Trump guts agencies key to keeping worksites safe

May 23, 2025 by

Don Mullin (L), executive secretary of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council, draped a black sash over the cross bearing the name of Daniel Lee, who died on the jobsite in November when a structural column fell on him. Ironworkers Local 512 President Troy Sebion held Lee’s cross during the Workers Memorial Day ceremony on the Capitol grounds. Sebion called Lee his best friend and said Lee nominated him to serve as the union’s president. “He was the best,” Sebion said. “Good worker, good father, horrible golfer. I miss him.”

Local unions’ Workers Memorial Day observances took on heightened urgency this year, as the Trump administration sought to hollow out federal agencies critical to protecting workers from injury, illness and death on the job.

Workers Memorial Day falls on April 28, the date President Richard Nixon signed the Occupa-tional Safety and Health Act into law in 1971. Unions across the U.S. hold events to honor workers who died on the job and rededicate their organizations to fighting for safer workplaces.

But 54 years since the landmark, bipartisan law took effect, Trump and his billionaire backers are moving to dramatically – and recklessly, unions say – to scale back the federal government’s investment in workplace safety.

Most alarming to worker advocates is a two-thirds reduction in staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the Health and Human Services Department that is dedicated to research that protects workers.

The agency’s recommendations are relied on by workers and employers throughout the world. Its work has informed life-saving regulations around asbestos, bloodborne pathogens, silica and black lung, and it tests and authorizes safety equipment relied on by American workers across most industries.

A coalition of unions has filed a lawsuit to restore staffing at NIOSH.

Meanwhile, workers in the Department of Labor, according to a report in The Guardian, have warned of widespread resignations that could cripple the federal government’s ability to investigate and enforce wage-and-hour and OSHA regulations.

Twin Cities Building Trades unions held a Workers Memorial Day ceremony at the Capitol on April 28.

If Trump succeeds in steering the federal government away from its responsibility to protect worker safety, labor leaders warn, it will put overwhelming pressure on unions and state and local agencies to pick up the slack.

“The realities of our present day are disturbing,” Dan McConnell, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, said during a Workers Memorial Day ceremony in St. Paul. “We must remember, while political leaders come and go, our movement endures, and our job remains unchanged.”

Held at the Minnesota Workers Memorial Garden on the Capitol grounds, the ceremony wove together solemn remarks from union leaders and state regulators about their commitment to safety on the job with a sobering reminder of what’s at stake in that work.

Dean Gale, business manager of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, offered an opening prayer from a podium placed before a row of five white crosses, each bearing the name of a union tradesperson who died in jobsite accidents or from work-related illnesses in the past year.

“Help us honor the legacy the fallen have built and left behind,” Gale said. “You can see it in the skyline.”

The names affixed to the crosses included James Baker III of Bricklayers Local 1, David Buck of Operating Engineers Local 49, Gregory E. Jeanette of IBEW Local 242, Daniel L. Lee of Ironworkers 512 and Zachary McDonald of Bricklayers Local 1.

McConnell said unions would never accept the loss of any worker to jobsite hazards “as merely the price of doing business.”

“We gather today, on Workers Memorial Day, to remember our fallen brothers, to re-center ourselves, to recognize that our work advocating for the safety of our members will never be done and to remind one another, even though we belong to different trades, the safety of our members depends on every member of every trade performing their job safely,” he said.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

Filed Under: Community, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Local lawmakers, unions scramble to support federal workers harmed by Trump cuts

April 25, 2025 by

Members of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) held informational picketing in support of about 170 employees at the Department of Health who have been laid off as a result of federal funding cuts.

Unions, local lawmakers and community volunteers are acting to support Minnesotans ensnared by the Trump administration’s reckless attempt to gut the federal workforce.

“If the Trump administration turned you away, Minnesota wants you,” Gov. Tim Walz said, announcing a new one-stop website with referrals to state employment openings, resources for veterans and tips for accessing state unemployment insurance benefits.

DFL legislators, meanwhile, have introduced bills that would bolster the safety net for workers navigating the federal chaos.

