A year ago, the Republican presidential candidate courted voters by assuring them that he would defend the interests of American workers. In the seven months since Donald Trump returned to the White House, however, the record is completely different, and the list of executive orders against workers has already led to the Trump administration being defined as the most hostile to labor issues of all time.
Under the slogan “Workers Over Billionaires,” more than a thousand protests called by unions and civil organizations in more than 900 cities took place on Monday to commemorate Labor Day. The slogan, launched by the May Day Strong coalition, served to condense the protests over how Donald Trump is harassing the country’s workers through mass layoffs of federal employees, the elimination of protections (wages and other), obstacles to unionization, the suppression of benefits such as access to healthcare and education, and even his deportation agenda.
“This is a moment unlike any in the history of our labor movement and our country,” declared Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation, in her State of the Unions address this year. “Why are my job, my family, my future, my community, the services I count on suddenly being threatened and ripped away? Every year we think about a word that captures the State of the Unions at this given moment: Strong, rising, whatever it may be. This year there is only one possible answer. The State of the Unions — the State of Working People in this country — is under attack,” Shuler said.
The magnate’s latest labor action has once again targeted federal employees. On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing certain agencies, such as NASA, the National Weather Service, and the Bureau of Reclamations, to end collective bargaining agreements with unions representing federal employees. The Department of Veterans Affairs had already requested the elimination of protections for more than 400,000 of its workers.
Due to their direct relationship with the government, federal employees are among the hardest hit by Trump’s labor policies. From the start of his term, they have suffered the brunt of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created on his first day back in office by the president and led by the now-discredited Elon Musk, whose mission was to lay off thousands of employees and close federal agencies to drastically cut spending. Its effectiveness has been questionable, as cost reductions never reached the levels initially advertised. The chaos wreaked on the decimated agencies and laid-off workers, on the other hand, has been felt acutely.
Labor Day protest at Trump Tower, Chicago, September 1.Anthony Vazquez (AP)
These layoffs, along with the loss of benefits that have accompanied budget cuts, have driven workers to join unions. This is the case in California’s National Park Service, which has lost approximately a quarter of its staff. After two years in which unions failed to convince workers to join, more than 97% of employees at Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon parks voted this summer to unionize. More than 600 employees, including rangers, biologists, firefighters and tax collectors are now represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees.
But workers at companies serving the administration have also seen their rights diminished. The president eliminated the $17.75 hourly minimum wage that his predecessor, Joe Biden, established for contracting companies to pay their workers. The measure could mean a pay cut for workers of more than $9,200 annually, according to experts.
“The Trump administration claims its actions are raising working-class wages when, in reality, they are empowering corporations to drive down the wages of millions of workers by eliminating minimum wage protections for federal contractors, disabled workers, and domestic workers who provide home care and child care,” said Aurelia Glass, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress. The administration’s proposal to also exclude domestic workers such as elder care workers and nurses from the right to receive minimum wage for their services has received widespread criticism during the public hearing.
1.2 million fewer workers
Immigrants occupy 43% of home care positions, and there are already difficulties filling the vacancies left by the deportation of foreigners. The resulting situation contradicts Trump’s recurring rhetoric that immigrants were taking jobs away from Americans. With this argument, in a country where unemployment is below 4%, he has sought to strengthen his deportation campaign. The result, however, is that many industries and services now suffer from a labor shortage. The Republican’s crusade to achieve the largest deportation in history has removed 1.2 million workers from the labor market, according to preliminary data.
Workers who stay after their migrant colleagues leave complain that they have to work longer hours or have to train inexperienced newcomers.
March in Chicago, Illinois, on September 1.Jim Vondruska (REUTERS)
The effects of the expulsions were inevitable, as immigrants represent nearly 20% of the U.S. workforce. In some sectors, the damage caused by detentions is even greater, such as in the agricultural sector, where migrants fill jobs that Americans don’t want. According to Pew data, 45% of agricultural, fishing, and forestry workers are migrants.
The construction sector is another of the hardest hit by the Republican’s anti-immigrant campaign, and contractors warn that the situation is dire. “The situation is getting worse with the raids and rumors of raids that are preventing people from going to work sites. They’re even taking individuals away while they’re in the middle of necessary construction,” said Ken Simonson, an economist with the Association of General Contractors of America, in an interview with Telemundo.
According to Simonson, construction hiring has stagnated or declined in many areas for various reasons, but tightening immigration laws has been a determining factor. Thirty percent of construction workers are immigrants, and employers are struggling to find a way to replace them. The number of construction jobs has fallen by half in metropolitan areas, according to the association’s data. The largest loss, with 7,200 jobs, was recorded in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area, California.
Despite warnings from business leaders across various sectors urging the administration to reverse the attack on the nation’s workforce, the White House, contrary to abundant data and testimony, remains entrenched in its campaign message: “No administration has fought harder for the American worker. Happy Labor Day.”
‘Workers Over Billionaires’ march in Atlanta, Georgia.ERIK S. LESSER (EFE)
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