WASHINGTON—The largest union of federal employees is pushing for an end to the government shutdown, dealing a major blow to Democrats as the funding fight drags on.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers, on Monday <a href="https://www.afge.org/article/its-past-time-to-end-this-shutdown/">urged</a> the Senate to approve a “clean” continuing resolution to end the stalemate. The union, usually a dependable Democratic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-aligned-union-breaks-ranks-demands-end-to-govt-shutdown?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Dem-Aligned+Union+Breaks+Ranks%2C+Demands+End+To+Govt+Shutdown">stalwart,</a> all but endorsed Republicans&#8217; plans to end the shutdown in a statement.
“It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said, calling the shutdown “an avoidable crisis that is harming families, communities, and the very institutions that hold our country together.”
Kelley did not lay blame with either party, but did call for the Senate to pass a &#8220;clean&#8221; continuing resolution — which Republicans have called for from the beginning of the shutdown fight.
About 1.4 million federal workers missed a paycheck last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a press conference Monday morning, urging Senate Democrats to approve the House-passed continuing resolution.
Johnson added that the House had “done its work” by passing the measure a month ago.
“The Army nurse in San Antonio, the TSA officer in Atlanta, the USDA food safety inspector in Iowa, and hundreds of thousands more like them are being asked to keep our country running without the paychecks that keep their own households afloat,&#8221; Kelley said.
Kelley said the workers are &#8220;patriotic Americans – parents, caregivers, and veterans – forced to work without pay while struggling to cover rent, groceries, gas and medicine because of political disagreements in Washington. That is unacceptable.&#8221;
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said AFGE calling for an end to the shutdown “has a lot of impact,&#8221; Semafor&#8217;s Burgess Everett <a href="https://x.com/burgessev/status/1982902515013186033">reported</a> on X.
“It’s something we will be discussing this week,&#8221; Durbin told the outlet. &#8220;I’m not announcing any change in my position at this time. They&#8217;re our friends. We take them seriously.”
Bloomberg News reporter Erik Wasson <a href="https://x.com/elwasson/status/1982857696937496756">reportedly</a> asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about the union’s statement, but Schumer declined to comment.
The House Freedom Caucus weighed in Monday on X, responding to an NBC report on the union’s stance.
“It’s a bad day for Chuck Schumer when even the AFGE…a union that routinely endorses and supports Democrats…sees how bizarre the Democrats’ position is,” the caucus <a href="https://x.com/freedomcaucus/status/1982858175117484057">wrote on X.</a>
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told The Daily Wire that AFGE is “rightly calling Democrats out on their political games, and hopefully Senate Democrats will listen.”
“Lawmakers are sent to Washington to govern, but Democrats seem to think their job is to obstruct the agenda of the President of the United States and to jeopardize the livelihoods of the American people,” Emmer said.
Emmer said Americans on “both sides of the aisle are seeing right through the Democrats’ lies and they will be held accountable for their hostage tactics.”
Democrat Sen. John Fetterman (PA) said <a href="https://x.com/SenFettermanPA/status/1982809715831628084">on X</a> that AFGE is “firmly on the right side of this and we should absolutely listen.”
“Our servicemembers, federal workers, and Capitol Police are hurting. It’s one of many reasons why I’ve continuously voted to open our government. We need to end this chaos,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman sided with Republicans on the House-passed continuing resolution to reopen the government, as did Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Angus King (I-ME).
This week, many politicians have highlighted the looming November 1 expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which will affect more than 42 million people.
The SNAP <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program">website</a> currently cites Democrats for failing to reopen the government, stating, “Bottom line, the well has run dry.”
There are currently discussions of a potential bill to pay “certain” federal workers between Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), as reported by <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1982861472968376606">Punchbowl News</a>.
As of Monday evening, a spokesman for Johnson’s office confirmed talks are “ongoing.”
On the Senate floor Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer <a href="https://x.com/AmberJoCooper/status/1982908995909382282">claimed</a> the Trump administration is “making an intentional choice not to fund SNAP this weekend.”
“The emergency funding is there — the administration is just choosing not to use it. And for those who say the money can’t be moved around so easily, that’s a load of bunk. If the administration can cough up $40 billion for Argentina, they can find money for SNAP by this Saturday,” Schumer said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) <a href="https://x.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/1982893996847555019">maintained</a> that the Senate can reopen the government this week if five “courageous” Democrats vote with them, adding there will be another opportunity to vote to reopen in the coming days.

Federal Employees Hold Rally Calling For End Of Government Shutdown

‘It’s A Bad Day For Chuck Schumer’: Dems Waver As Fed Union Calls For End To Shutdown

Chuck Schumer

Federal Government

Government Shutdown

John Thune

Labor Unions

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation’s largest federal workers’ union, is once again applying political pressure in Washington, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/afge-largest-federal-workers-union-end-shutdown-rcna239767">demanding</a> that Democrats abandon their current negotiating stance and pass a clean funding measure to end the government shutdown.
AFGE President Everett Kelley, whose union represents more than 800,000 federal and D.C. government employees, urged Congress to reopen the government immediately under a short-term continuing resolution and ensure full back pay for federal employees, both those who have been furloughed and those forced to work without pay.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The federal employees’ union is no friend of President Trump and even they agree: pass a clean CR and reopen the government.
Democrats’ political posturing needs to end. <a href="https://t.co/BU2H8N35qb">https://t.co/BU2H8N35qb</a>
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) <a href="https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1982811195775070387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship. Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today,” Kelley said in a <a href="https://www.afge.org/article/its-past-time-to-end-this-shutdown/">statement.</a>
“Senate Democrats have insisted that they won’t vote to reopen the government without a commitment from Republicans and President Donald Trump on extending health care subsidies through the Affordable Care Act, which are set to expire at the end of the year,” NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/afge-largest-federal-workers-union-end-shutdown-rcna239767">noted</a>.
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While AFGE frames the shutdown as a purely humanitarian issue, the union has a long history of political alignment with the Democratic Party. It endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and has participated in Democratic-aligned protests, including demonstrations against President Donald Trump. AFGE has also taken legal action to enforce its agenda, suing over Trump-era mass layoffs and claiming partisan messaging unfairly blamed Democrats for previous shutdowns. AFGE also has a <a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/labor-union/american-federation-of-government-employees/">checkered past</a>, with numerous officials convicted or pleading guilty to corruption offenses.
Kelley’s statement portrays federal workers as innocent victims caught in political crossfire, highlighting employees from the TSA, the Army, and the USDA who are working without pay while struggling to cover basic expenses. “These are patriotic Americans—parents, caregivers, and veterans—forced to work without pay because of political disagreements in Washington. That is unacceptable,” Kelley wrote.
The union’s demand for a “clean” continuing resolution — without conditions or policy negotiations — effectively undercuts Democrats’ negotiating leverage and aligns with Republicans’ repeated calls to fund the government immediately. As the standoff approaches a full month, AFGE’s demands illustrate the growing tension between the federal workforce and the Democratic Party.

