Press Releases

  • Coalition of Unions, Press Freedom Organizations, Editors and Journalists Win Major Victory As Judge Rules Kari Lake’s USAGM Appointment Illegal, Cancels Mass Firings at VOA

    WASHINGTON – In a major victory for federal workers, this weekend, D.C. federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Kari Lake had illegally served as Acting CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM),…

  • Public Service Organizations and Unions File Updated Legal Challenge to Trump-Vance Administration Effort that Seeks to Make it Easier to Fire Civil Servants

      WASHINGTON –  Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and a coalition of unions and labor federations — including American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American…

  • Get organized: BLS report shows public service workers are organizing for a voice on the job

    As anti-worker billionaires make life unaffordable, cut public services, undermine state & local budgets, & attack workers’ freedoms, state & local workers are organizing with AFSCME to fight for better wages, safety on the job…

  • After 14 Years at the Helm, AFSCME President Lee Saunders to Retire in August 2026 Following a Historic Tenure

    Saunders energized AFSCME’s activist culture, leaving it on strong footing for the future WASHINGTON – After 14 years as president and a lifetime of service to working people and the labor movement, AFSCME President Lee…

  • AFSCME’s Saunders: Forcing federal workers to plead their case to the same authority that fired them is blatantly rigging the system

    WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after the Trump administration moved to eliminate the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent agency that reviews federal workers’ appeals to mass firings: “Taking away…

  • AFSCME’s Saunders: This is an outrageous effort to replace dedicated, expert civil servants with political minions who will push the administration’s extreme anti-worker agenda

    WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after the Trump administration issued a new rule removing civil service protections from tens of thousands of federal workers, making it easier to fire them:…

  • AFSCME endorses New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for reelection

    WASHINGTON – The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union of 1.4 million public service workers nationwide, including more than 400,000 public and private sector workers in New York, today announced…

  • Administration’s Move to Gut FEMA Staffing Violates Agency’s Independence and Mission, New Lawsuit Asserts

    Coalition of Unions, Non-Profits, and Local Governments File Challenge to DHS’ Attempts to Decimate FEMA’s Workforce SAN FRANCISCO – The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Service…

  • Unions and Small Businesses Unite to Challenge Unlawful, Politically-Driven Funding Freeze to Child Care and Family Assistance

    Trump-Vance Administration Continues Pattern of Illegally Weaponizing Government Funding Against Perceived Political Opponents San Francisco, Calif. – Two of the nation’s largest unions of public employees and child care providers, AFSCME and SEIU, and a small…

  • Department of Justice Acknowledges Misconduct by Trump-Vance Administration, DOGE Employees by Unlawfully Accessing and Misusing Social Security Data

    Disclosures Reveal New Lack of Compliance, Depths of Corruption and Malfeasance Plaintiffs Demand Confirmation That No Records Have Been Destroyed Baltimore, Md. – After a bombshell filing in federal court made by the U.S. Department of…