"They Will Attack Every Organized Worker in America"

"Donald Trump is no friend of organized labor. Nor is Trump a friend of federal workers-or the unions that represent them. In fact, on March 27, the president issued an executive order demanding that most federal agencies terminate their union contracts. The president claimed he had the power to suspend collective bargaining for national security reasons-sparking ongoing legal and legislative battles."

"That has put Everett Kelley, who heads the nation's largest federal union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), at the center of the most far-reaching and consequential union struggle that is playing out on this contentious Labor Day. Representing 820,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia, AFGE is battling to protect not just the jobs of its members, but services for the great mass of Americans"

"As Labor Day approached, The Nation spoke with Kelley-an Army veteran and Baptist preacher who worked for decades at an Anniston, Alabama, Army depot, before becoming the president of his union and a national vice president of the AFL-CIO-about how workers are struggling to survive Trump's war on the working class."

A presidential executive order demanded termination of most federal agency union contracts, with a claim of national-security authority to suspend collective bargaining, prompting legal and legislative battles. The order and allied privatization efforts have worsened conditions for hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers. Everett Kelley leads the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers, and is central to large-scale union resistance. AFGE is fighting to protect members’ jobs and essential public services against privatization and attacks on labor rights. The struggle is framed as a broader defense of the working class.

Read at The Nation