Over the past seven months, the Trump administration has waged a war on government employees and the unions that represent them. 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 including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food Safety and Inspection Service.
But during an all-member town hall last week, AFGE President Everett Kelley had a message for those in the administration who believe AFGE’s days are numbered:
“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,” Kelley said.
AFGE’s survival doesn’t depend on union contracts or even fair labor laws. Our true strength lies in our members.
“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.
It’s clear the administration is targeting AFGE and other labor unions because we have been openly challenging his executive orders and policies in court and in the press. Now is not the time to give up the fight but to rather double down, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told AFGE members on the call.
“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 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.”
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.
“We need unions. There's no democracy without unions today, just like there's no unions without democracy. They rise and fall together,” Raskin said.
AFGE still continues to represent all of our members – even at agencies where our contracts have been terminated. We assist employees facing disciplinary actions at the administrative and statutory levels, we represent employees charging discrimination or retaliation in their workplaces, we help members resolve workers’ compensation and back pay claims, and so much more.
“Even when the agency turns their back on our rights, AFGE continues to stand up for each another and we’re winning,” AFGE Membership and Organization Director Dave Cann said.
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 funding shortfalls, which are threatening the viability of this critical agency and the benefits on which more than 70 million Americans rely.
“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.”
GET INVOLVED
Every action you take – including showing up at a rally, having a conversation with a colleague, or calling your member of Congress – makes a difference in our fight. Visit www.afge.org/volunteer and let us know how you’re getting involved.
TAKE ACTION
For more information on what you can do to help fight the attacks on our agencies and workplace rights, visit www.afgesolidaritycenter.org.
Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump has issued a series of unlawful executive orders, and taken several unlawful actions, seeking to shut down congressionally mandated agencies, fire and displace federal workers, outlaw their unions, and gut merit systems protections.
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A federal judge has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to reinstate the union contract covering 320,000 VA employees represented by AFGE in a major victory over the implementation of President Trump’s union-busting executive orders.
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As the Department of Homeland Security shutdown reaches the one-month mark with no end in sight, AFGE leaders are calling on Congress to ensure all DHS workers are paid.
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