Trump ‘Crypto Week’ Advances As House Conservatives End Blockade

Dem-Aligned Union Breaks Ranks, Demands End To Govt Shutdown

Democratic Party

General

Politics

After a weekend in which at least 52 people were shot and seven died in his city, Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson shouted to the crowd at a Labor Day Rally that they had to defend themselves from President Donald Trump’s intention to clean things up.
On August 22, President Trump signaled he might intervene in Chicago as he had in Washington, D.C., <a href="https://www.fox19.com/2025/08/22/stay-out-our-city-chicago-officials-slam-trumps-threat-target-city-next-crime-crackdown/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">telling</a> reporters, “I think Chicago will be our next. … And then we’ll help with New York.” The following day, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/23/trump-chicago-military-national-guard/">reported</a> that the Pentagon had been planning a military deployment to Chicago for weeks. On August 26, Trump escalated his rhetoric, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OVoa6OkxLWM">declaring</a>, “Everybody knows Chicago is a hellhole right now.”
Under Johnson, Chicago experienced <a href="https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-crime-numbers-johnson-releases-2024-stats-touts-citys-progress.amp?utm_source=chatgpt.com">572 homicides</a> in 2024, making it the deadliest U.S. city by total homicides for the 13th consecutive year.
“No federal troops in the city of Chicago,” Johnson yelled to the crowd. “No militarized force in the city of Chicago. We’re going to defend our democracy in the city of Chicago. We’re going to protect the humanity of every single person in the city of Chicago. And we got the baddest freaking labor movement in the city of Chicago, birthed right here.”
Johnson then threatened, “We’re gonna take this fight across America but we gotta defend our home front first.”
He then launched into a paean to the labor movement and DEI rhetoric, yelling:
<blockquote>
The best way we can defend our home front is to make sure that every single worker has a livable wage. That’s why we abolished the sub-minimum wage in Chicago for brown and black women. They get raises on top of their tips. This is the city of Chicago, where we have given paid time off for over a million workers, ten days off, the biggest city in America to ever do it. This is the labor movement, you all, on pace to build more affordable units, a teachers’ contract that protects black women, a teachers’ contract that protects LGBTQ community, the teacher contract that protects immigrants. This is the greatest freaking city in the world. We’re Chi-town.
</blockquote>
“Now look, there are some people that have doubts in the labor movement. There are some people who believe that we don’t have the power to beat authoritarianism. But I’m also a history teacher as well. We have stood up for the interests of workers before and we will do it again, and no matter what comes from the White House, Chicago will always be a labor town. Are you with me, Chicago?” he declared.
After having mentioned he had been a history teacher, he promptly falsified history, saying, “Are you prepared to defend this land, this land that was built by slaves, a land that was built by indigenous people, a land that was built by workers, are you prepared to defend this land? The people, united, will always prevail.”
He turned back to Trump: “I need you all to stand firm, to stand strong if this president decides to continue to break this Constitution, it’s gonna be the labor movement that stitches it back together, the labor movement that brings black folks, white folks, Asians; it brings brown folks together. This is a city that said, ‘Keep hope alive,’ the city that birthed, ‘Yes we can,’ and the city that will defend this country.”
On Tuesday, Trump wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115134530741891730">Truth Social</a>:
<blockquote>
At least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, 8 people were killed. The last two weekends were similar. Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far. Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet. I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC. Chicago will be safe again, and soon. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! He <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115134772860379495">added</a>, &#8220;CHICAGO IS THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xgEM6_uu_ww?si=7Cw08hpg4x00jR0a" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></blockquote>

Labor Day Rally And March Held In Chicago

Chicago Mayor Calls On Organized Labor To ‘Defend’ City From Trump

Brandon Johnson

Chicago

Crime

Donald Trump

Illinois

While the vast majority of Americans who dwell outside the ivory tower may roll their eyes at the crazed, fanatical politics that have festered at many college campuses across the country, this extremism hits much closer to home for level-headed college students and faculty. Recently, the Trump Administration has been using its control over federal education grants to push back against campus radicalism at some of America’s most elite universities.
Yet still untouched is the massive power that the Obama and Biden Administrations granted to campus union bosses who are frequently at the center of the most extreme and sometimes even violent so-called “activism” taking place at universities. It is time that Trump appointees go to work to fix it.
You see, currently, union bosses on dozens of campuses across the country are exercising government-granted powers that require unwilling graduate students to associate with (and often subsidize) campus unions. College administrators are also forced to “negotiate” with these union officials over campus policies, including discipline for violent campus agitators.
Those unfamiliar with labor law might wonder how union officials obtained such clout on college campuses in the first place – aren’t graduate students students, and not workers on a production line?
It all traces back to controversial rulings by the Obama and Biden National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which handed union bosses the power to obtain monopoly “representation” power over graduate and doctoral students. In states that lack Right to Work protections, that power includes forcing students to pay union dues.
This means union bosses can upend graduate students’ academic careers if they refuse to fund a group whose ideology they find abhorrent, which threatens both academic freedom and religious freedom on campus.
<div id="attachment_967075" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-967075" class="size-large wp-image-967075" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-864x576.jpg" alt="ITHACA, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 3: People walk through the Cornell University campus on November 3, 2023 in Ithaca, New York. The university canceled classes after one of its students is accused of making violent antisemitic threats. (Photo by Matt Burkhartt/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Matt Burkhartt/Getty Images</div>
Take the case of David Rubinstein, a Ph.D. student in history at Cornell University whose research concerns the postwar Jewish diaspora in Europe. David, who is Jewish, wants as little as possible to do with the Cornell Graduate Student Union (CGSU-UE, an affiliate of the United Electrical union), knowing union officials’ virulent opposition to Israel and affinity for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
But when David exercised his right under federal law and demanded an accommodation to union dues payment based on his religious beliefs, union officials refused. They harassed Rubinstein and other religious objectors with unnecessary and illegal “questionnaires” that demanded they divulge particulars about their religious practice, their faith organizations, and faith leaders. As a result, with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, David is pursuing a federal civil rights case challenging CGSU-UE’s illegal tactics.
Numerous graduate students at other campuses have similarly needed to take legal action just to get campus union bosses to respect their legal rights. Yet graduate students shouldn’t need to jump through union-created hoops and tangle with union lawyers just to pursue a graduate degree in the first place.
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Fortunately, a more comprehensive solution is on the horizon. Russell Burgett, another Ph.D. student from Cornell, recently launched a groundbreaking NLRB case to strike at the heart of union bosses’ monopoly bargaining powers on campuses. A victory for him would free any dissenting graduate student – whether their opposition is political, religious, financial, or otherwise – from having their academic fates dictated by union apparatchiks.
His Foundation-backed case argues that Obama and Biden NLRB appointees were wrong to “reinterpret” federal law to allow union officials to collectivize graduate students. Nothing in the statute’s plain text suggests that students, whose primary reason for being on campus is to pursue a degree, should be included in the National Labor Relations Act’s definition of “employees.”
If he wins, militant campus union bosses would be stripped of their government-granted powers that let them dragoon unwilling students into their ranks, while also freeing administrators of their current obligation to “negotiate” with union boss radicals over the conditions of all graduate students.
President Trump is currently staffing up his NLRB. He should ensure his appointees get to work quickly on ending the monopoly “representation” and forced-dues powers that previous administrations improperly handed to campus extremists.
* * *
Mark Mix is president of the National Right to Work Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Cornell University, College Town, Ithaca, NY, stone entrance sign with red Geraniums

