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.
Unions Form Pro Bono Legal Network for Federal Workers Targeted by Trump: “‘We are still operating as though there is a rule of law,’ Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said of the network’s intent to bring individual cases through the administrative board process. ‘We are suing when things go awry, but we are watching closely to see that the rule of law holds.’”
AFL-CIO Plans Nearly 400 Events to Protest Government Overhaul: “The AFL-CIO will launch nearly 400 events nationwide over the next two weeks in an effort to push back on the administration’s changes to the federal government. The events are organized under the AFL-CIO’s Department of People Who Work for a Living campaign—a shot at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Some of the events, beginning during this two-week congressional recess and going until April 28, will be rallies outside federal agencies and protests outside lawmakers' offices. But the centerpiece will be 19 ‘field hearings,’ according to Eddie Vale, who is consulting with the AFL-CIO. Workers from across different unions and sectors will be able to share their stories and solutions to the Trump administration's cuts.”
‘You Made This Possible’: Labor Organizers Submit Twice the Signatures Needed to Put Bargaining Ban to Voters: “Labor groups submitted some 320,000 signatures Wednesday, more than double the number required, in their effort to repeal an anti-union bill passed by the Republican-led Legislature this year. The overwhelming number makes the union’s Protect Utah Workers campaign the largest signature-gathering campaign in state history. Union members lined up Wednesday morning to unload and deliver about 20 bankers boxes of signature packets to the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office before gathering outside and singing ‘Solidarity Forever,’ a popular anthem of trade unions.”
U.S. Labor Groups Sue Over ‘Ignorant’ Cuts of Programs Fighting Child Labor Abroad: “Shawna Bader-Blau, the executive director of the Solidarity Center, a non-profit working in more than 90 countries to improve worker standards and conditions, said the cuts reduced the organization’s budget by 20%, in addition to 30% cuts through USAID cuts. ‘It’s a devastating, huge impact. The Solidarity Center is very often in countries where they are the only external support for trade union organizing and the advancement of worker rights. If we have to leave, we’re not replaced,’ said Bader-Blau. ‘It’s critical to the American economy that American workers not be forced to compete with extremely exploited workers in other countries, up to and including forced and child labor in supply chains.’”
Unions Sue to Reverse Trump’s Dismantling of Labor Mediation Agency: “The AFL-CIO, the United Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Government Employees and nearly a dozen other unions joined in the suit, saying cuts to the agency endanger both workers and the economy. The cuts stem from a March 14 executive order that calls for a near-elimination of the agency and six others in the interest of the president’s government-slashing agenda led by the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”
SMART Union Demands Return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Worker Illegally Deported by Trump: “The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) is calling on Americans to contact their representatives and senators to demand the Trump administration facilitate the immediate return of a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national legally living in the U.S. with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE agents in Baltimore last month on accusations of being an MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia, who hasn’t been charged or convicted of any crime, has since been detained at the Center for Terrorism Confinement, a maximum-security prison accused by human rights groups of torture and due process violations.”
Chicago Teachers Reach Contract Deal for First Time in More Than Decade Without Strike: “For the first time in over a decade, Chicago’s public school teachers have a new contract without a strike or threat of a walkout. The four-year agreement includes pay hikes, hiring more teachers and class size limits. While negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and the district didn’t escalate this time, there was unprecedented turmoil surrounding the unusual yearlong talks. The drama included the school superintendent’s firing, the entire board resigning and historic elections that tested the union’s power.”
Commercial Actors Union Reaches Agreement on New Labor Contract: “The labor union representing around 133,000 commercial actors and singers reached a tentative agreement with advertisers and advertising agencies for a new collective bargaining agreement. SAG-AFTRA and the Joint Police Committee announced their tentative deal April 12 after the union extended its contract deadline several times. SAG-AFTRA said in its statement that the agreement would go up to the union’s national board for review and then to a ratification vote for members.”
Over 200 Hennepin County Physicians Certified as First to Unionize in Minnesota: “Around 250 doctors at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) have been certified as the first unionized resident and fellow physicians in Minnesota, according to union officials. The physicians are represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of the Service Employees International Union (CIR/SEIU), who said the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services made the certification on April 3.”