One measure would guarantee unemployment benefits for workers who accepted the so-called “fork-in-the-road offer” from Trump megadonor Elon Musk, head of the administration’s “DOGE” team.

Jacob Romans, president of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3699, which represents 2,300 VA hospital workers, praised the proposal. He called it “legitimate” to question whether DOGE and the Trump administration would honor terms of the buyout through Sept. 30, as originally promised.

Another bill would establish a relocation bonus program for veterans who have been fired by the Trump administration, incentivizing public employees to continue their public service in Minnesota. Veterans make up roughly 30% of the federal government’s workforce.

Some House DFLers are also pushing a measure to tack on a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits for government workers whose federal benefits expire.

“We want to make sure that these dedicated public servants stay here in Minnesota and are not forced to leave their communities and find work elsewhere,” Rep. Pete Johnson of Duluth said. “But the goal is clear – make the job unbearable for workers so that they leave.”

“What we are trying to do is absorb some of the shock and the impact of the Trump-Musk actions, and protect Minnesota’s economy,” Rep. Greenman of Minneapolis said. “Right now our job is to protect Minnesota with the power that we have.”

Unions, too, have stepped up their advocacy on behalf of federal workers. As their attorneys continue fighting Trump’s war on the federal workforce in court, unions announced a new partnership that aims to connect individuals impacted by the cuts with free legal support.

The Rise Up Federal Workers Legal Defense Network, backed by the AFL-CIO and several federal government unions, put out the call for attorneys to volunteer their services to advocate for workers who have seen their rights violated – and careers upended – by the Trump administration’s recklessness.

“Attacks on federal workers are attacks on all workers and on the essential services that our communities rely on daily,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. “Getting these workers the justice they deserve in the face of this onslaught will take all of us.”

Anna Chu, executive director of We The Action, an organization that connects volunteer attorneys with community initiatives, said lawyers are “uniquely positioned” to assist federal employees in this moment.

“This is a moment for lawyers to support the federal workers who serve us all,” Chu added.

Tens of thousands of federal workers have been laid off, put on administrative leave or left their jobs since Trump took office. Over 18,000 federal employees reside in Minnesota.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Community, Organizing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Union members sound off on impacts of DOGE cuts to federal workforce

April 10, 2025 by

USDA worker Skye Carpenter sounds the alarm on the Trump administration’s reckless layoffs and what they will mean for Minnesota farmers, the nation’s agricultural industry and the integrity of its food supply.

While members of Congress went on recess the week of March 17, Minnesota’s labor movement went to work.

Union members showed up at Republican congressional offices across the state to support federal workers and services in the crosshairs of unelected billionaire and Trump megadonor Elon Musk’s “DOGE” team.

The message to lawmakers, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham said, is that federal workers are real people, not lines on a balance sheet.

The statewide labor federation worked with the American Federation of Government Employees to coordinate actions at offices of all four Republican members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation during the recess week.

[More town hall meetings with lawmakers are scheduled for the upcoming congressional recess. Click here to RSVP.]

Republicans so far have shown little interest in oversight of Musk, and they showed little interest, too, in hearing from federal workers impacted by the chaos that DOGE has sewn across federal agencies. While some union members at the actions were able to meet with lawmakers’ staff, Burnham said, others were “shown the door.”

During the same week, AFGE members aired their concerns at a Capitol press conference in St. Paul, warning that the damage DOGE has done in the first two months of Trump’s second term could take years to fix.

Skye Carpenter, an employee in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and member of AFGE Local 3748, struggled to suppress her anger as she described the work done by employees laid off from her office, Agricultural Research Services.

Those fired include leaders, scientists and support staff who work “hand in hand with farmers,” she said, to implement scientific research into agricultural practices. She called the cuts “an attack on every farmer, every consumer and every community that depends on research we conduct.”

“The farmers who rely on our cutting-edge research to combat drought, disease and pests are left without answers,” Carpenter said. “The scientists working to protect against livestock illnesses that could devastate our agricultural economy are silenced. The taxpayers funding this research are robbed of the progress and innovation they were promised.”

Jacob Romans, a registered nurse at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis and president of AFGE Local 3669, said DOGE layoffs at Veterans Affairs have nothing to do with efficiency.

