07/24/2025
Reposting with the permission of Matt Muchowski, the AFGE District 7 Legislative and Political Organizer: It is long, but well worth the read!
August 3 will be my last day as a Legislative & Political Organizer at the American Federation of Government of Employees. AFGE is the largest union representing federal employees in agencies such as the VA, Social Security, the EPA, DOL, Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Education, TSA, HUD, BOP, DOD. AFGE bargains with the federal government to set workplace conditions as well as advocate for the programs that serve the American people.
I love my job, but President Trump’s April 2025 Executive Order attacking federal collective bargaining, was devastating to AFGE. By ordering agencies to ignore collective bargaining agreements and to stop deducting union dues - AFGE’s membership has dropped from a record high of 330,000 dues paying members to 130,000 dues paying members. This is, without a doubt, the worst union-busting since Ronald Reagan destroyed the Air Traffic Controllers Union PATCO. The scale of these attacks makes Scott Walker’s attacks on unions in Wisconsin pale in comparison.
I began at AFGE in 2014. I was helping several unions with their communications, including several Chicago area AFGE locals that represented Veterans Affairs workers. When the AFGE District 7 Office Manager position opened up, National Vice-President Dorothy James hired me. I worked with over 70 locals in Illinois, Michigan & Wisconsin where I recruited new members, led “lunch & learns” in the workplace, used online communications to activate our members, wrote & edited our newsletter, developed strategic plans, and more.
In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, I changed positions, becoming a Legislative & Political Organizer. I was already doing much of the work, but the title change allowed me to focus more on training and activating AFGE members to lobby their representatives, to take a proactive role in political endorsement & GOTV efforts, to raise money for the union’s PAC, and more.
Every day for the last 10+ years I have woken up inspired to work with and for people like:
· The veteran who joined TSA after 9/11 and despite opposition from the Bush administration organized the workers at O’Hare for better pay and safety;
· The son of Mexican immigrants, who drove Cesar Chavez to rallies before becoming an OSHA inspector to keep workplaces safe, who would lead protests against Reagan’s cuts at the Dept. of Labor;
· The short Black woman who took on the generals at the Dept. of Defense and sued to establish affirmative action opportunities in the DoD;
· the chemistry PhD’s who overcame their introversion to become storytellers about who essential science is;
· The injured veteran who became a social security call center worker to help seniors get benefits before getting active in union and becoming an organizer;
· The social worker at the VA who blew the whistle about how privatization leads to longer wait times for veterans;
· The attorney who prosecuted corporate polluters who was so fed up with underfunding at the EPA that they had to come to the union office to get union branded mousepads (because the agency couldn’t afford mousepads) - leading them down a path to become local president;
· The HUD employees whose day job was investigating housing discrimination but who volunteered with the union to challenge the real estate industry and fight for affordable housing;
· The Dept. of Justice attorney who after the Trump administration cut their ability to prosecute corruption ran for and became a congresswoman;
· The Bureau of Prisons employees who fought against for-profit prisons and worked to bring educational opportunities to inmates;
· The DOD employees who understood the divide between war profiteering and defense and worked to build bi-partisan support for a bill that would prevent the further privatization of the military;
· The Social Security call center worker whose son came out of the closet and found support in the union that they didn’t find from members of their own family;
· And the thousands of federal workers who inspired me with their stories of carrying patients, crying with those they helped, keeping our air and water clean, or flights and food safe, and so much more.
Their everyday acts of courage and hope – whether as a federal worker or as a union activist - often go unseen, underappreciated, and certainly undercompensated or uncompensated.
Unions are often at the intersection of so many issues in our society, and that was amplified with federal workers. Our members didn’t just fight for bread-and-butter issues like better pay, they marched for Black Lives, advocated for a pathway to citizenship, fought for LGBTQ protections, fought for telework and Covid safety, defended the civil service, and more.
Working with them was being a part of a community, a family bound by solidarity, committed to the public good.
Of course like any family or workplace, we had challenges. Attacks from anti-union politicians and groups, press that doesn’t understand what federal workers do or how unions work, members who grew complacent or who needed to learn the meaning of solidarity, micro-managers, bureaucratic hurdles, people who thought they were your boss when they weren’t, and leaders who were shortsighted, disrespected and second-guessed staff, attempted to disenfranchise members, let their territoriality become an obstacle to organizing, or who prized ambition over solidarity.