For Grad Students, Labor Day Needs To Be Liberation Day From Radical Campus Union Bosses

American Universities

Anti-Semitism

Boycott Divest Sanction

Leftists

Obama Administration

Opinion

President Trump

Unions

Templates (4)

Trump Is Making Major Concessions To Union Bosses. Is It Worth It?

Department of Labor

One of the nation’s leading labor unions has been at the forefront in the fight against Immigration and Customs Enforcement since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. But one of the union’s affiliates is the largest shareholder in a bank that has invested nearly $10 million in companies that contract with ICE, equipping agents for raids and managing illegal alien detention facilities.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its affiliate, Workers United, have both vocally opposed ICE&#8217;s immigration enforcement operations. The SEIU joined recent <a href="https://www.seiu721.org/2025/06/seiu-721-joins-allies-to-launch-the-summer-of-resistance.php">protests</a> against ICE in Los Angeles and <a href="https://act.seiu.org/a/end-ice-raids-now">railed</a> against the “ICE terror machine.” The union’s anti-ICE activism hit a fever pitch after SEIU leader David Huerta was arrested by federal agents and <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5340866-labor-chief-huerta-charged-ice-raid/">charged</a> with conspiracy to impede an officer after he allegedly attempted to prevent federal authorities from executing a search warrant in Los Angeles.
Workers United has <a href="https://workersunited.org/joint-boards/laundry-distribution-and-food-service-joint-board">said</a> that it is “committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform that allows all immigrant workers to live and work without fear,&#8221; and the Starbucks Workers United division has <a href="https://x.com/SBWorkersUnited/status/1932179453637206041">called for</a> “an end to the ICE raids.”
Workers United is also the single largest shareholder in Amalgamated Bank, an ideologically-driven financial institution that <a href="https://www.amalgamatedbank.com/csr">parrots</a> left-wing talking points on climate change and the diversity agenda and <a href="https://www.amalgamatedbank.com/our-story">brands itself</a> “America’s socially responsible bank.” The SEIU affiliate owns 40% of Amalgamated Bank, <a href="https://www.amalgamatedbank.com/news/labor-of-love">according to</a> the financial institution. The bank even boasted that the top five Democratic presidential campaigns banked with Amalgamated during the 2020 election season.
But first quarter 2025 <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/919192/000091919225000004/xslForm13F_X02/form_f13_data_20250331.xml">disclosures</a> filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that the bank is invested in at least four companies that contract with ICE or Border Patrol.
The bank held over $1.1 million worth of shares in the GEO Group, which &#8220;operates special-purpose, state-of-the-art residential centers on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” <a href="https://www.geogroup.com/ice/">according</a> to the group&#8217;s website.
The bank’s longstanding investment in the GEO Group appears to have been particularly profitable, with the stock increasing in value by nearly 85% since the last quarter of 2022.
The SEC disclosure indicates that Amalgamated Bank held roughly $633,000 in CoreCivic, which <a href="https://www.corecivic.com/private-detention">calls itself</a> “a longstanding federal government partner that operates immigration detention facilities.”
Of the top 20 ICE detention centers by detainee population as of January, Amalgamated Bank was invested in 13 of them because it owns shares of the GEO Group and CoreCivic, research from the Center for Union Facts indicates.
&#8220;Workers United has backed high-profile organizing campaigns by riding the wave of young workers&#8217; progressive ideals,” said the Center for Union Facts&#8217; Communications Director Charlyce Bozzello. “But behind the union’s carefully crafted image as a social justice warrior lies hypocrisy the union doesn&#8217;t publicize. It’s time workers and the public take a hard look at what this union really stands for.&#8221;
Amalgamated Bank also held more than $8.1 million worth of shares in Axon Enterprises, which was <a href="https://www.federalcompass.com/award-contract-detail/70CMSW23D00000003">awarded</a> a multimillion-dollar federal contract to provide ICE agents with tasers. The bank held another $27,000 worth of shares in Cadre Holdings, which does business with <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=063411641715ddcf41ef7df21aaf07d0">ICE</a> and <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70B03C18F00000197_7014_HSBP1015D00020_7014">Customs and Border Protection</a>, supplying the federal government with riot control equipment under the brand names “Safariland” and “Aardvark.”
Workers United, SEIU, and Amalgamated Bank did not respond to requests for comment.