“Let me be very clear,” Romans said. “DOGE is run by very unserious people making very serious decisions.”

Earlier in the month, a leaked memo showed the Trump administration planned to slash the VA’s staffing to 2019 levels. That would mean cutting nearly 80,000 jobs, or 20% of the department’s staff. Romans estimated the local VA would lose 1,300 workers.

“We were already short staffed before 2019,” he said. “This would devastate our workforce… I have nurses right now who are working 16-hour days. We’re being mandated to because we don’t have the staff.

“It is imperative that Congress exercise their ability to halt these layoffs and prevent the dismantling of the VA care system.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , , ,

Postal workers sound the alarm as DOGE gains access to USPS

March 21, 2025 by

APWU member Julia Maye-Leggett cheers during a rally outside the post office where she works as a clerk.

Postal Service employees aren’t sitting back and waiting to see how their agency’s new partnership with Elon Musk’s “DOGE” team plays out.

With rallies in Minnesota and across the U.S. this week, workers are saying “hell no” to any attempt at dismantling the public post office.

On Thursday, the Postal Workers union (APWU) staged a rally outside the downtown Minneapolis post office on a nationwide “U.S. Mail is Not for Sale” day of action, with events in over 100 cities.

On Sunday, March 23, local chapters of the Letter Carriers union (NALC) will hold a “Rally to Save USPS” at 11 a.m. on the Capitol steps in St. Paul.

Postal unions have been warning about the threat of privatization for years, but their sense of urgency ratcheted up in February, when President Donald Trump floated the idea of dissolving the independent agency’s leadership and putting it under the Commerce Department’s control – a move widely considered illegal.

Last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy delivered more concerning news for unions, announcing an agreement with DOGE to assist with “identifying and achieving certain efficiencies.”

Service cuts, massive layoffs and lawsuits over privacy concerns and executive overreach have followed DOGE’s infiltration of other federal agencies. Minnesotans at the rally in Minneapolis yesterday said they are worried the same will play out at the Postal Service.

“I’m very concerned that they are trying to rip the post office apart slowly but surely,” Julia Maye-Leggett, a lead sales and service clerk at the downtown post office, said. “But the mail is not for sale. It is for the people, and the people’s voice needs to be heard.”

“We have to start small and work big,” retiree Jean Brown (middle) said of pushing back against DOGE overreach.

Jean Brown, whose husband is a retired APWU member, joined the rally to raise her voice in support of workers like Maye-Leggett.

“It feels really good to be out here, especially because all the people working here have their jobs being threatened,” she said. “It means they’re getting the message that we support every one of them and want them to have a living-wage job with job security.”

The noon rally drew over 150 postal workers and retirees, members of other unions and activists eager to protest Trump’s agenda.

Several signs and chants took aim at Musk, Trump’s billionaire campaign donor who has amassed his private fortune, in part, on public-sector contracts and federal aid worth an estimated $38 billion over 20 years, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

Earlier this month, speaking remotely to an investors’ conference, Musk floated “privatizing” the USPS, even though the executive branch has no legal authority to dismantle the agency on its own, unions say. Its oversight spreads across the Office of Inspector General, the Postal Regulatory Commission, the Board of Governors and congressional committees.

Devin Brown, a member of APWU Local 647, traveled to the rally from St. Cloud.

But Kendall Smith, who joined the rally in Minneapolis, said he worries Musk and Trump will test the legal limits of their power over the USPS, “just like they are at all the other federal agencies that have had the people laid off by DOGE, even though they don’t have the authority.”

An Army veteran, Smith carried a handwritten sign that read, “73,000 Veterans Work at the Postal Service.” Military veterans who apply for postal employment automatically receive extra points in the hiring process, a practice known as “veterans’ preference.”

“I know a lot of people who finished up their service to our country, going from the military to the Postal Service,” Smith said.

Marlys Fox, who retired seven years ago after a 32-year career as a letter carrier in Columbia Heights, saw the importance of veteran’s preference firsthand.