Challenges are there to be overcome though. I often had to get creative to do my job, but I’m incredibly proud of the work that I did with our members, co-workers and allies. Some highlights include:
Organizing dozens of meetings with Congress members and staff including running our annual legislative breakfast, where I would schedule over a dozen congress-members to meet with union members;
● Leading our members to lobby their members of Congress, including securing and tracking co-sponsors on bills;
● Mobilizing rallies for many different issues affecting our members including, supporting veterans health, affordable housing, protecting the environment, investment in infrastructure, increased pay, in support of telework and covid safety, to oppose Trump’s 2019 government shutdown and more;
● Leading intensive weekend long Legislative & Political Training Institutes that empowered local activists to become local leaders and then watching them become leaders over time;
● Educating local leaders on compliance issues regarding a range of laws;
● Managing award winning communications to keep members and allies informed - like our action network e-mail blasts, press alerts and conferences, and the newsletters I edited and wrote. You can see the newsletters at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/162oFU0WkdTHQ3JaCPe8vR6DDxJpVExcL/view?usp=drive_link
● Running field operations on many different campaigns like the Workers Rights Amendment, the Labor 2024 effort to GOTV in Kenosha Wisconsin, and phonebanks, canvases, and PAC giving events for dozens of Congressional races across the country;
● Raised thousands of dollars in recurring PAC contributions through organizing and managing many PAC fundraising events and phone-bank campaigns;
● Managing and participating in many union endorsements - handling questionnaires, coordinating interviews with candidates and union endorsement committees, and voting as a delegate to state-wide COPE meetings;
● Staffing high level principals in highly visible events like AFGE's suite at the DNC, national union conventions, and critical site visits;
● And so many more. It was truly an honor to work for the federal workers who make America work. It was incredibly rewarding to work with federal workers and union allies to ask agencies to live up to their missions, pressure Congress to support working people over billionaires, and to build up the labor movement. I learned so much from so many people working at AFGE - about the federal government, politics, the labor movement and community. You can see some of my favorite photos of my time in AFGE at this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XW3tiUkaTYTfy8Ek6
I couldn’t have done half of what I did in the 10 years I spent at AFGE without the help of AFGE members like Dorothy James, Nic, Heriberto, Francisco, Ellie, Loreen, Justin, Mike, Brain, Frank, Monique, Linda, Shannon, Aimee, Denise, Darrel, Christine, Janice, Chad, Shannon, Michelle, Deb, Kenny, Jesse Rios, Jessica, Germaine, Jennifer, David, Jim, Raul, Lori, Zed, Echo, Jane, Paul, Joe, Morgan, Mary Ross-Cunningham, Dr. Kelly, Marie, KenAmber, Will, Robin, Brent, Mary, Michael, Kenny, Veronica, Kermit, Scott, Tad, Crystal, Pat, Greg, Jenny, Ben, Yvonne, Jeff, Dave, Brenda, Paula, Daryl, Coach, Rebecca, Sheria, Cheryl, Agatha, Greg, Joyce, Brian, Tricia, Robert, Melton, Larry, Andre, Thomasina, Vera, Dave, Karen, Ken, Corbin, Andre, Ann, Patrick, Ian, Kim, Joe, Ann, Jon, Aliyah, Omar, Stephanie, Tee, Bettie, Lin, Chris, Samuel, Ashley, April, Mark, Earl, Oscar, Scottie, Ruark, Otis, Robert, Gregg, and so many more.
I also relied on my co-workers - District 7 people like Crystal, Dylan, TJ, Nick, Jackie, Kayla, Damon, Kiambo, & Aleta; our Legislative & Political Dept - Amy Lloyd, Kevin Cooper, Ian, Justin, Sara, Benji, Keena, Shannon, Don, Ryan, Herb, Steve, Jon, Niki, Grant, Adam, Anthony, Kevin, Gabe, Yolanda, Dave, Pancho, James, Fiona, Diamond, Jeff, John, Kevin, Apollos, Julie, Tim, and the other depts - like the communications team: Dan, Chelsea,Tim, Jason, Alex, Michael, Andrew, Brittany, everyone in the services dept & IT and so many others like Joan at HR. I especially want to thank leaders of our staff union OPEIU like Cesar, Linda, and Matt.
