Judge Blocks Trump Attack on TSA Union
About 47,000 TSA officers will keep their union contract, at least for now
The big news in labor today is that a federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from dissolving the Transportation Security Administration’s union, affiliated with the American Federation of Government Employees. The judge concluded that the Trump administration had likely broken the law when it terminated the union's contract, which covers 47,000 TSA officers around the country. AFGE’s attorneys had argued that the Trump administration’s move was retaliation against the union for criticizing the administration. The judge sided with AFGE, calling the decision to terminate the contract "retaliatory” in her decision granting a preliminary injunction.
News and Views
NLRB Defends Grindr Workers: The NLRB is arguing that Grindr, the queer dating app, retaliated by forcing teleworking employees back to the office after workers announced they were unionizing. The case was originally brought under Biden, and has been continued under the direction of the Trump-appointed general counsel of the labor board, Bloomberg reports.
Trading Card Union Busting: Workers at TCGplayer, a trading card company owned by eBay, unionized in 2023 – the first among eBay’s more than 12,000 workers to successfully unionize. But the company dragged its feet on contract negotiations, and then last week, shut down the Syracuse, New York-based TCGplayer office entirely. The company is moving the jobs to Kentucky, a right-to-work state where the minimum wage is less than half of New York’s. The Communications Workers Local 1123, which represents the workers, is filing unfair labor practice charges against the union.
LA Could Raise Minimum Wage – Again: A coalition of labor advocates is calling for a minimum wage of $25 an hour in Los Angeles, from its current rate of just over $17. Last month, the Los Angeles city council voted to raise the minimum wage in the city to $30 an hour for workers in the tourism industry by 2028 – the year the summer Olympics will be held in the city.
Big Ugly: The Republican spending bill “would require all federal workers hired after the effective date to elect to become at-will employees or functionally lose a chunk of their paycheck,” the American Prospect reports. It would incentivize them to give up job security protections, which many get from their union contracts, in order to avoid having to pay a higher proportion of their retirement contributions. The bill, passed by the House, is now being considered by the Senate. Meanwhile, Trump has proposed cutting 107,000 federal government jobs next year.