“I watched the Vietnam veterans come in when I started as a letter carrier, at the same time as the Korean War veterans were retiring,” Fox said. “Then I watched the Gulf War veterans come in and so on. Each time they helped us fill the gaps.”

That tradition of service, Fox and Smith agreed, stands in contrast to what Musk and DOGE are doing to the federal government.

“We took pride in our work, and we worked our butts off,” Fox said. “Musk and DOGE are looting our country.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Kera Peterson: Workers over billionaires, always

March 12, 2025 by

St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson is pictured speaking at the 2022 MN AFL-CIO Convention.

President Trump took his oath of office less than two months ago, and already it’s clear that Project 2025 is, indeed, the blueprint for his second administration. Trump repeatedly denied any ties to the document, which polled poorly among likely voters, on the campaign trail. But even before taking office, he appointed Project 2025 co-author Russ Vought – who has said he wanted federal employees to be “put in trauma” and be “viewed as the villains” – to serve as his budget director. And since Inauguration Day, Trump has signed executive orders straight from the pages of Project 2025, while granting an unaccountable billionaire, Elon Musk, unfettered access to federal agencies and our private data.

Make no mistake: this is all part of the Project 2025 strategy. Trump, Musk and the other MAGA extremists serving in this administration want to exhaust and overwhelm working people from all angles, as quickly as possible, so that we can’t fight back. They want to divide us, distract us and drag us backward. It’s why they are so intent on banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives – not just in federal agencies, but also in grants and loans issued by the federal government. It’s why Trump rescinded a 60-year-old executive order requiring equal opportunities in federal contracting. And it’s why they are increasingly threatening local schools and cities – including a direct shot at the City of Saint Paul – for not doing the work of federal immigration agents.

Our labor movement is no stranger to these tactics. Musk and Trump want us scared. They want us to forget the federal workers arbitrarily fired by DOGE and to abandon the students and teachers fearful of ICE raids in their schools. They assure us that the veterans who rely on the VA for care, the workers who look to the National Labor Relations Board for justice and the seniors who rely on the Postal Service for their medication have no reason to worry. But we know that’s not true. These essential services and the workers who provide them are worth fighting for, and the labor movement is, indeed, fighting – in the courts, in Congress and in the streets.

Unions have filed multiple lawsuits since Trump took office. Some have challenged the overreach of DOGE, whose reckless cuts undermine the mission of our federal agencies and put Americans’ health, safety and natural resources at risk. The AFL-CIO has sued to keep DOGE from accessing workers’ private data. Federal workers’ unions have sued to block an executive order rescinding civil-service protections. The American Federation of Teachers has challenged a  policy to withhold funds from schools that teach about systemic racism.

As Congress rushes to avoid a shutdown this month, unions are sounding the alarm about Trump’s demand for a $4 trillion tax giveaway to giant corporations and the ultra-wealthy. Republicans have signaled that they plan to pay for it at the expense of working people, with deep cuts to Medicaid and food assistance for children. The cuts will put millions of Americans’ jobs at risk, including nursing home and home care workers who are members of our union family. Nearly 1.3 million Minnesotans rely on Medicaid. A cut this steep – potentially $880 billion – will have ripple effects, as state and local governments try to stretch their budgets to fill in the gaps. That puts all public service workers’ jobs at risk. Taking away people’s jobs, food assistance and health care to pad billionaires’ bank accounts isn’t just bad policy, it’s immoral.

These are chaotic, challenging times. It can feel like a month’s worth of troubling news happens in the blink of an eye. It’s especially important for us to remember, as a labor movement, that our strength is in solidarity and our power is in organizing. Union members can fight back by putting a face to the Trump administration’s reckless actions. Consider speaking up about how federal services benefit your life – or how DOGE’s layoffs have hurt you or someone you care about. The AFL-CIO is collecting stories through its cheeky, newly launched Department of People who Work for a Living. The site also features resources for keeping track of what’s happening and ways working people can link up and fight back. And perhaps now more than ever, it’s important to contact our members of Congress, regardless of their party affiliation. Demand that they uphold their oath to the Constitution, and tell them to put workers over billionaires – always.

– Kera Peterson is president of the Saint Paul­ Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , ,