AFL-CIO Staff

Donald Trump and congressional Republicans rushed to pass the 2017 Tax Act in December 2017, leaving very little time for public scrutiny or debate. Here are a few things we have learned since the GOP tax bill passed.

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the top floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. Firefighters arrived at the scene, but their ladders weren’t tall enough to reach the impacted area. Trapped inside because the owners had locked the fire escape exit doors, workers jumped to their deaths. Thirty minutes later, the fire was over, and 146 of the 500 workers—mostly young women—were dead.

As we reported in January, the Trump Labor Department is proposing a rule change that would mean that restaurant servers and bartenders could lose a large portion of their earnings. The rule would overturn one put in place by the Barack Obama administration initiated, which prevents workers in tipped industries from having their tips taken by their employers. Under the new rule, business owners could pay their waitstaff and bartenders as little as $7.25 per hour and keep all tips above that amount without having to tell customers what happened.

Congress should protect worker freedom and uphold the sovereignty of Native American tribes, not pit the two against each other.

The Mexican government has filed legislation that would substantially weaken rights for working people. In response, The AFL-CIO filed a complaint alleging that Mexico is violating the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), the NAFTA labor side deal.