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- Trump’s cuts to the Department of Labor threaten worker safety, data integrity, and civil rights enforcement.
- Workforce reductions could lead to loss of expertise, impacting job safety and economic planning.
- Union leaders warn these changes undermine the Constitution and serve political ideology, not public good.
As the Trump administration pushes sweeping changes to the federal government’s structure, one agency stands as a canary in the coal mine: the U.S. Department of Labor.
My interview with leaders of AFGE Local 2391 — which represents federal employees in the Department’s Pacific Region — reveal the dire consequences of proposed workforce reductions, early retirement offers, and ideological shifts in governance.
For President Aliyah Levin, Executive Vice President Rob Sax, and Vice President Omar Algeciras, this moment is not just about protecting jobs — it’s about protecting the mission of the Department and, by extension, the American people.
The Trump Administration’s Attack on Public Servants
At the core of the union leaders’ concerns is the administration’s clear hostility toward federal civil servants. As Levin put it bluntly, “What is wrong with this administration that they’ve made public servants the enemy?”
Across agencies, career employees are being pushed out — whether through incentives like deferred resignations or potential early retirement packages that could lower eligibility thresholds from 20 years of service to 15.
And planned reductions in force include as much as 90% for some units in the Department, such as the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which ensures that employers doing business with the Federal government comply with non-discrimination regulations.
Such policies seem at odds with the administration’s supposed intention to combat antisemitism.
According to Sax, “If that happens, easily 10 to 15 percent of the workforce could leave — and not just any workers, but the most experienced ones.”
The institutional knowledge lost from such an exodus would cripple the Department’s ability to carry out its legally mandated responsibilities.
These are not plug-and-play jobs.
A Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data collector, for instance, takes three to five years to reach journeyman status. Mine inspectors and OSHA compliance officers undergo similar years-long training curves.
The administration’s view that such roles can be easily filled by private contractors or new hires reflects, in Sax’s words, “a 19th-century mindset.”
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It ignores the specialized and high-stakes nature of federal oversight — work that directly impacts worker safety, fair wages, and economic stability in the future of work.
A Blow to Public Safety and Accountability
The consequences of gutting the Department of Labor would be felt most immediately in worker safety. With too few inspectors and too little training for replacements, dangerous conditions would go unaddressed.
Sax warned, “A new mine inspector will miss something, and a miner could get injured. An OSHA inspector may not be able to respond to emergencies.”
Already, mine-related deaths are ticking up — an early sign of what a weakened oversight regime looks like. OSHA’s inspection staff is so depleted that it would take over 12,000 years to inspect every U.S. workplace at current staffing levels.
Cutting further is not a budgetary decision — it’s a gamble with American lives.
At the same time, the administration is attacking the agencies that protect workers’ rights. Omar Algeciras pointed to the Wage and Hour Division, which enforces everything from child labor laws to protections for H-2 visa holders.
These are complex, multi-layered legal issues that require years of experience to navigate. “You can’t enforce these laws properly without trained professionals,” he said. “And without that enforcement, workers — many of whom are among the most vulnerable — will suffer.”
Levin, speaking from her experience with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), highlighted another alarming move: the elimination of Executive Order 11246 enforcement, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment.
“Now OFCCP is left with just two laws to enforce. This is about dismantling anti-discrimination enforcement,” she said.
Undermining the Data that Drives the Economy
While public safety garners the headlines, the damage extends deeper. Sax, a self-described “statistics wonk” who worked for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, underscored the economic danger of politicizing or degrading data integrity.
After all, the Trump Administration already threatened to politicize the data by changing the way GDP is calculated.
“Trillions of dollars in decisions — from interest rates to pensions — depend on BLS data,” Sax explained. “If that data becomes politicized or less reliable, economic planning will unravel.”
And replacing federal analysts with private contractors won’t solve the problem. It will raise costs — contractors charge more — and erode expertise.
That problem is compounded by years of budget stagnation. Agencies were forced to absorb pay increases without additional funding, resulting in an estimated 18% reduction in real resources over the past decade.
This underinvestment limits training for new hires and capacity to maintain existing services. Any further cuts, Sax warned, would cross a tipping point.
“You’ll be paying more for less — less oversight, less reliability, and ultimately less justice,” he said.
Serving the Constitution, Not an Ideology
All three union leaders echoed a commitment not just to their agencies, but to a higher ideal: the Constitution.
“I took an oath to the Constitution, not the president,” Sax declared. “The founders did not want a king, and yet here we are being subjected to loyalty tests.”
Algeciras spoke with deep emotion about his work.
“Our customer is the American people. We’re here to help those who file complaints. We don’t charge. We do it because it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Whether it’s enforcing minimum wage laws, protecting veterans’ employment rights, or investigating agricultural violations, federal labor employees see their role as one of service.
Levin added that in many countries, public servants are respected. “In Italy, when someone hears you work in civil service, they’re impressed. Why are we so denigrated here?” she asked.
This isn’t just a battle over early retirement or job classifications. It’s a philosophical assault on the very premise of a professional, nonpartisan civil service.
And the consequences aren’t theoretical — they’re immediate and human. Workers injured. Data distorted. Discrimination unchecked.
A Looming Catastrophe
The Trump administration’s approach to the Department of Labor, as described by the union leaders, is not reform — it’s demolition.
“This is the deconstruction of the American government,” Levin said flatly. “This is catastrophic.”
The union isn’t standing still. AFGE 2391 is taking legal action on telework rollbacks, encouraging employees to resist hasty exits, and lobbying members of Congress to intervene. But they know they’re up against an administration driven more by ideology than by evidence.
“This isn’t about fiscal prudence,” Sax concluded. “It’s about ideology. And the cost of that ideology will be borne by American workers.”
In a time of political division, the Department of Labor’s mission should be a unifying one: fair wages, safe workplaces, equal opportunity. To erode its capacity is to break faith with the American people.
What’s happening now is not just a staffing issue. It’s a national crisis — and it’s unfolding in real time.