US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-ICE

This Labor Union Keeps Slamming ICE. But It Has A Financial Interest In ICE Detention Centers.

deportation

Immigration

Los Angeles

Protest

At last week’s House hearing on rising antisemitism in higher education, lawmakers<a href="http://email.fairnesscenter.org/c/eJwcy8FqAyEQANCv0VsXnVF3PHgIlECvpZceZxxtlqRJ2Zhd8velvT54WmLOKt224ueImLKHbE8FJfUkXUjJzzMl1MotROk9hhRB7FLAQXQzBB8ihTz52VWGnCQqMEA2wXVe1mu732u7jrZOt_XLXsppjJ-7wYOBo4Hjvu_T8_YYD2lTvX3_CY96MnjcDL5-vLzTdj58tvObXctYl9pMcMrL5bkv6_-wowSs3KXXQK2TY0FxSK5F7TR71mpHYcqaREQVKIQECN5nYO8YEwmq3Qr8BgAA___o1U-Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> confronted</a> UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons about me, an Israeli Jewish scientist suing my own labor union, the United Auto Workers, for antisemitic discrimination.
I was encouraged when Lyons said that he personally opposes the anti-Israel “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” (BDS) movement that the UAW supports. But taking on a powerful labor union — one that represents 48,000 workers across the University of California system — will require more than just words.
The union’s anti-Israel agenda includes much more than just support for the BDS movement. If Lyons is serious about preserving the safety and academic freedom of Jewish students and scholars, he must understand the central role the union played in stoking the atmosphere of fear Jews are experiencing across the UC system.
My campus became a hostile place for Jews after October 7. Instead of defusing the situation, Union officials added fuel to the fire by releasing a statement<a href="http://email.fairnesscenter.org/c/eJwUyTFu7iAMAODTwBiBMcQMDG_JPQw270f6m1SENurtq86flJiz1G61-D2GkLKHbF9FUJV67CSeAELjTJKya901jLh7Owo4iG4H9BgJ8-Z31xhyqlGAAbJB13nMU--76bl0btf8b9_ltdbnbcI_A4eB44sfoBT_zMDRlG_tY-p5PQYOO8uao6lBJzzeP8-YurXrw66CoXGvvSFpJ8c1VBfIaZROu2dpdhWmLKnWKgKEmCCA9xnYOw6JahD7XeA3AAD__6QoSuw" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> condemning</a> Israel and encouraging members to attend anti-Israel rallies and encampments.
To me, it was like a knife in the back.
Union officials even established a “union village” within one anti-Israel encampment, a show of solidarity with the camped-out protesters. Their tents sat in the same encampment with banners reading “Glory to the martyrs” and “Student Intifada,” signaling that the union’s muscle and reputation were aligned with those celebrating the October 7 attacks.
I believed the union was contributing to the deteriorating environment for Jews and thought I could be a force for reconciliation. So I joined the UAW as a dues-paying member to engage in dialogue.
Instead, the union treated me as a second-class member. I was excluded from union working groups and cut out of union communications. When I or other Jewish members tried to speak at union meetings, we were mocked, insulted, and shouted down.
Even more unsettling, I discovered that a union committee had created a document called “Who Rules the University of California?” that listed members of UC Berkeley’s Board of Regents who were Jewish or had any connection to Israel. Later, members of an anti-Israel graduate student group allegedly <a href="http://email.fairnesscenter.org/c/eJwUzjGu4yAQgOHTQIcFA9hQUGzjewwwvLByIAJerOzpVyn_6v9ysN7nWDgFdVitd6_A80dwlHIqvihFlJ1L3hi1-0NGi5KSB14DSLDyAKOMdcZv6pAJwe_RZkAAz4wsWEejORO1RWPr44df4bHWazL9h8HJ4Lzve7tw1SfNLfUngzPhVUsfrSKDc64-PgzO70tIENIyOH-TGPRDbYm_-BHzd9CcIg5q6-49i0d_knhjy3jVf5TFa3Txwovmqq1i-_aiuWhMPsIaNREzMmO9Pncd9FXwFYxOWGJJxlFxEqOOUjtJNhd3KMyJr4DO5z3GmDM4Y3bQoJQHVBL17qLO_B3gfwAAAP__R1pu5Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vandalized</a> the home of Regent Jonathan Sures, who was named on the union’s list.
At UC Berkeley, UAW officials are taking steps to use the collective bargaining process to demand that the school eliminate programs and partnerships with the smallest ties to Israel, including those that have nothing to do with the Israeli government or military.
University administrators must not give in. As I saw firsthand in union meetings, the core of the union’s anti-Israel agenda is to delegitimize Jewish ties to Israel and push Israelis — even members of their own union — out of the UC research community. If its demands are met, it would threaten programs across the UC system that enable Israelis to pursue their academic careers.
I felt that the discrimination that my Israeli colleagues and I experienced became a culture of antisemitism. When I raised my concerns to union leadership, they refused to address them.
The message was clear: Jews were not welcome.
In January, I filed a <a href="http://email.fairnesscenter.org/c/eJxkzT1uxCAQQOHTQGc0DIOBgiJare-QcvjLWvLalk3Wye2jrVO_J30l2hBKarJG7awxY9AY5CMSZDIupWYzaGpgKmfnagi6JZdGknNEQAsOSZP1FJR2kBnDmGxBRgyCoPF8rPU8c117PdR2fMklPnrfT2E-BE4Cp-u61P_tHfYhb2uvaxc4fe_LxuUUOL1RgRNogdMnr_NruN-mQQ-37bkvPK99uP-cagCtkBRatZcmj9iPOVdBUHhefq_5qCpvT9kjmcwttUy-Ng-cTALjodrSvNNcsuyRfShjSqkU9EQjGtQ6IGtgM_pkinxF_AsAAP__HOBhQw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal lawsuit</a> with the help of the Fairness Center, a nonprofit law firm, arguing that the UAW discriminated against me on the basis of my race, religion, and nationality — in violation of both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and California law.
Far from backing down, the union urged the court to issue a protective order preventing me from publicly disclosing the identities of the union members and officials involved in my discrimination claims.
The same union that I’m suing for discrimination wants to bar me from speaking about what happened to me and who is responsible.
With anti-Israel sentiment growing at American colleges and universities — there have been<a href="http://email.fairnesscenter.org/c/eJwUzDGy4yAMANDTQBePkIQNBcU2vocAsWHWsTM2-z25_Z80r3w1-RhrblaTWzzRHB1G-0yRS6SZmyvaNDhuWaCQRE-LVK1qe0JADwuyYx84Tm6BIhjn7CsKYjQMTfq563UV3Yee03H-tVt6jvG-DP0xuBpc7_ue3sfWRy_HVI6XwXXX-zK4IiAbXOELOoPr__LIev7TTT8P2Ue_9NVHv14PAOeJZ7JnGmcvahiq9O1z91O_px2JqUjLrXDQFkAyZaAA6msLi5Na7EgSYp1zzrViYJ6R0LmI4kBoDpmq_Un4GwAA__-B0ln2" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> multiple</a> documented<a href="http://email.fairnesscenter.org/c/eJwUzjGO6yAQANDTQIcFA9hQUPzG9xhgiPnrxRGQWLn9KvVrXg7W-xwLp6A2q_XqFXh-hKgNWUpUJG4QcYU1YnKlZPTkvTW8BpBg5QZGGeuMX9QmE4Jfo82AAJ4ZWbD2RmMkapP6cvUHP8Mx53Mw_Y_BzmC_73tJcTS6x5KuXwb7wFY6tlRHuhjsX2Gw_6e7jkO8kojUf-ikjxjzlalN0SnheQ5RCHttD1GuLg7q4qyFxH1QE89-TRqT-hC5jv56TsqC3tQmg533MHtNxIzMWM_PXTt9K3wGoxOWWJJxVJzEqKPUTpLNxW0Kc-IzoPN5jTHmDM6YFTQo5QGVRL26qDN_B_gLAAD__6g2cus" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> cases</a> of harassment and assault of Jews and Israelis post-Oct. 7 on my campus alone — it all has taken an immense toll on me and my Israeli and Jewish friends.
Why stay and continue dealing with a union that seems to hate me? Because someone needs to hold the union accountable. I’m a microbiologist, not an activist. But I’m fed up — not only for me, but for my Jewish and Israeli colleagues who deserve to pursue their academic careers free from discrimination.
I applaud lawmakers who are shining a light on these abuses. I never imagined I’d feel unsafe as a scientist working in America. But that’s my reality, and it’s a warning for Israeli Jews working in higher education.
American universities have long welcomed scholars from around the world to contribute their knowledge. But when labor unions abandon their members and claim that alleged illegal discrimination is just politics, Jews may have no choice but to take our talents elsewhere.
Karin Yaniv is an Israeli Jew and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Ceasefire News Conference

