The Weekly Download

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by former chair of the NLRB, Lauren McFerran, to discuss the current dire state of the NLRB. Watch now to hear McFerran discuss the implications of Gwynne Wilcox’s firing, the efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle and disempower the board, and the significance of the board maintaining its independence from political influences. This discussion will also highlight the accomplishments that McFerran achieved during her tenure on the board and the positive impact they have had on worker power and the labor movement.”

“We learn by doing, by watching, by living. Right now, in the chaotic and disturbing first few months of a second Donald Trump presidency, working people are learning some hard, essential truths—about power, government, and other institutions, and about who really stands with them when it counts. These lessons are not theoretical or abstract. They are as real as a car with a tariff-bloated price tag, a denied Medicaid claim, or a layoff notice. Working people are experts in their own lived experiences. Working people pay close attention — not to political theater, but to the material facts of their lives. The bell has not yet rung, so class has not adjourned just yet. But the lessons working adults are learning now could shape the future of worker power in America for many years to come.”

“The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has issued a forceful statement opposing recently implemented tariffs between the United States and China, warning of severe consequences for maritime workers and the broader American economy. The current trade dispute has escalated dramatically in recent weeks, with the Trump Administration imposing a 145% tariff on Chinese imports, while China has retaliated with a 125% tariff on U.S. goods. The union reports that the impact is already being felt in the maritime sector, with Ocean Network Express announcing the cancellation of a shipping route as a direct response to these tariffs. The ILWU, which represents dockworkers and warehouse workers along the West Coast of the United States—including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, both major hubs for U.S. imports from China—as well as Hawaii, Alaska, and parts of Canada, argues that these tariffs pose a direct threat to hundreds of thousands of jobs connected to global trade.”

“President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the nation’s workplace safety agency is a former safety executive for companies that were repeatedly cited by the same agency for worker illnesses and deaths amid extreme heat, according to federal records reviewed by The Lever. If confirmed, David Keeling would be empowered to help his former employers’ multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign to kill state and federal heat protections — including a first-of-its-kind federal standard designed to protect workers from heat death amid rising global temperatures.”

“Federal labor unions find themselves in a fight for survival just 100 days into Donald Trump’s presidency. The new administration has attacked collective bargaining as it fires workers and shrinks or eliminates federal departments by fiat. It has tried to gut key agencies that enforce labor rights for federal workers. It has ignored union contracts negotiated by Trump’s predecessor. And it has moved to shut off paycheck dues deduction in order to starve unions of their funding. In its most brazen move, the White House has tried to strip union protections from up to 1 million federal employees, on the dubious grounds that they work primarily in “national security.” If the administration succeeds, collective bargaining agreements could be thrown out at more than a dozen agencies and departments, making it much easier to fire people without due process.”

“A coalition of more than two dozen labor unions, cities and nonprofits sued President Donald Trump's administration, claiming that its broad federal workforce cuts were an illegal power grab. The complaint filed on Monday in San Francisco federal court said the ‘large-scale reductions in force’ that Trump ordered federal agency chiefs to implement on February 11 lacked Congressional approval, and violated the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers.”

“AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler provided the labor movement’s view on the first 100 days of the Trump administration today at The 100 Days Conference. In her keynote address, Shuler highlighted the way working people across the country are standing up for each other and fighting back against the administration’s attacks on unions, federal and immigrant workers, and essential government services. She highlighted the events organized by the AFL-CIO’s Department of People Who Work for a Living that have brought out workers and community members who are telling the stories about how DOGE’s cuts are impacting their and their families’ lives. Shuler also lifted up the labor movement’s fight against the Trump administration’s actions in court, including its executive order that represented the most significant attack on unions in history.”

“The North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill Tuesday morning imposing civil penalties on workers and protesters who conduct ‘mass pickets’ that are deemed obstructive or violent by a court of law. The proposal, Senate Bill 484, would allow employers to obtain an injunction and temporary restraining order against anyone who protests at their place of business to the extent of “hindering or preventing” work, using threats or force, or blocking workplace entrances, exits, or public roads and streets. It amends an existing law that centers on protecting employees from harassment, stalking, and violence. Among the forms of relief available to judges in the bill are no-contact orders and prohibitions on visiting the workplace, punishable as contempt of court, which would open violators to fines and jail time.”

