Tag: Trump attack on American workers

Trump’s awful Labor Day trifecta: Attacking workers, Social Security, and government itself

AlterNet logoLabor Day is a holiday designed to honor America’s workers. Instead, Donald Trump continues to attack them. Indeed, his administration is in the midst of a stealth effort that not only attacks workers but also our earned Social Security benefits and our federal government. The long-term goals of Trump and his Congressional allies are to destroy the labor movement, wreck the federal government, and end Social Security.

That may sound hyperbolic, but it is not. Trump’s latest stealth attack is not only anti-union, it will eventually make it so difficult to access Social Security benefits that some beneficiaries (particularly those attempting to qualify for their earned Social Security disability benefits) never receive them at all. Others will eventually claim their benefits, but only after an unnecessarily burdensome process of visiting field offices that are rarely open and have hours-long lines when they are.

For Republicans, that’s all according to plan. Trump and his Congressional allies are intentionally breaking our government so they can turn around and say that it doesn’t work.

View the complete August 30 article from The Washington Monthly on the AlterNet website here.

Trump eliminates pay raises for civilian federal employees

The following article by Lauren Meier was posted on the Axios.com website August 30, 2018:

Credit: Evan Vucci, AP

In a letter sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday, President Trump announced that a majority of civilian federal employees will not receive pay increases next year, undoing the original 2.1% pay increase that was set to take effect in 2019.

The details: The president explained the change is an effort “to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases.” No change has been announced for pay increases of military troops, which are still on track to receive a 2.6% bump according to the Military Times, marking their biggest pay raise since 2009. Congress can effectively reverse the decision by passing a spending bill that includes a federal pay raise.

View the post here.

Trump’s plan to use VA firing practices at other agencies threatens civil service workers — and the public

The following article by Joe Davidson was posted on the Washington Post website February 2, 2018:

President Trump at his first State of the Union address on Tuesday. Credit: Win McNamee/AP

About the only thing President Trump had to say about the federal workforce during his State of the Union address was his call to fire feds faster.

The one time he mentioned “federal employees” was to push his plan to empower agencies “to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people.”

To do that, he wants officials to engage in the same attack on civil service due process rights as the law now allows at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Last year, the Congress passed, and I signed, the landmark VA Accountability Act,” Trump said. “Since its passage, my administration has already removed more than 1,500 VA employees who failed to give our veterans the care they deserve — and we are hiring talented people who love our vets as much as we do.” Continue reading “Trump’s plan to use VA firing practices at other agencies threatens civil service workers — and the public”