How Unions Are Quietly Fueling Campus Antisemitism

antisemitism

Auto workers

House of Representatives

University of California Berkeley

In 2023, the Teamsters signed a massive deal with UPS to guarantee a fleet of air-conditioned trucks.
“Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS. This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien <a href="https://teamster.org/2023/08/teamsters-ratify-historic-ups-contract/">boasted</a> at the time. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry.&#8221;
He may have started celebrating too early.
As temperatures climbed last month, the Teamsters sent a furious letter to UPS demanding information on the whereabouts of the air-conditioned vehicles.
“How does UPS expect to actually deliver 20,000 or more air-conditioned package cars and vans over the next two years, when the delivery giant is already so far behind?&#8221; O&#8217;Brien <a href="https://teamster.org/2025/06/teamsters-request-ups-data-on-heat-protections-overtime-violations-staffing/">demanded</a>. “The summer heat beating down on our members is no joke. UPS is playing a dangerous game with the lives of thousands of essential American workers.&#8221;
UPS, meanwhile, seems to have different concerns.
For years, the company has been focused on <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/ups-sustainability-and-social-impact-report/delivering-for-our-planet.html">replacing</a> its fleet with so-called green vehicles. A few years ago, UPS <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/sustainability/sustainable-services/electric-vehicles---about-ups.html">pledged</a> to make 40% of its vehicles use &#8220;alternative fuel&#8221; by 2025. So far, UPS <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/ups-sustainability-and-social-impact-report/delivering-for-our-planet.html">says</a> it uses more than 1,000 electric or hybrid vehicles.
Drivers blasting their air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat probably doesn&#8217;t help the shipping giant&#8217;s goal of reaching &#8220;carbon neutrality by 2050.&#8221;
But that doesn&#8217;t matter to the Teamsters.
The 2023 deal pledges at least 28,000 package vans and cars with air conditioning, prioritizing workers in the country&#8217;s blisteringly hot areas. The Teamsters&#8217; contract covers nearly 340,000 of the union&#8217;s 1.3 million workers.
&#8220;With oppressive summer heat already affecting major parts of the country, exceeding 100 degrees as far north as New York, Zone 1 workers in the hottest southern states like Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are still waiting for UPS to honor its legal and contractual obligations on heat protections,&#8221; the union <a href="https://teamster.org/2025/06/teamsters-request-ups-data-on-heat-protections-overtime-violations-staffing/">said</a> in a press release last week.
This is not the first time unions have found themselves at odds with green energy policies. The United Auto Workers — another major labor union — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/18/epa-electric-vehicles-car-rules/">opposed</a> President Joe Biden&#8217;s electric vehicle mandate, saying a rapid shift to electric vehicles would cost union jobs. At the time, UAW President Shawn Fain withheld the union&#8217;s endorsement from Biden until it could extract concessions from the administration.
Now, a major Democratic policy has once again alienated one of the party&#8217;s biggest constituent groups.
The Teamsters are demanding &#8220;all available data&#8221; on the status of the new air-conditioned vehicles. So far, UPS has only delivered 10%, the union claims.
The deal also promised 22,500 full-time jobs, another pain point for the Teamsters. Yet another issue is UPS&#8217;s slow response to grievances about overtime violations, according to the union.
“We are halfway into our union’s national contract and the Teamsters are gravely concerned that UPS is not living up to its end of the deal,” O’Brien said.
“In so many ways — from the painfully slow delivery of air-conditioned vehicles to overworking our rank-and-file and failing to provide up-to-date information on new job opportunities — UPS has a lot of catching up to do to honor this agreement,&#8221; the union boss said. &#8220;The weather is getting worse, but still our members show up every single day to ensure this company remains the best in the business. The Teamsters’ patience with UPS mismanagement is wearing thin.”
Quite a different tone than two years ago. Best of luck to the sweaty drivers stuck between their woke company and blustering union!