“Labor groups have met the requirements to put a measure on the 2026 ballot to repeal a law banning police, firefighters and teachers unions from representing their members in contract negotiations. As of Monday morning, the referendum backers had reached their target in the required 15 senate districts, in addition to the 146,480 verified signatures statewide, according to the lieutenant governor’s office. To qualify for the ballot, the Protect Utah Workers coalition, made up of 19 different labor groups, had to gather 140,748 signatures from voters — a number that represents 8% of the registered voters in the state — as well as meet the same 8% mark in more than half of the state’s 29 senate districts.”

“Democrats have warned that cuts to the US’s top labor watchdog threaten to render the organization ‘basically ineffectual’ and will be ‘catastrophic’ for workers’ rights. The so-called ‘department of government efficiency’ (Doge) has targeted the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for cuts and ended its leases in several states. Representatives Bobby Scott, Mark DeSaulnier and Greg Casar have written to NLRB’s chair, Marvin Kaplan, and the acting general counsel, William Cowen, requesting answers on the cuts. The letter noted the NLRB has already been suffering from drastic understaffing and budget constraints, while caseloads have increased. NLRB field staffing has declined by one-third in the last decade, while case intake per employee at the agency grew by 46%.”

“Trump campaigned on fighting for the working class, and exit polls found that he won 56% of the blue-collar vote, defined as voters without a college degree, while making gains among working-class Black and Latino voters. Shortly after the election, Trump nominated Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a pro-union Republican, for labor secretary. On Inauguration Day, Trump promised his administration would ‘protect American workers.’ Yet 100 days into Trump’s second term, many workers, including the more than 30,000 federal prison employees, are feeling more vulnerable than ever — if they’re lucky enough to still have a job. The administration has fired tens of thousands of federal workers, stripped a million more of collective bargaining rights, axed higher minimum wage requirements and gutted programs and agencies that enforce labor and safety standards and protect workers’ rights to organize.”

“The White House is privately urging the federal labor board to reduce staff, despite pushback by Trump-appointed officials warning that further cuts would imperil the agency’s functions. Reviewers from the Office of Management and Budget recently deemed the US National Labor Relations Board’s rationale for avoiding layoffs inadequate. ‘Without more, the agency cannot fully exempt itself from further staff reductions,’ OMB staff said in a response to the NLRB. The memo urged the labor board to ‘think creatively’ about how to use a set of tactics, including layoffs, to reduce headcount.”

“Duncan Crabtree-Ireland hasn’t had much time for victory laps. The National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA played a key role in settling the 2023 actors strike, after months of intensive bargaining, picketing and rallying of the troops. One of the key provisions of the landmark agreement pertains to a thorny issue for union members that continues to keep Crabtree-Ireland on the move: AI.”

“President Trump was dealt a setback in his plans for American public education, as three federal judges issued separate rulings on Thursday pausing his ability to withhold funds from schools with diversity and equity initiatives. The rulings block the administration, at least for now, from carrying out efforts to cut off billions of dollars that pay for teachers, counselors and academic programs in schools that serve low-income children. Two of the judges who issued the decisions were appointed by Mr. Trump. A third was appointed by President Barack Obama. The cases were brought by teachers’ unions and the N.A.A.C.P., among others.”

“The first 100 days of Trump’s second term have been chaotic. Trump along with Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have engaged in a near-daily onslaught of actions to dismantle the federal government and eliminate services and benefits that working families rely upon. Some of Trump’s actions were rolled back days after being announced and others are tied up in legal challenges, making it difficult to determine the full impact of Trump’s policies at this time. But even amid the chaos, these policies still caused pain to working people and the economy: He reduced workers’ wages, made workplaces less safe, threatened workers’ retirement savings by destabilizing the global economy, and gutted government offices that administer fundamental programs covering millions of people in the United States like Social Security and Medicare. In this report, we identify 100 ways Trump hurt working people and our economy in the first 100 days of his administration. While not exhaustive—actions have been taken nearly every day that impact working people—this list represents most of the actions we have documented in EPI’s Federal Policy Watch, which tracks how the Trump administration, Congress, and the courts are affecting workers’ quality of life.”

“President Donald Trump and his defenders claim that his recent tariffs will usher in ‘a new Golden Age of American industrialization and prosperity.’ As the president put it, ‘tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs. They’re about protecting the soul of our country.’ But there are two major flaws in this vision of a prosperous, re-industrialized America. First, US factory jobs only became synonymous with middle-class prosperity because of mass unionization. Being pro-factory is not the same thing as being pro-worker. And, second, even if these tariffs do ultimately help encourage domestic manufacturing — and that’s a very big if — structural factors like automation put a hard cap on the number of total manufacturing jobs that could return. Strengthening US manufacturing is a worthwhile goal, but factory jobs for all is a mirage. To recreate American prosperity, we need unions for all.”

