Posts tagged Department of Homeland Security

    US Transportation Secretary threatens to fire absent air traffic controllers

    October 14, 2025 // Last week, the president said some employees who are not at work might not receive retroactive pay once the government reopens. Air traffic controllers, though, are considered "essential workers" and are still required to carry out their duites. "When you come to work you get paid," Duffy said. "If you don't come to work, you don't get paid. That's the way we're going to do it."

    Teachers unions sue over Trump immigration crackdown

    September 11, 2025 // The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers joined a federal lawsuit Tuesday after the Trump administration took away the directive for immigration officials to stay away from school grounds. Although no Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officials are known to have entered a school for enforcement, the lawsuit alleges people have been arrested while dropping off students and other parents have pulled students from school or certain activities due to fear of deportation.

    US agencies shrink layoff plans after mass staff exodus

    July 16, 2025 // This is the latest example of the Trump administration walking back announcements to cut federal workers, after more aggressively pursuing staff reductions earlier this year. The Department of Veterans Affairs said in July that it would reduce staff by about 30,000 people rather than 80,000. Upon taking office in January, President Donald Trump launched a campaign to overhaul the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce, led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. By late April, about 100 days into the effort, the government overhaul had resulted in the firing, resignations and early retirements of 260,000 civil servants, according to a Reuters tally.

    Civil service, federal union provisions removed from Senate reconciliation bill

    July 2, 2025 // The Senate Budget Committee’s latest version of the legislation also no longer contains previous proposals to charge federal unions for use of official time; impose a 10% fee on federal payroll deductions; require feds to pay $350 to file with the Merit Systems Protection Board; give bonuses to “cost cutters” in the federal workforce, or eliminate funding for electric vehicles in the U.S. Postal Service’s fleet.

    Two of Colorado’s biggest unions join a state employee in suing Gov. Jared Polis

    June 11, 2025 // Colorado WINS, a union representing 27,000 state employees, and the AFL-CIO say they are joining a top official in the Department of Labor and Employment in suing Gov. Jared Polis after they say he ordered state employees to commit illegal acts. "We are outraged as state employees that our governor wanted us to actively support that assault on our community and make us as state workers accomplices in an illegal and morally reprehensible act," says Diane Byrne, President of Colorado WINS.

    US judge blocks Trump from nixing union bargaining for TSA officers

    June 4, 2025 // -A federal judge on Monday said the administration of President Donald Trump likely broke the law by stripping 50,000 transportation security officers of the ability to unionize and bargain over their working conditions. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle, Washington, blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from canceling a union contract covering TSA officers pending the outcome of a lawsuit by four unions challenging the move.

    Ex-union president for Homeland Security workers in Vermont avoids prison in embezzling case

    June 3, 2025 // Leticia Russi-Shareno had earlier pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge stemming from her theft that led to a $36,000 “out-of-pocket” loss to the union, according to court filings.

    Trump Executive Order on Public-Sector Unions Clears Latest Legal Hurdle

    May 26, 2025 // These policies have been generated in response to the snowballing effect of public-sector labor unions, whose bosses have swamped government agencies with an inefficient and excess allocation of funds. Because of these union boss abuses, tax dollars have even been paying full-time salaries to union boss lobbyists working to secure themselves higher wages for doing less work. Additionally, the Institute for the American Worker has found that the time and resources spent on collective bargaining has likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars for the taxpayer. As demonstrated, banning collective bargaining with public-sector unions at national security agencies is not only a feasible plan, but one which could return millions to the American taxpayer, increase the efficiency of the government, and allow agencies to reorient themselves toward their actual purpose and mission.

    Wellesley faculty ends strike, but still with no contract

    April 30, 2025 // Organizers decided to end the walkout to protect vulnerable faculty members from losing health insurance or, in the case of international employees, visa status.