Trump’s lawsuits against federal workers

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As he seeks to stop unionization and diversity metrics.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just £1/week. Subscribe now. Sustainable Switch Sustainable Switch   By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital Hello! Workers' rights are back in focus for today's newsletter as U.S. President Donald Trump pursues his aim to sack 2,000 federal employees despite a court ruling that blocks the job cuts, on top of his moves to curb union bargaining and stop the collection of diversity metrics.  U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, in San Francisco, temporarily blocked about 20 agencies, including the State Department, from carrying out plans to downsize and restructure at Trump's direction. Illston has said she is concerned that the State Department is flouting her May 22 order that broadly blocked government-wide mass layoffs.  Her ruling was the broadest of its kind against the government overhaul that was spearheaded by Elon Musk, the world's richest person and CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla. However, the State Department told Congress last week that it still planned to notify about 2,000 employees this month that they were being laid off and would reorganize or eliminate more than 300 bureaus and offices. The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause Illston's decision while it appeals, after a San Francisco-based federal appeals court refused to permit the pause. Also on my radar today: Apple loses bid to pause app store reform order in Epic Games case Shein hit with complaint from EU consumer group over 'dark patterns' Iberdrola unions call on more than 9,000 workers in Spain to strike   People attend a rally in support of federal workers outside the 26 Federal Plaza, a federal office building in New York City, U.S. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz Curbing union bargaining The case in California is not the only workers' lawsuit against Trump's administration. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, in Seattle, Washington, blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from canceling a union contract covering transport security officers pending the outcome of a lawsuit by the American Federation of Government Employees and other unions. Pechman said the Trump administration likely broke the law by stripping 50,000 of the officers of the ability to unionize and bargain over their working conditions. Pechman said that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem failed to explain why she was reversing the Obama administration's finding that unionizing would benefit the officers. "The Noem Determination appears to have been undertaken to punish AFGE and its members because AFGE has chosen to push back against the Trump Administration's attacks to federal employment in the courts," Pechman wrote. AFGE, which represents about 800,000 federal government employees, praised the decision. Noem said the union contract guarantees benefits such as paid leave that are abused by a small number of officers and shields poor performers from being fired, burdening the entire agency. Trump has moved to curb union bargaining for swaths of the federal workforce.  Stopping DEI stats The Trump administration also told federal agencies to stop using statistics on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin in the hiring process - its latest effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Many such DEI programs have been in place for decades in an effort to remedy historical injustices for marginalized groups. Trump and his allies have called such programs anti-merit and discriminatory against white people and men. Supporters have said the collection of racial and gender data, which has long been a standard across the federal government and many private sector U.S. companies, is a necessary tool to identify inequities or potential discrimination within hiring practices. Click here to sign up to the Daily Docket by my esteemed colleague Caitlin Tremblay for more on the Trump administration's lawsuits and the day's most important legal headlines. Talking Points   A man is loaded into a passenger van by federal agents after the agents made immigration arrests in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska  Trump travel ban: The U.S. president signed a proclamation banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the country. He said the move was needed to protect against "foreign terrorists" and other security threats. The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Click here for a Reuters live coverage feed as the story progresses. Harvard v Trump: In keeping with Trump's immigration ban, his administration suspended the entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University for an initial six months, amid an escalating dispute with the Ivy League school. Gaza aid: The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation did not give out any aid on Wednesday as it pressed Israel to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites after more than 80 people were shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points over a three-day period from Sunday, including at least 27 killed on Tuesday. Click here for the full Reuters report. Abortion: The Trump administration rescinded guidance issued during predecessor Joe Biden's tenure requiring hospitals to provide abortions to women in medical emergencies regardless of various state bans. The 2022 guidance had reminded healthcare providers across the country of their obligations under a 1986 federal law that ensures patients can receive emergency "stabilizing care". The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the 2022 guidance did not reflect the policy of the Trump administration. Aussie wages: Australia's independent wage-setting body raised the national minimum wage by 3.5% effective July 1. The minimum rate will rise to A$24.94 ($16.19) per hour, resulting in an extra A$1,670 in a year for full-time employees, according to the Fair Work Commission's annual review. It's a real wage increase for about 2.6 million workers on the lowest pay as inflationary pressures ease in the economy. In Conversation Steven Goldbach, U.S. sustainability practice leader at multinational professional services firm Deloitte, shares the company's findings on different generations' priorities in the workplace: "Gen Z and millennials remain highly concerned about the environment and it impacts their consumption habits, their relationship with their employer, and their well-being overall. "Deloitte's 2025 Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey shows that nearly two-thirds of both generations say they've felt worried or anxious about the environment in the past month. "And this plays a role in shaping their intentions and actions, with nearly two thirds stating a willingness to pay more for sustainable products and services.   "In the workplace, nearly half say that they and their colleagues have put pressure on their employers to take action on protecting the environment. "Notably, more than one in five say they've researched a company's sustainability policies before accepting a job. "This data reinforces what many leaders know intuitively: to attract and retain Gen Z and millennial consumers and talent, sustainability isn't just an issue off to the side – it should be embedded in the core of business strategy as a driver of value creation." ESG Spotlight A researcher shows a sample of ocean-degradable plastic at the Japanese research institution Riken in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. REUTERS/Manami Yamada  Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours - raising hopes that we may one day be able to say goodbye to plastic pollution in our oceans. While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace. At a lab in Wako city near Tokyo, the team demonstrated a small piece of plastic vanishing in a container of salt water after it was stirred up for about an hour. Scientists worldwide are racing to develop innovative solutions to the growing plastic waste crisis, an effort championed by awareness campaigns such as World Environment Day taking place on June 5. Sustainable Switch was edited by Andrew Heavens. Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website Sustainable Switch is sent three times a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you've engaged with its contents. 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