AFL-CIO, Unions Sue Trump Administration Over Cuts to Key Labor Relations Agency that Mediated During 2020 BIW Strike

Local S6 on strike at Bath Iron Works in 2020.

The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions that represent workers across private and public sector industries are suing the Trump administration over its dismantling of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), including firing mediators and staff, and closing field offices across the country. FMCS has been critical in resolving labor struggles across the country, including the 2020 strike at Bath Iron Works.

Among the critical services FMCS provides is helping resolve contract negotiations between workers and employers to protect both the economy and workers’ rights, generating more than $500 million in national economic savings each year, even by conservative estimates. But Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts have decimated the agency: 93 percent of FMCS staff have been placed on leave, the mediation workforce has been taken down from the 80 to 100 needed for the agency’s work to just five, and all of the field offices have been closed.

“The Trump administration’s reckless attempt to eliminate FMCS is yet another attack on working people and our rights to collectively bargain,” said Machinists (IAM) International President Brian Bryant. “FMCS is a small, but vitally important agency that serves as a much-needed independent arbiter during negotiations between workers and employers. For the IAM Union, FMCS has been vital in resolving contract disputes with national and international economic consequences, including a strike of 4,300 U.S. Navy shipbuilders at Bath Iron Works, and helping to avoid work stoppages on numerous occasions. We are proud to stand with our partners in the labor movement to fight back against this illegal attack on the rights of all working families.”

In 2020, Bath Iron Works shipbuilders won a contract that kept seniority and existing subcontracting language, which the company had sought to take away.

The legal challenge was brought by the AFL-CIO, AFGE, AFSCME, AFT, IAM, SEIU, UFCW and other affiliated unions that have worked with FMCS mediators in labor disputes with their members’ employers. Many were actively engaged in collective bargaining negotiations with FMCS when the mediator was forced to abruptly leave or cancel the negotiations because they had been placed on leave. With only five mediators remaining at FMCS, these unions and their workers will be left in the lurch, working under expired contracts or no contracts, and strikes or lockouts are much more likely to occur.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint can be found online here.