UPS Workers On Verge Of Strike

UPS Push For Electric Trucks Leaves Drivers Sweating — And Unions Furious

Climate Change

Representative Rick Allen (R-GA) introduced the Employee Rights Act (ERA) of 2025 on Thursday, seeking to reform labor unions and support workers&#8217; rights. The legislation, Allen claims, will provide privacy for unionized workers, allow workers to opt out of union representation, and harmonize existing labor laws.
Allen collaborated with F. Vincent Vernuccio – the president and co-founder of labor advocacy group Institute for the American Worker (I4AW) – to write an <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/3454318/now-is-the-time-to-empower-workers-and-improve-unions/">op-ed</a> in the Washington Examiner explaining his bill.
Referencing the One Big Beautiful Bill, Allen said, &#8220;While the forthcoming tax cuts and spending reforms will deliver even more results, Congress also needs to modernize federal law to empower workers and improve labor unions to deliver a 21st-century economy that benefits the working class.&#8221;
Among other outcomes, the bill will allow unionized workers to choose what personal information their union can access, decide whether they are represented by a union in right-to-work states, and have the choice to opt-in to non-union-related spending.
Allen said, &#8220;It also enables workers to opt in to union political spending on an annual basis, undoing the current system in which workers are automatically forced to fund political activities they may personally oppose.&#8221;
&#8220;Perhaps most importantly, the Employee Rights Act eliminates loopholes that can distract unions from faithfully representing workers’ needs and wishes,&#8221; Allen said. &#8220;It prohibits DEI provisions in collective bargaining agreements, ensuring all workers are treated equally. It ends the judicially created exemption for union-related violence and extortion, so that such illegal acts are treated appropriately under federal law.&#8221;
The ERA hopes to reform the National Labor Relations Board, which, in recent years, is <a href="https://i4aw.org/news/employers-have-the-right-to-inform-their-workers-about-the-impact-of-unionization/">reported</a> to have pursued overreaching regulations that may harm both unionized and non-unionized laborers.
Allen also hopes to use the bill to adjust the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which gives citizens the right to organize trade unions and engage in collective bargaining.
&#8220;The Employee Rights Act has long enjoyed strong support among Republicans in both the House and Senate, to say nothing of the overwhelming majority of Americans,&#8221; Allen said.
Allen concluded by saying, &#8220;With the GOP holding Congress and the White House, it deserves consideration as soon as possible. President Donald Trump is already delivering for working Americans. Truly empowering workers and improving unions will help them rise and thrive for future generations.&#8221;

Men in Hardhats

Georgia Rep Introduces Bill To ‘Empower Workers’ Against Unions

Congress

Economy

Georgia

In April, President Trump imposed global reciprocal tariffs on the United States’ trading partners, invoking his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, to address the national <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/">emergency</a> posed by the large and persistent trade deficit” driven by the lack of reciprocity in the country’s trade relationship.
President Trump also wanted to see jobs and factories come “<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/trump-wants-us-to-make-things-again-but-is-it-ready-for-the-challenge-125060400675_1.html">roaring back</a>” to the United States.
The idea that the United States can become a manufacturing powerhouse is an attractive one, to politicians on both sides of the aisle. After all, who would not be in favor of economic revitalization, new jobs, improved security, and economic independence? However, America’s ability to establish manufacturing dominance faces insurmountable challenges… unless we are smart about the industries we “bring home.”
Historically, the United States has never been a true manufacturing superpower.
Manufacturing employment in the United States peaked in 1979, with nearly 20 million workers employed in the “manufacturing sector.” Over the next four decades, manufacturing entered a structural decline, and the United States transitioned to a service-oriented economy. By 2020, “the <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/insights/exploring-us-manufacturing#:~:text=In%201979%2C%20U.S.%20employment%20in,a%20more%20service%2Doriented%20economy.">service</a> sector dominated the economy,” accounting for 79% of the nation&#8217;s Gross Domestic Product, up from 52% in 1950, and represented 80% of the nation’s total employment. In 2025, fewer than 13 million <a href="https://nam.org/mfgdata/facts-about-manufacturing-expanded/">workers</a> were in the manufacturing sector.
The challenges for the United States to become a manufacturing superpower are many and complex.
First, the country simply does not have the labor pool to do so. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/04/adp-jobs-report-may-2025-.html">unemployment</a> rate in May 2025, the latest data available, was approximately 4.2%, near full employment.
The labor <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/data/widget">participation</a> rate is running at 62.6%, which is well below the 67+ percent <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/191734/us-civilian-labor-force-participation-rate-since-1990/">rate</a> seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but not low enough to indicate there is a bench of workers waiting to enter the job market and join the manufacturing sector.
In addition, our labor force is one of the highest-paid in the world. In the United States, the average hourly <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">wage</a> of a “nonsupervisory manufacturing employee” is approximately $28.80. In 2020, that wage was approximately $6.50 per hour in <a href="https://www.china-briefing.com/news/reshoring-from-china-to-mexico-how-prevalent-is-it-really/#:~:text=The%20hourly%20wage%20for%20manufacturing,over%2012%20percent%20from%202019.">China</a> and $4.82 in Mexico. In <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/744071/manufacturing-labor-costs-per-hour-china-vietnam-mexico/#:~:text=A%20difference%20in%20earnings,and%20Vietnam%20for%20cheaper%20labor.&amp;text=Log%20in%20or%20register%20to%20access%20precise%20data.">Vietnam</a>, the average hourly wage in manufacturing is $3.10.
We simply do not have the workers to compete with less developed nations, and those we do have make too much money to make America competitive with them.
The only answer would be to open our borders and import foreign workers to fill manufacturing openings at suppressed wages. This is something that President Trump rightly opposes, as it would change the make-up of the United States, to the detriment of our national identity.
So, what are we to do?
The United States can reshore its manufacturing, but must do so on a limited, prioritized basis. We should not care where our tennis shoes, blue jeans, or T-shirts are manufactured. Those industries hold no vital interest to the United States.
However, we should prioritize the reshoring of industries such as pharmaceuticals, computer chips, drones, and food additives.
“Approximately 40% of finished pharmaceutical products and 80% of active drug ingredients sold in the U.S. are manufactured overseas, <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-262t">according to a report by the GAO</a>. This includes a significant portion of generic drugs, with roughly 80% being produced overseas.”
China controls 80% of the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/a-global-strategy-to-secure-uas-supply-chains/">drone</a> market in the United States.
83% of <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategy-united-states-regain-its-position-semiconductor-manufacturing#:~:text=And%20as%20to%20semiconductors%2C%2083,capacity%20is%20now%208%20percent.">semiconductors</a> are manufactured outside of the United States.
As a free market capitalist, I do not like the government picking “winning industries,” but there is a national security aspect to consider, and President Trump is doing this.
The <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pulling-billions-from-harvard-fund-trade-schools-heres-what-people-saying-about-trumps-latest-move">president</a> recently floated the idea of taking the $2.2 billion in frozen assets from Harvard University and using that money to fund trade schools, where people could learn to support the manufacturing that is in the nation’s vital and national interests.
At the end of the day, the United States will never become a manufacturing superpower. Our cost structure and standard of living are simply too high… and that is a good problem to have.
However, we must focus on reshoring those industries that are vital to our national defense and our national interests. With the right focus and incentives, we can quickly achieve this strategic goal and free ourselves from our competitors’ supply chain whims.
* * *
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and The Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>

