The nation’s largest federation of unions is starting a campaign to push back on Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who has been empowered by President Trump to carry out a largely unchecked attempt to purge the federal work force.
The campaign by the A.F.L.-C.I.O. is called the Department of People Who Work for a Living, a play on Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“Government can work for billionaires or it can work for working people — but not both,” Liz Shuler, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president, said in a statement.
The scope of the effort is unclear, but it is expected to include digital ads, direct mail and rallies in front of key agencies where cuts are being pushed through. The group is planning to form partnerships with allies on Capitol Hill and other labor groups, an official said. A number of lawsuits have been filed seeking to halt Mr. Musk’s efforts.
Mr. Trump harnessed populist anger to win two presidential elections, and he performed well with union households as part of a broad political realignment that has reshaped the Republican Party. The president of the Teamsters addressed the Republican National Convention.
But the efforts to drastically reshape the federal government could have ramifications for workers. The Trump administration hopes to shrink the work force by 5 to 10 percent.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. campaign is one of the first organized efforts by unions to focus on the people affected by the work force cuts that the Trump administration is proposing. The labor group aims to highlight what Mr. Musk’s department is doing, arguing that its actions — which are opaque and accountable only to Mr. Trump — are potentially dangerous to the public depending on the jobs in question. The group is also seeking to highlight the chasm between Mr. Musk’s wealth and that of the people he has urged to move on from federal jobs.
“We’ll be ensuring the federal government works for working people and isn’t destroyed by billionaires like Elon Musk,” the campaign’s website said. “We’ll report on the facts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts and what you can do to fight back.”
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