“Penn research associates and postdoctoral researchers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to form a union on April 24. Of the 1,500 postdoctoral researchers at Penn, 1,000 signed authorization cards in support of forming Research Associates and Postdocs United, according to the group. The research associates and postdocs are part of a national wave of academic researchers pushing to unionize, as well as a broader increase in union organizing taking place at Penn. RAPUP will represent Penn’s postdoctoral researchers and research associates in bargaining with the university if a majority vote in favor of unionization. Organizers say they aim to negotiate improvements in wages, benefits, job security, and institutional support — especially for international scholars. The petition comes shortly after 1,600 postdoc researchers at Johns Hopkins University filed for union recognition. Both efforts are affiliated with the United Auto Workers, which represents more than 120,000 higher education workers nationwide.”

“To address unjust policies and conditions, more than 70 incarcerated workers inside Centinela State Prison collectively decided last fall to ‘slow down’ production for the California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA). According to workers who spoke to Prism, the organizing effort was successful—and there may soon be another slowdown. CALPIA, also called the PIA, employs between 5,800 and 7,000 incarcerated individuals inside facilities controlled by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The PIA earns substantial revenue by selling goods produced through prison labor, including office furniture, clothing, gloves, license plates, and cell equipment. Customers include universities and government agencies, such as the California Department of State Hospitals and the California National Guard, among others. Although California voters decided not to allow incarcerated people the ability to withhold their labor, around the same time, workers inside Centinela decided to take matters into their own hands. According to workers who spoke to Prism, meager pay was just one of the issues that led them to organize.” 

“In the three months since a Whole Foods in Philadelphia became the first unionized store in the Amazon-owned chain, at least eight employees have been fired. Some workers and their union believe they were targeted because of their support for the union. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, which represents the employees at 2101 Pennsylvania Ave., is fighting the terminations. As of Wednesday, the union filed unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board for five of the eight firings as it collects more details. Whole Foods has said some workers were fired for violation of policy, according to Local 1776 president Wendell Young IV, but they were only sampling products as they had been trained and instructed to do. Those affected, he said, had showed support for the union, wearing union buttons openly.”

“‘They just look at you like you’re nothing,’ said a housekeeper from the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Buffalo, New York. Sitting with me for a conversation in her East Side apartment, the housekeeper, who requested not to be named due to fear of retaliation, spoke of slashed hours and stagnant pay, arduous and unfair workloads, and racist treatment and verbal abuse from managers so severe that it has sent her running to the bathroom in tears. But when she spoke about the belittling gaze of her employers — the feeling that immigrant workers like herself are seen as ‘nothing’ by the hotel’s management – her words seemed to capture the deep nature of her grievances. ‘They’re mistreating the workers, especially the immigrants,’ she told me. ‘They should respect the workers that are making the hotel look clean.’”

“Graduate students at the University of Rochester are on strike. The much-anticipated move follows months of negotiations with the university on a private election agreement that would allow the Graduate Labor Union to organize. GLU aims to increase wages and representation for UR’s graduate students, and would be represented by SEIU Local 200United should the students’ efforts be successful. The desire to organize has increased significantly after an April announcement that said 11 international student visas were revoked.”

“The University of Oregon’s student workers union went on strike Monday, while seeking a better offer on a new contract. More than a hundred picketers circled the main street on UO’s Eugene campus Monday morning. Others lay on the lawn across from Johnson Hall, the school's administrative building. Throughout campus, there were warnings posted about potential staffing shortages, and several cafes were closed. At least some of the residence hall dining facilities remained open. The move to strike came after multiple last-minute bargaining sessions between UO Student Workers and the university failed to reach a deal last week.”

“A two-day strike was called by the Service Employees International Union, Local 721. Union leaders said in response to failed negotiations with the county over a new three-and-a-half-year contract. The SEIU represents more than 55,000 county employees, including health care professionals, social workers, custodians, clerical workers and many more across the county of 10 million residents. The union accused the county of 44 labor law violations during contract negotiations and refusing to bargain in good faith.”

“Organizers expect tens of thousands of Americans to turn out on Thursday for rallies aimed at resisting U.S. President Donald Trump and ‘his billionaire profiteers’ as part of a May Day national day of action, on the heels of mass mobilizations for nationwide ‘Hands Off!’ protests just weeks ago…May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, comes as the American people increasingly see and feel the effects of the Trump administration's various policies—from his crackdown on immigration, to targeting of foreign born students who exercise pro-Palestine speech, to the administration's dismissal of tens of thousands of federal employees, to sweeping tariffs. On Thursday, one of more than 1,100 May Day rallies will be held at Philadelphia City Hall, where Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will join the city's AFL-CIO chapter under the banner, ‘For the Workers, Not the Billionaires.’”