AFGE and I worked in concert with the AFL-CIO, other unions, and other coalition partners. Groups such as the National AFL-CIO, Illinois AFL-CIO, Michigan AFL-CIO, Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor, Milwaukee Area Labor Council, Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, South Central Federation of Labor, Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor, Quad Cities Federation of Labor, Huron Valley Federation of Labor, SEIU Healthcare, National Nurses United, National Treasury Employees Union, Lettercarriers, AFSCME, PASS, AFA, Amalgamated Transit Union, Chicago Teachers Union, Veterans for Peace, the Illinois ACLU and more were vital to many of the successes we had and stood by us in our toughest fights. We were helped tremendously by leaders and activists like - Pat, Ken, Bill, Tim, Pat, Amy, Alyssa, Samantha, Bob, Don, Marcus, Pam, Stephanie, Kevin, Jamiel, Rich, Colin, Max, Jason, Justin, Meg, Janelle, Anne, Will, Colin, Randa, Milo, Will, Izzy, Susan, Louie, Brian, Joan, George, John, Julie, Heather, Dan L.B., Neal, Aaron, Shelly, John, Lou, Sheila, Moises, Raushonda, Larry, Adrienna, C.J., Adam, Aaron, Roberto, Craig, Suzanne Gordon, Sara Nelson, the Rev. Jesse Jackson & Rainbow/PUSH, Jack Darin & the Sierra Club, Joanna, and more.
We worked with so many elected officials, who were gracious with their time as well as standing in solidarity with us. I was happy to organize events with and meet with leaders such as First Lady Jill Biden; Senators Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth, Tammy Baldwin, Debbie Stabenow, Gary Peters, Elyssa Slotkin; Representatives Jan Schakowsky, Brad Schneider, Sean Casten, Lauren Underwood, Nikki Budzinski, Danny Davis, Jon Jackson, Bobby Rush, Bill Foster, Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Marie Newman, Cherri Bustos, Mike Quigley, Delia Ramirez, Eric Sorensen, Brenda Lawrence, Sandy Levin, Andy Levin, John Conyers, Rashida Tlaib, John Dingell, Debbie Dingell, Hillary Scholten, Haley Stevens, Shri Thanedar, Gwen Moore, Mark Pocan; and other local elected officials such as Governor J.B. Pritzker, Governor Tony Evers, Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton, and many more. Congressional & campaign staff worked with us to make sure elected officials heard from union activists, people like: Leslie, Ben, Anton, Clarisol, Walt, Kim, and so many more.
I found so much love and support from my wife Rachel, dog Gonzo, and my parents Phil and Sue. I’ll also never forget those we lost - Anna Chapman, Don Evans, Allen Kaplan, Tom Esparza, Albert Thomas, Fred McDuff, and Chris Geovanis.
So many more have stood by us, and helped the work along.
Trump is targeting unions because he knows that we are the strongest advocates for workers' power against corporate bullies and greed, and because he wants to hollow out the professional civil service and replace it with a spoils system of MAGA loyalists. AFGE’s staff are facing these cuts because AFGE members are facing attacks on their rights and cuts in their workplaces.
While AFGE’s lawsuits against this executive order have found some success, there is a strong possibility that the administration’s appeals will land the cases on the docket of the same anti-labor Supreme Court who ruled in Janus vs. AFSCME, who will rule against the unions again.
AFGE has prepared for this moment with the creation of e-dues or direct dues, which allow members to pay dues directly to the union without the government or HR as a middleman. However, the union has to re-organize 2/3rds of its membership right when it is anticipating further layoffs of federal workers. It took decades to organize so many AFGE members, and it is possible that without a reduction in force, AFGE could be forced into bankruptcy before rebuilding. Which is why AFGE is laying off roughly 60% of its staff.
It has been scary for AFGE members and staff to face these attacks, and frustrating how even many elected leaders, labor allies, and the public know so little about these attacks.
How many of you reading this know that right now the AFL-CIO is calling on every member of Congress to sign the discharge petition for HR 2550 which would undo Trump's executive order? Or that you can use this link to call your member of Congress and encourage them to support the discharge petition for HR 2550 as soon as you are done reading my letter?
With so many things we care about under attack - immigrant rights, choice, diversity, equity & Inclusion, the environment, education, infrastructure, democracy itself - it can feel like this attack on organized labor has slipped under the radar, despite the fact that AFGE locals have been at the center of fighting in solidarity on these issues in the federal government.
