Posts tagged Donald Trump
Opinion: Teachers Unions Get Desperate
February 17, 2026 // Antichoice plaintiffs “usually file lawsuits right before families sign up for the program just to be particularly cruel. They know they’ll lose nearly every case, but delaying or enjoining the programs in any way is the last-ditch effort to slow maximum uptake for families,” says Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children. Many suits are striking out. Idaho’s high court just ruled 5-0 in favor of the state choice program. Top courts in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and West Virginia have upheld choice programs. The U.S. Supreme Court has continued to issue beneficial rulings. Yet the legal threat is real, and unions, often accompanied by local school districts, continue to throw millions at litigation and disruption, forcing states to spend huge amounts to defend against them. Then the unions and the districts claim schools are underfunded.
OPM directs agencies to move forward with ending collective bargaining
February 16, 2026 // An additional “frequently asked questions” document that OPM updated Thursday details various changes agencies should make to comply with Trump’s orders revoking collective bargaining. The guidance, for one, tells agencies to revise federal employees’ personnel files to reflect that they are no longer in a bargaining unit. It also directs agencies to cancel ongoing arbitration proceedings and unfair labor practice (ULP) charges in cases where collective bargaining is being rescinded. OPM said agencies are also allowed to “disregard” union grievances for bargaining units or federal employees that the president has deemed no longer eligible for collective bargaining. Additionally, OPM said agencies should “withdraw” from ongoing union negotiations in cases where collective bargaining is being canceled. Impacted agencies should reclaim office space and resources that were being used for official time, OPM added.
Michigan Democratic Senate hopefuls tout their union bona fides
February 12, 2026 // Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County public health official, each said they would champion workers rights and manufacturing if elected to the Senate in what’s expected to be one of the most closely watched races this year. Support from autoworkers could be crucial in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Senate Democrats need to net four seats to win control of the chamber, and defending Peters’ seat is key to that effort.
US union elections declined in 2025 after Trump hobbled labor board
February 11, 2026 // The number of workers participating in union elections dropped by 59,000, a 42% decline compared with the year prior, according to the report from the Center for American Progress. The total number of union elections fell from a 10-year high of 2,124 in 2024 to 1,498 in 2025. The success rate in union elections also dropped to 69.8% in 2025, after rising to 72% in 2023.
‘Guest worker permit’ bill draws labor union support, opposition from Nebraska’s labor commissioner
February 11, 2026 // A Nebraska “guest worker permit” bill for undocumented immigrants drew support Monday from the bulk of public testifiers, while the biggest pushback came from Nebraska’s labor commissioner and the proposer’s fellow lawmakers. State Sen. Dunixi Guereca of Omaha told the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee that the Guest Worker Permit Act he introduced would set up a legal framework for undocumented immigrants to work in Nebraska — provided the federal government allows it. State Sen. Dunixi Guereca stands along South 24th Street in his South Omaha district in 2025 with business owner Martha Barrera. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner) He called Legislative Bill 879 a “trigger law,” meaning that Nebraska would be ready to go if given the green light by the feds, but he said it would not bypass federal authority or grant a legal status.
Johns Hopkins University research staff begin unionization effort
February 6, 2026 // Unionizing is becoming more common on college campuses. Hopkins’ graduate worker union, Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE 197), and postdoctoral researchers’ union, PRO-UAW, both won recognition in recent years. Graduate workers at the state’s flagship research school, the University of Maryland, College Park, are similarly seeking recognition from the school.
Education IT, tech employees lose union protections
February 4, 2026 // Legal challenges to the order are still playing out in court. The Trump administration maintains the president has the authority to end collective bargaining rights under the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, which exempts national security roles from union protection.
Congress guarantees furloughed feds’ back pay despite continued White House maneuvering
February 3, 2026 // The Office of Personnel Management removed citations of the 2019 Federal Employee Fair Treatment Act from its shutdown guidance last month, as the Trump administration continues to insist that the law guaranteeing all federal employees back pay after a shutdown doesn’t.
Unionizing Set to Fall Due to Economic, Political Headwinds
February 3, 2026 // The number of union elections fell to 1,372 last year, down from 1,938 in 2024. That’s the fewest elections since 2021, a review of National Labor Relations Board data found. Union wins also sank by nearly 27% in 2025 compared to 2024, the first downturn since 2020. That drop in election wins led to the number of new workers organized via NLRB elections to fall nearly 40% year-over-over to just 65,542 workers in 2025, according to the data. Organized labor saw a post-pandemic boom after decades of union membership decline. But new economic and political headwinds, including a more management-friendly NLRB and a cooling jobs market, look likely to reverse that trend.
What we know about calls for a general strike over ICE
January 28, 2026 // The National Shutdown website lists local and national partners including the Defend Immigrant Families Campaign, the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), the North Carolina Poor People's Campaign, the LA Tenants Union, and multiple student organizations at the University of Minnesota, while large activist groups like CodePink have also pledged to join. Several actors and other celebrities have joined in and called for the public to participate in the strike, including The Last of Us actor Pedro Pascal, Hacks’s Hannah Einbinder, Edward Norton, and Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis.