'People Who Work for a Living' Rally at Labor Dept as DOGE Readies Latest Attack

As billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk set his sights on the U.S. Department of Labor in his wide-scale ransacking of the federal government, the largest federation of unions in the country made clear at a rally that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency isn't waging an attack on "waste" or bureaucracy—but on working people.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) led labor unions and Democratic lawmakers in a gathering outside the Department of Labor (DOL), where employees were notified Tuesday that they would soon be ordered to turn over data to Musk's DOGE operatives, who will be staying at the agency for "an indeterminate period of time."

Those who don't comply, acting Labor Secretary Vince Micone said, could be fired.

At the rally, AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler announced the union's launch of the "Department of People Who Work for a Living"—a new campaign aimed at reporting on DOGE's attacks on working Americans through digital ads and public actions at the agencies Musk's advisory body is attempting to cut.

"Elon Musk and DOGE, they want us to think this is about efficiency, right?" said Shuler. "They want us to think the DOL is some bureaucracy that doesn't matter. That could not be further from the truth. This is about our health, our safety, our fair pay, our jobs, and these are the people who fight for us."

Musk was scheduled to have a "kickoff meeting" with DOL staffers on Wednesday, but Shuler noted that at the last minute, the in-person meeting was switched to a virtual one.

"And it's because you turned up the heat!" said Shuler. "You're making them feel it."

In a statement, Shuler added that "the government can work for billionaires or it can work for working people—but not both."

"We will hold DOGE and Elon Musk accountable because we are certain that the people who keep our food and medicine safe know more about how to make government efficient than an outsider whose companies benefit from the very agencies he is infiltrating," she said.

In recent days, DOGE has set up illegal servers in the Office of Personnel Management; taken control of Treasury Department payment system that contains personal data of millions of Americans who receive Social Security and Medicare benefits as well as other payments; placed nearly all U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on administrative leave and attempted to dismantle the agency while attacking its aid initiatives around the globe; and begun a probe of Department of Education data as the Trump administration prepares to try to shut the agency down.

Musk's companies Tesla and SpaceX have faced multiple federal investigations, including by the DOL, into complaints of unfair labor practices, at least one workplace death, and failures to comply with protocols for protecting state secrets.

In addition to rallying at DOL, the AFL-CIO joined several national unions including the American Federation of Government Employees and Communications Workers of America in filing an injunction against Micone and DOGE, demanding a temporary restraining order to keep Musk and his employees out of the agency.

As In These Times reported, the legal filing warns that "failing to grant the injunction will result in DOGE's unqualified, unelected operatives having access to 'highly sensitive data,' including but not limited to medical and benefits information about all federal workers with worker compensation or black lung claims, the identities of vulnerable workers who have filed wage and hour or occupational safety complaints, and critical Bureau of Labor Statistics data."

At the rally, Shuler applauded workers for standing up in the face of Musk's attempted takeover of the federal government.

"No one voted for this undermining of our rights and that's why were standing up," said Shuler. "Look around. We have power and we're ready to use it!"