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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Trump Nominates Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Leader and Labor Solicitor
Trump has nominated EEOC Acting General Counsel Andrew Rogers as head of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and conservative attorney Jonathan Berry as labor solicitor.
Impact:
Andrew Rogers previously worked in the WHD during Trump’s first administration. Jonathan Berry co-authored the Trump administration’s blueprint Project 2025.
Trump Admin Fires Nearly Entire Staff at Headquarters of U.S. Institute of Peace
Between 200-300 U.S. Institute of Peace workers at headquarters have been fired by DOGE, in another example of the Trump admin’s hostile takeover of federal agencies and institutes.
Impact:
The U.S. Institute of Peace has about 600 workers worldwide. The mass firings of almost the entire staff at headquarters comes a couple weeks after the Trump administration forcibly removed the institute’s president and installed an agent of Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Trump Administration Lays Off Nearly All Remaining USAID Employees
The Trump administration began the process of laying off the remaining 900 employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The layoffs will take effect either July 1 or September 2. USAID previously employed more than 10,000 employees worldwide.
Impact:
The U.S. was the largest provider of humanitarian assistance worldwide, deploying billions of dollars through multiple agencies, including USAID. Foreign aid and humanitarian organizations that depend on these funding streams cannot provide their live-saving services.
Trump Sues to End Union Contracts for Federal Workers
The Trump administrations filed a lawsuit against the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to invalidate existing collective bargaining agreements between workers and federal agencies.
Impact:
The lawsuit comes after Trump’s executive order attempts to revoke collective bargaining rights for most of the federal workforce. Trump is asking U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, a Trump appointee, to reinterpret federal law that would allow federal agencies to rescind labor contracts. Around 32 percent of public sector workers are members of unions, which is more than five times the rate of private sector employees.
Federal Judge Temporarily Protects U.S. Agency for Global Media
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order halting the effort to fire some 1,200 Voice of America employees. The order bars the agency from “any further attempt to terminate, reduce-in-force, place on leave, or furlough” employees or contractors, and from closing any offices or requiring overseas employees to return to the U.S.”
Impact:
The agency has more than 2,000 employees, broadcasts in 49 languages, and reaches a weekly estimated audience of more than 361 million people.
Trump Signs an Executive Order Ending Collective Bargaining at Federal Agencies he Claims are Involved in National Security
The EO ends collective bargaining at a wide swath of agencies and sub-agencies that have functions that have nothing to do with national security including HHS, the Department of Commerce, and Veterans' Affairs. However, the U.S. Customs and Border Control agents' union is NOT covered by this order, likely because the union endorsed Trump for President, nor are agency police officers, security guards, or firefighters.
Impact:
Unions have been leading the resistance efforts to this administration's illegal actions with regard to public servants and workers at large. This latest attack, right out of the Project 2025 playbook, is retaliation for their successes thus far in the federal courts, and is trying to take away federal public servants' legal rights to collectively bargain with their agencies.
Reinstated Department of Housing and Urban Development Workers Refused Back Pay and Still Lack Benefits
The Trump administration is denying back pay to the probationary Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) workers that have been reinstated, and reinstated workers still have yet to receive their current pay and benefits.
Impact:
The federal judge in Maryland that reinstated HUD workers did not directly address back pay. Even so, some other agencies that are reinstating workers have stated that they plan to provide back pay to previously fired workers. HUD is in the process of reinstating about 300 probationary workers who were fired on February 14. The fired workers were first notified of their reinstatements on March 17.
Trump Admin Files Lawsuit To End Union Contracts for Some Federal Workers
The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to invalidate existing employment contracts with some federal workers and federal agencies in another attempt to more easily fire workers.
Impact:
The lawsuit asks Trump-appointed District Judge Alan Albright to rescind some collective bargaining agreements in order to give Trump and the executive branch more control over federal agencies. Much of the federal workforce has been unionized for decades and approximately 32 percent of public sector workers are members of unions.
Trump Administration Cancels $500 Million in Grants Designed to Combat Child Labor, Trafficking, and Forced Labor
The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) was ordered to cease all grantmaking, being told that it no longer aligned with agency priorities or the national interest.
Impact:
ILAB makes these grants not just to protect workers abroad, but also to make sure that foreign based work doesn't have an unfair advantage over goods produced in the United States.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Plans to Shut or Downsize Several Agencies, Laying Off 10,000 People
The Administration is continuing its careless cutting of government jobs, hindering HHS from doing the work it needs to do to protect the public health.
Impact:
The planned closures include departments within the Centers for Disease Control, which could have widespread implications for public health as well as workplace health.