Mark Gruenberg at People’s World reports a Federal Judge in San Francisco has halted President Donald Trump’s arbitrary firings - without pay - of 4,000 Federal Workers since the Trump-backed partial Federal Shutdown began on October 1st. But Judge Susan Illston couldn’t give them back pay, too. After a one-day hearing on a suit by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and other Unions against the firings - called Reductions in Force (RIFs) - U.S. District Judge Susan Illston termed the RIFs “arbitrary, capricious” and “intended for the purpose of political retribution” against the Workers and their Unions. Judge Illston issued a temporary injunction against the past and future RIFs. Unfortunately for the hard-pressed Workers, though, Illston couldn’t order the Trump regime to pay the Workers. The Judge could only halt the RIFs and ban further ones. Nevertheless, AFGE President Everett Kelley, AFSCME President Lee Saunders and other Union Leaders hailed her ruling. It’s yet another defeat in Federal Trial Courts of Trump’s attack on Federal Workers, forcing them to work without pay - without protection of Union contracts, and for hundreds of thousands of them not to work at all. The Workers didn’t - and couldn’t, totally win. Illston voided the pink slip RIFs without cause that Trump and his Worker-hating Office of Management and Budget Chief Russell Vought distributed since the partial shutdown began on October 1st. The Judge also banned the duo from riffing with more Workers, as they had planned. 

To Read This Labor News Story In Its Entirety, Go To: Federal judge halts Trump’s firings, but can’t mandate back pay – People's World