From his first days in office, Trump has demonstrated that he is more than willing to cost working people their jobs, and has been brazen in his open dislike of unions, seeking to dismantle the protections that they afford to working people. The unprecedented attacks taking place against unions, should serve as a reminder that solidarity is more important than ever. At the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, we will continue to fight on behalf of our one million members and their families. We urge you to keep reading our weekly updates so that we can continue to inform our community of these attacks giving everyone the opportunity to join us in speaking out. Together, we will ensure that all working people are heard!
AFGE President Everett Kelley released the following statement:
“President Trump’s decision to issue a Labor Day proclamation shortly after stripping union rights from thousands of civil servants, a third of whom are veterans, should show American workers what he really thinks about them. This latest executive order is another clear example of retaliation against federal employee union members who have bravely stood up against his anti-worker, anti-American plan to dismantle the federal government.”
The agencies that have terminated union contracts for their employees include the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, General Services Administration, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, and parts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services.
“This is literally the largest act of union busting in American history,” said Mike Podhorzer, a former political director of the AFL-CIO. “There’s not another time when that many people lost their union,” he said in a statement to the New York Times.
Last week, Trump fired the HHS confirmed director, Dr. Susan Monarez, which resulted in the resignations of four other senior officials. Monarez was fired by the administration for her refusal to sign off on new vaccine restrictions. In support of Monarez and other staff members who resigned, employees staged a walkout at the HHS headquarters in Atlanta.
These actions not only have devasting consequences for our environment, as Trump continues to encourage the use of fossil fuels instead of clean energy sources, but will upend the progress made towards creating clean energy jobs.
In 2023, about 3.5 million Americans worked in jobs related to the renewable energy sector, with the rate of jobs available growing more than twice of those in other sectors. While Trump claims that reliance on coal keeps Americans employed, the production of coal peaked in 2008. Between 2008 and 2021, employment in coal mining fell by almost 60% in the East and almost 40% in the West, leaving a total of about 40,000 employees.
Trump‘s attacks on renewable energy have devasting consequences for working families at a time when electricity prices continue to rise. According to Ari Natter and Naureen S. Malik of Bloomberg, electricity prices increased by 10% between January and May and are projected to rise another 5.8% next year. Currently, our largest energy grid in the U.S. comes from natural gas, coal and nuclear reactors.
At a time when we should be investing in clean energy sources, Trump‘s cuts continue to drive up costs for working families, continuing inflation and impeding economic growth.
As the Trump administration continues to cost working people their jobs, rights as union members and economic security, we will continue to fight by educating our members with the facts that they need to know in the upcoming November 4 election. To rise to meet the moment, we will continue to empower everyone to mobilize like never before, to ensure that all working people in our state make their voices heard.