Over the past seven months, the Trump administration has waged a war on government employees and their unions. Thousands of federal workers have lost their jobs, hundreds of thousands have had their union rights stripped from them, and nationwide labor contracts have been terminated at agencies.
“The regime thinks they can defeat and silence us by trying to strip away our collective bargaining agreements. But they are dead wrong. AFGE is not going anywhere. We are here to stay,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley said. .
“Court cases and congressional allies matter, but at the end of the day, our real power comes from members standing shoulder to shoulder — organizing in your communities, talking with your coworkers, and building the solidarity it will take to win over the long haul,” Kelley said.
“Now is the time to double down on your support for your union. Now is the time to show this administration that cancelling union contracts will not make unions go away. It won’t make you be quiet,” said U.S. Rep Bernie Thompson, who is ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“My challenge to you is this: I want you to make sure that wherever Donald Trump and his lackies turn, they will see union representatives. I want them to see you in court. I want them to see you in your representatives’ offices on Capitol Hill. And if it comes down to it, I want them to see you on the picket lines. Together, we will show them that in this country, the power belongs to the people, no matter how hard they try to take it away,” continued Thompson.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland also called on AFGE members to stay in the fight as the battle to preserve our jobs, our unions, and our rights work their way through the courts and through the halls of Congress.
AFGE members at the Social Security Administration have galvanized in response to the administration’s attacks on the agency, staging more than 40 events across the country in conjunction with the agency’s 90th anniversary on Aug. 14. The events helped raise public awareness about the administration’s dangerous staffing cuts and reduced services.
“After 90 years of this work, 90 years of running the world’s most successful anti-poverty program through wartimes, depression, recession, 9-11, the pandemic, and through 16 different presidents, we will be damned if we’re going to let this president or any president take social security away from us,” said AFGE Council 220 President Jessica LaPointe, who represents 25,000 field operations employees at the agency. “The workers have spoken, and they will have to pry this agency out of our cold grip.”
