FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: April 29, 2025
Contact: Leah Leszczynski, lleszczynski@miaflcio.org, 989.316.6044
LANSING, MI — Today, Donald Trump will visit Macomb Community College to spin his first 100 days in office. But Michigan’s labor movement sees through the orange smoke: Trump has always put billionaires and corporate greed first, and Michigan workers last.
“Donald Trump promised Michigan workers he’d put them first, but his actions tell a different story,” said Ron BIEBER, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO. “From slashing workers’ rights to giving huge tax breaks to billionaires, Trump has made it clear: workers aren’t first — they’re last. His administration is all about greed over need, and Michigan families are paying the price.”
In his first 100 days, Trump has systematically weakened workplace protections, undermined collective bargaining rights, fired hardworking veterans and other federal employees, and stacked the deck in favor of corporate interests and billionaires. It is estimated that Trump’s proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP would result in the loss of 34,000 jobs, a $244 million reduction in state and local tax revenue, and $3.45 billion in lost output to the state.
In response to these unprecedented attacks on the working class, Michigan’s labor movement is speaking out:
“I and my fellow veterans did not dedicate our lives to this country as service members and federal workers for some draft dodger to sell the United States for parts to billionaires,” said Rob MALOSH, President of AFGE Local 2092. “As patriots and veterans, we will continue to protect ourselves against enemies of democracy — even when they sit inside the White House.”
“In just 100 days, Donald Trump has relentlessly tried to undermine our progress for a clean economy,” said Frank Houston, Michigan Senior State Policy Manager for BlueGreen Alliance. “His attacks on clean manufacturing investments are putting Michigan’s growing industrial supply chain — and the good paying, union jobs it supports — at risk. We need leadership that invests in our workers and builds a stronger, more resilient economy, not reckless policies that pull us backward.”
“Trump promised he would put Americans first, but we’ve only seen him put billionaires and corporations first,” said Gino Carbenia, Executive Director for AFSCME Michigan. “His administration’s reckless dismantling of critical worker rights and safety rules puts lives at risk every day.”
The Michigan AFL-CIO and its affiliates will continue to hold Trump and his allies accountable, advocating tirelessly for policies that uplift working people rather than enriching billionaires.
“Michigan workers will remember Trump’s broken promises,” concluded BIEBER. “Our state deserves leaders who prioritize our workers — not just billionaires.”
The Michigan AFL-CIO, Michigan’s largest labor organization, is a federation representing forty different labor organizations, eighteen different central labor councils, and eight constituency groups representing over 1 million union members and their families.
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