“More than 50 protesters supporting Harvard’s unions called on the University to protect non-citizen workers and draw on its endowment to ride out funding cuts at a Sunday rally in the Science Center Plaza. Labor organizers at the rally urged the University to ensure that non-citizen and time-capped workers would not face layoffs amid Trump administration’s threats to federal funding and international workers. The rally comes a week after the University moved to sue the Trump administration for freezing $2.2 in federal funding to Harvard. The University had moved to preemptively freeze hiring, and after the freeze, announced layoffs at the School of Public Health. Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers steward Evan R. Lemire presented a list of demands at the rally compiled by the union’s International Students Working Group that requested Harvard refrain from terminating students’ enrollment or worker status if their visa status changes and issue immediate notifications to students, faculty, and staff if federal officials request to access records or campus buildings.”

“A 13-day strike between union workers and Caesars Southern Indiana has come to an end. Members of Teamsters Local 89 and Operating Engineers Local 399 approved a new five-year contract by an ‘overwhelming majority.’ The Teamsters are calling the contract ‘historic’ and said it will serve as a ‘new foundation for members going forward.’ Some of contract highlights include company participation in the Teamsters National 401(k) plan, a $1,500 ratification bonus, $5 in annual increases over the life of the contract, the right to carry raises between departments when transferring, and continued union healthcare with the option to utilize a higher tier plan.”

“In 1970, US postal workers won collective bargaining rights with an illegal strike. If lawsuits to stop Trump’s attacks on the federal workforce fail, that kind of militancy may be the only way for federal workers to retain their own union rights.”

“The Chicago Teachers Union’s new four-year labor contract has been officially approved, following a favorable vote Thursday night by the city’s partially elected Board of Education. The 21-member board voted to approve the deal during its monthly meeting at Chicago Public Schools’ Loop office Thursday — the last step necessary to finalize the contract.”

“SAG-AFTRA’s National Board overwhelmingly approved 2025’s Commercials Contracts tentative agreements reached with the Joint Policy Committee April 12, meaning the agreements will now move on to the membership for ratification. The decision, made at the regularly scheduled, two-day, in-person assembly, yielded a deal valued at an increase of $218.4 million in new earnings and benefit plan contributions over three years. If ratified, the agreements would provide compounded increases in performer compensation at a rate of 5% in year one, 4% in year two and 3% in year three.”

“In early February, when temperatures in Denver plunged to seven degrees below zero and snow dusted the sidewalks, Martin Bonilla, bundled in two jackets and a neck warmer, walked a picket line 1,000 miles from his home of Fillmore, Calif. Bonilla works in the produce department at Vons and had flown to Colorado in the early morning after finishing an 11-and-a-half-hour shift. Over the next eight days, Bonilla picketed five of the 77 striking Kroger-owned King Soopers stores in Colorado, in support of 10,000 members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, putting in 16-hour shifts each day before going back to his hotel, exhausted. On the lines, he wore new boots he had bought the night before his flight and shoved hand warmers into his gloves to protect from a cold that was so piercing he went hours without texting or calling his wife, not wanting to remove his hand from his glove.”

“The term 'worker voice' has been used by practitioners, policymakers, and scholars to cover a broad range of institutions and mechanisms, from suggestion boxes and corporate social responsibility programs to trade unions and enforceable brand agreements. To analyze worker voice institutions and mechanisms, the report establishes a three-step process. The first step involves analyzing the context, including the regulatory regime, patterns of worker rights violations, union dynamics, and structures of exclusion in society. The second step entails analyzing the mechanisms or organizational structures, forms of participation and governance, and remedy mechanisms. The third step is to study outcomes for workers and society as a result of these mechanisms. Using the six-component framework and the three-step analytical process, the report finds that democratic trade unions and collective bargaining are the most effective mechanism for supporting worker voice.”

“SAG-AFTRA has taken a big step forward that will make it more inclusive of digital content creators. During a recent meeting, the union’s board unanimously approved a recommendation to establish a committee for digital influencers and their ilk. The new committee will consist of individuals who are ‘actively engaged in digital creator work,’ who will be available to make use of professional support that addresses their “unique needs.” With the move, SAG-AFTRA is looking to move into the digital space “beyond branded content,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.”