Z Network Editor’s Note: Dr. Lawrence Wittner is Professor of History Emeritus at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany and the Author of Confronting the Bomb (Stanford University Press). His following Labor Perspective, in part, was published in the On-Line Publication, The Z Network:

Although Donald Trump’s Department of Labor announced in April 2025 that “Trump’s Golden Age puts American Workers first,” that contention is contradicted by the facts.

Indeed, Trump has taken the lead in reducing Workers’ incomes.

One of his key actions along these lines occurred on March 14th, 2025 when he issued an Executive Order that scrapped a Biden-era regulation raising the minimum wage for Employees of private companies with Federal contracts.

Some 327,300 Workers had benefited from Biden’s measure, which produced an average wage increase of $5,228 per year.

With Trump’s reversal of policy, they became ripe for pay cuts of up to 25%.

America’s Farm Workers, too - many of them desperately poor - are now experiencing pay cuts caused by the Trump Administration’s H-2A Visa Program, which is bringing hundreds of thousands of Foreign Agricultural Workers to the United States under new, lower-wage Federal guidelines.

The United Farm Workers Union estimates this will cost U.S. Farm Workers $2.64 billion in wages per year. 

As in the past, Trump and his Republican Party have blocked any increase in the Federal Minimum Wage - a paltry $7.25 per hour - despite the fact it has not been raised since 2009 and, thanks to inflation, has lost 30% of its purchasing power.

By 2025, this wage had fallen below the official U.S. Government poverty level.

Furthermore, the Trump Administration is promoting sub-minimum wages for millions of American Workers.

Although the Biden Administration had abolished the previous sub-minimum wage floor for Workers with disabilities by bringing them up to the Federal Minimum Wage level, the Trump Labor Department has restored the sub-minimum wage.

In addition, the Trump administration is proposing to strip 3.7 million Home Care Workers of their current Federal Minimum Wage guarantee.

To Continue Reading This Labor Perspective, Go To: Whatever Happened to Trump's 'Golden Age' for American Workers? - ZNetwork