workers of collective bargaining rights and rip up union contracts.

Abundance That Works for Workers—and American Democracy ✦ OnLaborThis post was originally published on Fireside Stacks. Ezra Klein argues in his recent op-ed (and at greater length in his compelling new book with Derek Thompson) that a central problem facing Democrats is the crisis of scarcity. According to Klein, the places where Democrats govern are unaffordable because rules and political cultures constrain production […]

On “Liberation Day,” Trump Signed America Up for StagflationYesterday Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on all of America’s trading partners, with the explicit aim of “liberating” the US from unfair trade. Not only are these efforts confused, they will lock America in a cycle of stagnation and inflation.

Federal union’s lawsuit against ‘deferred resignation program’ resurfacesA federal judge previously blocked AFGE’s initial complaint, saying that the union first needed to go to the Federal Labor Relations Authority over the matter.

Trump says Musk will probably leave in 'a few months'WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that Elon Musk would likely leave his administration in “a few months,” the clearest sign that his most powerful and disruptive adviser

More Perfect Union on Instagram: "Insiders assert that Musk stepping down will likely correspond with the end of his 130-day period as a “special government employee,” which has exempted him from certain rules regarding ethics and conflict-of-interests."3,116 likes, 150 comments - perfectunion on April 3, 2025: "Insiders assert that Musk stepping down will likely correspond with the end of his 130-day period as a “special government employee,” which has exempted him from certain rules regarding ethics and conflict-of-interests.".

Fitzpatrick says Trump order cutting union contracts 'weakens' national securityA bipartisan bill aims to nullify an executive order from President Donald Trump ending bargaining rights for federal workers.

What's really behind Trump's war on federal unions?Federal worker unions are a stubborn obstacle to the Trump-Musk administration's illegal policies and abuses of power. So Trump is trying to eviscerate them.

Union demonstrators rally to demand release of detained UW Medicine technicianHundreds of demonstrators rallied outside of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on March 27 in an organized protest by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. The crowd, consisting of

From The Guardian: Trump claimed he was pro-worker. His new order shows how absurd that wasLast week, he moved to end collective bargaining rights for 1 million people. And would anyone who cared about workers hire this staffBy STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Trump and the Smithsonian“We’re in Ministry of Truth territory.”

With Paramount Deal in the Balance, Teamsters Meet With FCC Chair Over Job ProtectionsIn a gathering with Brendan Carr, Sean O'Brien and Lindsay Dougherty advocated for the Commission to consider labor in its calculus as it reviews the $8 billion deal.

In the States

Future of union organizing in Colorado remains fuzzy as legislative session enters home stretchSenate Bill 5 would abolish a requirement in the Colorado Labor Peace Act that 75% of workers at a company sign off before union security negotiations can begin. The bill is a priority for unions and loathed by business interests. Gov. Jared Polis is in the mix, too.

Baltimore mayor, union condemn mistaken deportation of Maryland father to El SalvadorThe government's mistaken deportation of a Maryland father to El Salvador has drawn new outrage from Baltimore's mayor and some members of the Maryland Congressional delegation for what they see as sloppy immigration enforcement.

Wisconsin Supreme Court to tackle abortion, unions and redistricting after a liberal's winSusan Crawford’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election victory over a conservative candidate...

A historic victoryCongratulations to Judge Susan Crawford on her victory.

Beshear sues to block new state law pushed by conservative Americans for ProsperityLaw would allegedly prevent implementation of other laws passed by the legislature.

NLRB News & Decisions

NLRB Petitions & Charges for Thursday, April 3, 2025Total Entries filed Wednesday, April 2, 2025: 45

Jobs, Business & Economy

Layoffs spiked by 205% last month to third-highest ever recorded, fueled by DOGE mass firingsJob cuts more than tripled to 275,240 last month, a surge caused by mass layoffs of government workers by Elon Musk's DOGE.

Federal Worker Layoffs Will Affect the Entire USDonald Trump has explicitly tied his campaign to slash federal jobs to draining “the swamp” of Washington, DC. But the impact of these cuts to the federal workforce will reach far beyond the DC area.

Whirlpool Corp. announces Iowa's largest layoff of 2025 in Amana manufacturing facilityA statement from Whirlpool said the layoffs are the result of reduced consumer demand for products made in Amana, primarily refrigeration units.

Layoff announcements surge to the most since the pandemic as Musk's DOGE slices federal labor forceThe surge in March was exceeded only by when the country shut down in 2020 for the Covid pandemic,

Challenger, Gray & Christmas: U.S. layoffs surge near 2020 highs amid DOGE cuts - UPI.comElon Musk's DOGE was behind a huge increase in U.S. March job cuts, according to a Thursday report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Employers announced 275,240 job cuts, a 60% increase from February.

Stellantis to temporarily lay off 900 US workers as tariffs biteStellantis NV said on Thursday it was temporarily laying off 900 workers at five U.S. facilities and pausing production at one assembly plant each in Mexico and Canada, after US President Donald Trump's tariffs were announced.

Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs trigger biggest one-day Wall Street fall since 2020 – as it happenedWorst day on New York stock market since Covid-19 crisis as US dollar falls to six month low after US President Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs fuel recession fears

Sweeping Trump tariffs shock global economy, drawing threats and calls for talksTariff hikes announced by U.S. President Donald Trump have provoked dismay, threats of countermeasures and calls for further negotiations to make trade rules fairer.

What Trump's sweeping tariffs mean for the US economy and you?The tariffs will be a 'huge, huge shock to the economy,' one expert said.

US economy 'dangerously vulnerable' to recession: Wall Street reacts to tariff falloutPresident Trump laid out his long-awaited tariff plans — and Wall Street economists are reacting with recession warnings.

The real reason Trump is destroying the economyTrump is imposing ruinous tariffs because American democracy is no longer strong enough to stop him.

US economy slowing heading into tariffs turbulenceThe U.S. services sector slowed to a nine-month low in March, backing expectations that economic growth likely stalled in the first quarter amid uncertainty caused by import tariffs.

Labor History in 2:00

April 3 - To the Mountaintop | Labor History in 2:00On this day in Labor History the year was 1968. That was the night that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his now famous “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. He was speaking in support of striking sanitation workers who were members of AFSCME Local 1733.

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