Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.
Labor Leaders Fear Elon Musk and DOGE Could Gain Access to Whistleblower Files: “Liz Shuler, the president of AFL-CIO, claims that a number of Tesla workers have repeatedly alleged to the federation that safety isn’t prioritized at the car company. The AFL-CIO works with the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), but it does not represent employees at Tesla or SpaceX.”
Supreme Court Upholds Order Directing Trump Officials to Return Wrongly Deported Man: “The Supreme Court on Thursday backed a lower-court order requiring the Trump administration to ‘facilitate’ the release from custody of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador last month. Trump officials suspended a veteran Justice Department lawyer last weekend after he confirmed in court that Abrego García’s deportation was an oversight and said he had trouble getting answers himself about why the sheet metal apprentice and father of three was sent overseas. In an unusual filing on Monday, the government disavowed the in court comments of Erez Reuveni saying they ‘did not and do not reflect the position of the United States.’”
Hirono Reintroduces Bill to Protect Union Rights for Federal Workers: “‘Passing this legislation has never been more urgent—especially now, as federal workers face unprecedented attacks on their collective bargaining rights,’ said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. ‘We believe, as most Americans do, that every worker deserves a union—no matter who they work for. This bill is about something fundamental: respect. Respect for the public service workers who’ve devoted their careers to serving their communities. And respect means the freedom to negotiate.’”
'We Keep the Country Running': Federal Workers Rally in Pittsburgh for Union Rights: “The rally comes as unions representing federal workers have sued the Trump administration over a March executive order that seeks to end collective bargaining with federal unions in agencies with national security missions. The order impacts a litany of government agencies, including the Departments of State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among others.”
Steelworkers Open Convention with Call for Action Against Trump Cuts: “AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, the Steelworkers’ former vice president gave a rousing speech to the 3,000 USW delegates assembled here for their convention in which he called for labor to step up and play a leading role in the battle against Trump’s attempt to dismantle so much of what is important to U.S. workers. He said that the battle must involve solidarity across national lines, saying workers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico ‘must unite against corporate greed. Attacks on everything that we stand for have been relentless,’ Redmond said of the GOP Trump regime’s anti-worker anti-union actions. He particularly singled out Musk’s chainsaw attacks, with Trump as his puppet, on federal workers and programs. ‘We are the voice of those who, today, feel hopeless,’ said Redmond.”
Democrats Unveil Legislation Raising Federal Minimum Wage to $17 an Hour: “Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 on Tuesday in both chambers with hopes of increasing the federal minimum wage. The bill would raise the minimum wage to $17 by 2030 according to the Economic Policy Institute. The current federally mandated hourly wage is $7.25 and has not increased since 2009.”
‘Hands Off’: Protesters Deliver a Sweeping Message to Trump and Musk at a D.C. Rally: “The crowd in Washington, D.C.—more than 100,000, per organizers’ estimates—was peaceful and orderly. On a stage behind the Washington Monument, lawmakers like Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and organizers including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler spoke. Attendees around them quietly listened, save for the occasional call-and-response chant, cheers, or boos for the Trump administration. Farther away, a group of protesters marched around the Monument chanting, ‘Hands Off! Dump Trump!’”
Massive Crowds, Estimated at Two Million, Take to Streets vs. MAGA: “AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler led several union presidents to the speaking stage just south of D.C.’s Washington Monument. Other union leaders spoke up at other marches elsewhere. ‘Stripping collective bargaining and union rights from workers across the federal government is the very definition of union busting—and a blatant attempt to silence us. We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being,’ Shuler said.”
‘Everyone Is Angry, Frustrated’: AFL-CIO President Praises ‘Community’ and Energy of ‘Hands Off’ Protests: “In the largest rebuke of the second Trump administration so far, people in cities across the U.S. marched to voice their grievances against President Trump and Elon Musk. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations President Liz Shuler shares her perspective on the rallies and how the Trump administration has inadvertently created new communities.”
Federal Worker Unions Sue to Block Trump from Stripping Bargaining Rights: “Officials at the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal union, which filed the countersuit on Friday, said the president’s move was among the most aggressive they had seen out of the White House so far, one that threatened collective bargaining rights across the work force. The AFGE alone represents 800,000 workers. The lawsuit called the order an act of retaliation against the union for pushing back against ‘both his agenda to decimate the federal work force and his broader agenda to fundamentally restructure the federal government through expansive and unprecedented exercises of executive authority.’”