Inside A General Motors Assembly Plant Ahead Of Earnings Figures

‘Roaring Back’: Here’s How To Reshore Manufacturing The Right Way

'Roaring Back': Here’s How To Reshore Manufacturing The Right Way

China

Free Trade

Steel workers

Supply Chain

Tariffs

Unemployment

Wages

​​What is the real reason we are seeing chaos in the streets of Los Angeles?
One protester explained why exactly this is happening. If you want to know what drives the mindset of the rioters, then you really should take the time to listen to the people who are rioting, who are attempting to attack police officers and ICE agents.
This protester was, of course, masked and wearing sunglasses. He <a href="https://x.com/Andreafreedom76/status/1931946681026617718">bloviated</a>, “Everybody has the same enemy. From L.A. to Africa to Palestine to Vietnam. We all have the same enemy. There’s one enemy. And it is not me, and it is not you, and it is not them. We are not the enemies of each other.”
He pointed to the police, declaring, “They are the enemy. There’s only one enemy. And we all have to work together in unison to fight this one enemy.”
Another protester interjected, “That’s right. Capitalism, imperialism, and Zionism.”
“The faster we grow, the more we grow as a people, the quicker we can get to this revolution and overturn this motherf***er and have real people leading this country,” the first protester continued.
They hate all the “isms,” like the free market that brought them all of their prosperity so they can waste their time in the middle of a day in Los Angeles, yelling at the police and “imperialism,” which is presumably the reason they are standing on the soil of America because most American people were not originally native to America. He says “Zionism,” the belief that there ought to be a Jewish state in Israel. What the hell does that have to do with illegal immigration riots in Los Angeles?
The answer is that for him and his ilk, they are all the same enemy: the “system.” Blame the “system” for all your problems and rip down the system.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2214?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Another protester, apparently an illegal immigrant from Mexico, <a href="https://x.com/MediaWillieNel/status/1932140100147953936">stated</a>, “We do not agree with the term ‘illegal.’ We&#8217;re undocumented. We&#8217;ve been here for thousands of years before you guys showed up, screwed up everything. We think we should organize together with the U.S working class and fight together and create a better system. We&#8217;re anti-capitalist. We think socialism does work. Real socialism. Not Venezuela, not Cuba, not any of that crap that they are trying to sell us as socialism. And when we leave, it will be a more humane system that will take care of most of all people&#8217;s necessities.”
This protester was asked for an example of what that system would look like. He said the first 40 years of the Soviet Union, which also just so happened to be the most brutal time of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin.
All of this is the Omnicause, the scavenger Omnicause, as I write about in my book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JFQDATERYUFS&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kWrnVJa8bLjS-TYe_ZIR30AgkoDhfNVNvb347yALOi0.jsy8hx2qMpBM1LRx7pK99DD2xEbNzeRKh1T2HbSrgPM&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=lions+and+scavengers+ben+shapiro&amp;qid=1749580682&amp;sprefix=lions+and+scavengers%2Caps%2C82&amp;sr=8-1">Lions and Scavengers.</a>” It is about people who seek to tear down the institutions and systems that benefit them, the systems that have created whatever prosperity they enjoy as life&#8217;s losers.
I call them “life’s losers” because the people who are out there protesting right now, the ones rioting or waving Mexican flags as they drive a motorcycle around a burning Waymo, are not life&#8217;s winners. These are not people destined for a long life of success and happiness. These are deeply unhappy human beings. 
Some of them are professional agitators. And many of the groups that are sponsoring these protests — that are now turning into riots or burning cars or some violence against police and ICE agents — are unions, according to The Wall Street Journal, which <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-immigration-labor-unions-cf6aa4ac?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAi4PPZGna4vypAPuUHb4OVuRqU4u0-dGEWqOSWFRpJovEJNY8KNdfW7dHpVCUE%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68486e23&amp;gaa_sig=vZ3SrmbPoBPxfWfQBoc5ltKPThF2Dx0o5vQ4crXfIJoqi-lOYW-7bgLb7YofCRYMNyigWwU-USw6r2eGjGla9w%3D%3D">wrote</a>: 
<blockquote>Unions, which have felt conflicted lately over how to deal with Trump, found an issue this past weekend over which to confront him: immigration. It came after the head of the state’s biggest union was arrested here for allegedly obstructing federal agents from conducting an immigration raid. The union says he was “peacefully observing.” David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, appeared in court Monday afternoon. He was released on $50,000 bail. 
Just a half mile away, his union, which represents a swath of working-class California, including nurses, janitors and security guards, organized a sprawling protest in downtown’s Grand Park. Other unions declared solidarity with the SEIU and with immigrants caught up in federal raids. </blockquote>
Think about this on a logical level. Why would unions be in favor of illegal immigration? Illegal immigration undercuts the labor base. Illegal immigrants, because they are not legal, are very often paid less than market wages or certainly less than union-negotiated wages.
Why are unions standing up for illegal immigration? It doesn&#8217;t make any sense. They&#8217;re doing so at the expense of their own membership.
What is the driving factor behind all of this? The Journal continues:
<blockquote>Immigrants made up one-third of California’s labor force in 2023, according to census data, compared with 18% for the overall U.S. (The data doesn’t distinguish by legal status.) Some of unions’ biggest organizing wins recently have been in service workplaces where undocumented immigrants often make up an outsize share. “Whether you’re documented or not, you can be a member of a union, and those we represent, we vow to protect,” said Steve Smith, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO.</blockquote>
What&#8217;s actually happening is that illegal immigrants are joining unions. Private sector union membership has been on the decline for decades in the United States because wages have not, in fact, stagnated; wages have risen on a real-world purchasing power parity basis.
So what exactly are the unions going to do?
What the unions have been doing is going into workplaces where people are being paid below the union wage and organizing illegal immigrants. That is the reason why they are now seemingly in favor of widespread illegal immigration in the United States.
The National Education Association president, Rebecca Pringle, who gets paid $500,000 a year, was mobilizing the protesters, <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1932151905565962435">shouting</a>, “We, the people, we, the people, we the people, all of us, all of us have that right to life, liberty and the pursuit of justice.”
Why is the head of the National Education Association standing for illegal immigration? Are illegal immigrants allowed to teach our children in public schools? The last time I checked, the answer was no. Why is she out there screaming about this?
The answer again is that it’s to rig the system on behalf of people who could not succeed in a free marketplace or a free marketplace of ideas.
Shouting about democracy in favor of people who literally cannot vote in the democracy because they&#8217;re not here legally is crazy, but that is the coalition of forces that have aligned behind mass illegal immigration in the United States.
And the Left can&#8217;t let go of it, because the same coalition is driving the Left’s efforts forward.
For the Democrats, this is all about the conflict. When they say that it&#8217;s authoritarian for President Trump to activate the National Guard in order to quell violence in the streets, they&#8217;re actually saying it&#8217;s authoritarian for Trump to simply enforce the law.
But it is their belief that is truly authoritarian.
* * *
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TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION

