Workers lead during continued crises
While some federal workers are returning to work after the longest government shutdown in American history (and the third under Trump’s leadership), others are still on administrative leave or permanently laid off. When their work days finally begin again, many are prohibited from performing their duties to the public or silenced for speaking up. Departments are operating with skeleton crews or budget restrictions or both. The invisible victims of the shutdown–service workers, custodians, and security guards that keep federal workplaces running–are not guaranteed back pay for the weeks of work missed. The government may be back open, but the cruelty continues.
Labor Day 2025 in photos
This Labor Day, more than 500,000 workers, families, unions, and community members came together to demand a country that puts #WorkersOverBillionaires. From coast to coast, JwJ coalitions joined marches, protests, caravans, and more.
Conversations from the field: An interview with Chicago jobs with justice
Chicago Jobs with Justice has mobilized labor and community leaders to show up in solidarity for federal workers by hosting a variety of Workers’ Right Board hearings. Learn how they’re building relationships, educating communities, and supporting federal workers under attack by the Trump regime and Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Waffle House Workers: “We’re fed TF up!”
Last month, workers at the Windy Hill Waffle House in Marietta, GA went on strike. The strike kicked off with a march on Waffle House corporate HQ outside of Atlanta. Workers delivered their strike notice and a letter demanding the same safe working conditions afforded to employees on Waffle House’s corporate campus.
An Attack on Democracy in Action
On Thursday, March 27, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order to strip collective bargaining rights from federal employees. This attack on decades-honored workers’ rights is yet another attempt to fully dismantle our democracy, attack worker leaders and their unions, and install an oligarchy led by Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
DOGE Destruction
The current escalation against federal workers and the services they provide is not new. While Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is the latest and most extreme effort, this is actually the result of a decades-long coordinated assault by a wealthy and powerful few. Attacks on federal workers are rooted in a simple, and sometimes bipartisan, playbook: defund agencies, destroy essential services, and demonize workers.