President Donald Trump’s second administration has been defined by its assault on the federal workforce. With Elon Musk at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration fired tens of thousands of federal workers, jeopardizing services that working families across the country rely on. Yet the attacks on workers have gone beyond firing public sector workers and will not end just because Musk has left the government.
In fact, many of the Trump administration’s worst actions against the livelihoods and organizing rights of workers, both in the federal workforce and in the private sector, weren’t carried out by Elon Musk or DOGE. Despite the administration’s claim that President Trump is “putting American workers first,” the White House and federal agency heads are trying to end collective bargaining for more than 1 million government workers; hobble the agency overseeing collective bargaining rights for workers in the private sector; and cut the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of federal contractors. While these anti-worker actions haven’t racked up as many headlines as the administration’s tens of thousands of layoffs, they threaten the foundations of union organizing in the United States and target vulnerable private sector workers.
Here’s what you should know about Trump’s war on workers and unions.
The Trump administration revoked bargaining rights for more than 1 million federal workers
The Trump administration has ended collective bargaining for 4 out of 5 federal workers represented by unions at more than a dozen federal agencies, including those that care for aging veterans, keep food safe, and protect the public from outbreaks of disease. According to a Center for American Progress analysis of federal employment data, the Trump administration ended collective bargaining rights for more than 1 million American workers via an executive order issued on March 27, 2025 and a prior decision to end collective bargaining at the Transportation Security Administration. Georgetown University labor historian Joseph McCartin called this order “by far the largest single action of union-busting in American history.”
Collective bargaining empowers workers to come together to protect themselves for speaking up on the job and to negotiate for improved working conditions, including better overtime, paid leave, and health and safety standards. Without the hope of being able to negotiate future contracts for the duration of the Trump administration, federal workers lose not only their ability to negotiate for better working conditions but also some of the protections that enable them to blow the whistle when they see something at work that is dangerous to the public.
President Trump cited national security concerns as his reason for eliminating collective bargaining for the vast majority of unionized federal workers—even though the government has long recognized the right of workers at agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Defense, to bargain. Federal employee bargaining law permits collective bargaining for workers at agencies with national security roles as long as their bargaining is not incompatible with national security needs. Moreover, the order includes hundreds of thousands of workers whose roles have little to do with national security, including those who inspect food to prevent outbreaks of disease, conduct research on respiratory hazards faced by mine workers, and keep nuclear power plants safe.
A Trump administration fact sheet released alongside the executive order ending collective bargaining for federal workers said that federal employee unions were “fighting back” against the government’s union-busting agenda by suing the administration to prevent mass layoffs. However, joining together to stand up against employer abuses, such as illegally firing workers, is one of the many reasons workers form unions in the first place and can help serve broader public interests. For example, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) collective bargaining agreements protect employee whistleblowers who have uncovered problems at the agency, such as the mismanagement of veterans’ private information or the illegal restraint of a patient at a VA medical center.
Ending collective bargaining for federal workers hurts not only workers and unions but also the Americans those workers serve.
Trump paralyzed the agency enforcing private sector collective bargaining rights
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enforces worker organizing and collective bargaining laws for most private sector workers in the United States. Even though the NRLB is supposed to be independent, the Trump administration has effectively shut down the agency’s board by firing one of its members.
On January 27, 2025, Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox, chair of the board and one of its three remaining members, meaning the board could no longer meet to make decisions on the cases it was overseeing. By statute, the board is supposed to have five members in total and at least three for a quorum; but without Wilcox, there are only two members remaining, so the board lacks the quorum needed to operate. This means the board is effectively unable to make decisions to enforce labor law, leaving workers in the lurch as they await board decisions regarding their possible firing for organizing activity. Notably, the administration never made any official announcement about firing Wilcox through a press release or on social media, with only a cryptic press release from the NLRB a few days later explaining how board procedures change when the board lacks a quorum.
The legal fight over Wilcox’s firing continues. On May 22, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily allowed her firing to stand, with all three liberal justices offering a dissenting opinion. As a result, the NLRB currently cannot do its job.
On January 27, Trump also fired Jennifer Abruzzo, the NLRB’s general counsel. Since being appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, Abruzzo implemented dozens of policies at the NLRB that strengthen workers’ right to organize. Under Abruzzo’s direction, the agency sought stronger remedies for workers who lost their jobs after being fired for organizing; limited the use of monitoring technologies, including artificial intelligence, to spy on workers; and prevented corporations from trapping workers in noncompete agreements. However, her temporary replacement revoked all of these orders, and Trump’s nominee for her permanent replacement has a history of helping corporations bust unions.
Trump cut the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of workers
The Trump administration scrapped minimum wage protections for hundreds of thousands of private sector workers, opening the door for federal contractors to slash wages for workers across the country and creating chaos for federal contractors who may not know what minimum wage they are required to pay.
The federal government contracts out work to private sector companies to provide goods and services for the public, the military, and the government—from building and maintaining new federal offices to providing uniforms for military service members. For a century, the federal government has been using its contracting system to set a standard for good wages and working conditions for private sector workers on federal contracts, boosting standards through minimum wages on several occasions.
Yet on March 14, 2025, Trump issued an executive order undoing a Biden-era regulation that raised the minimum wage for private sector workers on federal contracts to $17.75 per hour. That Biden administration rule raised the wages of hundreds of thousands of workers: 327,300 workers received a raise, amounting to an average wage increase of $5,228 per year. Moreover, those who benefited from the Biden rule were disproportionately workers without a college degree.
Because of Trump’s new order, corporations working on government contracts are now free to cut wages for hundreds of thousands of workers. Some workers on federal contracts can now be paid a minimum of only $13.30 per hour, as established under an Obama-era rule, meaning they could see pay cuts of up to 25 percent.
Conclusion
DOGE made headlines for firing tens of thousands of government workers, but the Trump administration’s war on workers goes even further to target unions and private sector workers. The administration has ended collective bargaining for more than 1 million federal workers while simultaneously paralyzing a key board responsible for protecting private sector workers and allowing corporations to cut wages for working people on federal contracts. Moreover, the administration is targeting other federal agencies that mediate between private sector workers and businesses; and it has even lifted a ban on imports from a Dominican sugar company accused of using forced labor.
While President Trump may utilize the rhetoric of worker empowerment to claim he is “putting American workers first,” his actions speak louder than his words. Basic protections, such as the right to join a union and minimum wages, are under attack, not just from Elon Musk or DOGE but from the highest levels of the Trump administration.
This article was published by the Center for American Progress.
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