The Real Agenda Behind The Chaos In Los Angeles

Ben Shapiro

California

Democrats

Hispanics

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Mexico

Medicaid, like its first cousins, Medicare and Social Security, has long been recognized as the Third Rail of the nation’s politics for its ability to instantly terminate the career of anyone reckless enough to tamper with a benefit to which millions of Americans in need have been assured they are entitled.
But the program is equally untouchable where government employee unions and their allies on the political Left are concerned because it offers an enormous slush fund to which only they have access.
Here’s how it works: In return for providing basic home health assistance to elderly and low-income Americans — usually a friend or family member — designated caregivers can receive a monthly stipend from Medicaid.
Years ago, union leaders and politicians in primarily blue states devised a legal scheme by which this Medicaid payment meant the caregiver was considered a “public employee” and, thus, subject to his or her state’s rules regarding the mandatory deduction of union dues or fees from their pay.
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has since affirmed the right of caregivers to decline union membership and dues, many blue states make opting out of union dues payments needlessly difficult in order to preserve the roughly $200-million-a-year windfall in Medicaid funds still flowing into union coffers.
To cite just the most egregious example, in the 1990s, California became the first state to provide for the unionization of homecare workers.
Today, these “individual providers” (IPs) serve Medicaid clients through the state’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program and are represented by either the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015 or United Domestic Workers (UDW) Local 3930.
To put the matter in perspective, SEIU 2015 now claims to be one of the largest unions in California, raking in more than $114 million in dues last year alone from its nearly 250,000 members.
Again, IPs cannot be forced to join a union. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Harris v. Quinn affirming that Medicaid-compensated individual caregivers are &#8220;quasi-public employees” and not subject to state laws making union membership and dues a condition of government employment.
Four years later, in Janus v. AFSCME, the justices recognized that the same First Amendment right applies to all public employees.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of government workers have left their unions, but the overwhelming majority remain in the fold either because they: A.) want to; B.) haven&#8217;t heard about the court rulings; or, C.) have been misled or browbeaten by the unions into believing their participation is still mandatory.
Unlike traditional government employees, homecare providers like IPs, by definition, work from a private home (often their own), and their &#8220;employer&#8221; is the friend or family member they look after.
Consequently, the unions representing IPs seldom have any real grievances regarding their workplace or employer, concentrating instead only on compensation.
And yet they charge some of the highest dues rates in all of organized labor.
Members of SEIU 2015, for example, see a whopping 3% of their gross wages deducted from their Medicaid payments.
This outrageous dues rate, combined with limited representational obligations, leaves unions with more money than they know what to do with.
For its part, SEIU 2015 reported cash reserves of more than $142 million at the end of 2024.
According to the union’s own accounting, less than one-fifth of the money the union collects from members goes towards representational activity. Much of the rest is devoted to advancing far-Left political candidates and causes.
In 2024, SEIU 2015 reported spending $6.4 million on politics, lobbying, and contributions, including $35,000 to the California Democratic Party, $451,000 to California Democratic Party county committees, and $25,000 to Equality California, the “nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.”
In addition, SEIU 2015 paid $40.7 million in affiliation fees to SEIU California and the SEIU international headquarters in Washington, D.C., to fund their equally radical political activism.
UDW was no less profligate. The union collected more than $35 million in 2022 from its more than 78,000 members, who surrendered 3.5% of their gross Medicaid reimbursements — even more than their SEIU 2015 counterparts.
UDW reported spending close to $3 million on politics, lobbying, and contributions in 2022, the last year for which data is available.
Finally, UDW pays about $12 million in affiliation fees each year to its parent organization, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in Washington, D.C., underwriting the international union’s uber-progressive political agenda.
Small wonder the alliance between labor and the Left continues to treat every worker defection as an existential threat. It is.
Stripped of this Medicaid-funded, taxpayer-underwritten war chest and forced to support their failed candidates and causes solely through voluntary donations from people who actually agree with them, unions and their pet politicians would face an even bleaker future than the one already confronting them.
The law has always intended for Medicaid payments to be made directly and in full to Medicaid providers, but government unions have figured out a way to use it as a slush fund for Left-wing politics.
President Trump has the ability to end this scheme by implementing a rule change to uphold the integrity of federal Medicaid laws and stop the diversion of Medicaid funds to unions.
* * *
Aaron Withe is the CEO of the Freedom Foundation, a group dedicated to combatting government unions. He is the author of the book &#8220;Freedom is the Foundation: How We Are Defeating Progressive Tyranny By Taking On The Government Unions&#8221;
Stephen Moore is a former senior Trump economic advisor and co-founder of Unleash Prosperity.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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