However, I’ve been buoyed by the surge of activism from AFGE locals. Locals that have been dormant for years are finding the courage and passion to stand up and fight back - organizing rallies, signing up new members to e-dues, lobbying elected officials, building coalitions and grassroots power with groups like the Federal Unionists Network. With a reduction of staff, the union will need to rely on grassroots member activism to rebuild.
Trump is coming after all workers power - state and local unions, teachers unions, and ultimately private sector unions.
Trump and his friends in the 1% want us to give up - to lay down and not fight back.
I’m not giving up, and neither should you. I didn’t get into the labor movement to play golf, I got into it to struggle for workers rights, and right now - we are in the struggle.
Labor unions are at their highest popularity with the public in decades - but we need to be accessible to the majority of the country that is not in a union - reach out to them and invite them in. We need to stand in solidarity with immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community, and all the other groups under attack. Only by building an inclusive mass movement of organized workers can we change the direction of this country. I’ve been inspired in the last few years of the incredible new organizing happening across the country that reflects this inclusive and active spirit.
That’s why I am excited to share that Aug. 4 will be my first day as the Organizing Director for the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United. Workers United was historically several different textile workers unions, but more recently has been in the news for organizing workers at Starbucks. The Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board covers locals and organizing in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin.
I’m very excited about the opportunities I will have there. I’m also excited because my great grandmother was a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, one of the forerunners of Workers United.
While there is a small chance that AFGE might be able to retain my position for a longer period of time, I’m excited to begin a new chapter at Workers United. In this role, I will build on the fundamental skills I developed at AFGE, while bridging them with a big picture approach to organizing that considers the future of our labor movement. Furthermore, it will allow some of my extremely qualified and talented co-workers who have less seniority than me to continue to organize at AFGE as they continue on a path of becoming incredible labor leaders.
While I have some remorse that so many AFGE staff are being faced with the reality of having to leave AFGE before we ‘finished the job’, the truth is that the job is never finished. The relationships and knowledge that we built up over 10 years at AFGE will still be there, even as I build up new relationships and knowledge as the Organizing Director with Workers United.
Workers have the power, it will be my job to work with our team to help them realize that they can use it to make a difference in their lives and communities. I look forward to meeting with Workers United members, labor & community leaders and working with them to develop an organizing plan with concrete goals.
I already joined a new organizing campaign call with Workers United. A dozen workers at a rock climbing gym were tired of inconsistent rules, low pay, and erratic schedules. They joined Workers United, and with the help of one of the organizers, they marched on their boss and asked for him to voluntarily recognize the union and begin to bargain in good faith with his employees in their new capacity as union members. They’ve already posted about it online and are receiving press coverage. It was exciting to listen to these workers, many of whom are still in school, overcome their anxiety, find strength in solidarity, and make history together.
I think stories like that highlight the two different directions that the labor movement needs to move in at the same time.
We need to think big – not just advocate for sweeping changes to society that will empower workers, but take direct action to implement those policies without waiting for permission. Actions like the UAW’s push for contracts to expire on the same day – May 1, 2028 – not only shape the ability to gain demands in ambitious ways, but give a goal for collaboration and drives the national conversation. Organizing with such grand goals raises consciousness with and spreads labor’s message in spaces online, in the media, in workplaces, and more. Too many public figures – from members of Congress, to reporters, or faith leaders and influencers are woefully bereft of knowledge about labor. We need to partner with community groups and leaders to educate the public about labor so that when they are interact with such ideas, they want to collaborate and contribute to the paradigm shift.
At the same time, we need to organize small, build upon personal relationships and trust to grow the labor movement worker by worker, workplace by workplace with the goal of organizing the unorganized. It can be easy to think that workers don’t join unions because of conservative ideas, but the reality is, our biggest hurdle is cynicism and apathy. Organizing is about encouraging people to believe in themselves, each other and equip them with the skills to thrive and lead. When workers believe in themselves - when workers unite - they are the union, no matter what the boss or the President says.
Or in simpler terms: “When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run, there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun.” Solidarity Forever!
I’m very excited to start as the Organizing director at the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board and am always open to conversations about how to organize workers for power. Feel free to connect with me at [email protected], my cell at 847-989-6104 or on linked-in at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmuchowski/
In Solidarity,
Matt Muchowski
Organizing labor for political power. · Experience: AFGE · Location: Greater Chicago Area · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Matt Muchowski’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.
