http://www.dol.gov/ en http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20261002 WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling issued the following statement regarding the September 2026 Employment Situation Report:“President Trump’s economic agenda continues to deliver for American workers and businesses. Construction employment rose 11,000 in September, marking seven straight months of growth. Manufacturing employment also continues to expand, adding 9,000 jobs in September and 72,000 for the year.“After years of decline under the previous administration, President Trump is driving an industrial renaissance that continues to expand. Thanks to trillions of dollars of investment and the historic relief provided by the Working Families Tax Cuts, American workers are keeping more of what they earn while businesses have the certainty to invest and hire.” Fri, 02 Oct 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20261002 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20261001-0 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced the award approximately $10.2 million in grant funds to 67 organizations across the nation to support education and training focused on worker safety to help employees and employers recognize serious workplace hazards and employ safety and health programs.Funded through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, the grants aim to advance worker safety and health by providing instructor-led training opportunities for workers and employers in small businesses with an emphasis on industries with high injury, illness, and fatality rates.The grants will fund training and education on hazard awareness, prevention, and controls to protect workers from on-the-job hazards through the development of quality classroom-ready training and educational materials that identify and prevent workplace hazards.The grants honor the legacy and work of Dr. Susan Harwood who, during her 17 years with OSHA, developed workplace safety guidelines for benzene, formaldehyde, bloodborne pathogens and lead in the construction industry. Harwood was also primary author of OSHA’s cotton dust standard which virtually eliminated byssinosis – a lung disease that causes asthma-like symptoms – among textile workers.Learn more about the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program and 2026 awardees. Thu, 01 Oct 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20261001-0 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20261001 LITTLE ROCK, AR – A U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration whistleblower investigation has concluded that Union Pacific Railroad Co. violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act when it removed from service and later terminated a North Little Rock yardman who notified management of nearby lightning and federal safety standards. OSHA determined that the employee voiced concerns about nearby lightning, cited OSHA and NOAA lightening safety guidelines, initiated a safety stand-down, and refused to work until the storm passed. Within minutes of the stand-down, Union Pacific removed the employee from service and was later charged with insubordination. Union Pacific terminated his employment on May 30, 2024.On June 10, 2026, OSHA ordered Union Pacific to remove from the employee’s employment records any reference of the incident, and pay back wages, lost benefits, compensatory and punitive damages totaling at least $304,869, and attorney’s fees. Union Pacific filed objections to OSHA’s order and has requested a hearing before a U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge.OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program enforces 25 whistleblower statutes that protect employees from retaliation for reporting violations of workplace airline, anti-money laundering, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, criminal antitrust, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, maritime, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, safety and health, securities, and tax laws.Editor’s note: The U.S. Department of Labor does not release the names of employees involved in whistleblower complaints. Thu, 01 Oct 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20261001 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20261001 In the week ending September 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 197,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 197,000 to 198,000. The 4-week moving average was 200,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 202,250 to 202,500. Thu, 01 Oct 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20261001 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20260930 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $43 million in Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund grants to seven states to invest in employer-driven skills training programs for critical industries like shipbuilding, advanced manufacturing, and nuclear energy.Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the second round of Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund grants will provide funding to State Workforce Agencies to provide outcome-based reimbursements to employers who provide training that is responsive to rapidly evolving skill requirements and local workforce needs. More than $10 million of the awarded funding supports occupations in the domestic shipbuilding industry and the maritime supply chain.“President Trump is restoring American manufacturing dominance, especially in critical industries like manufacturing, shipbuilding, and nuclear energy," said Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. "As we continue to see growth in the construction and manufacturing sectors these grants ensure that American workers have the skills necessary to fill the high-skilled and high-paying jobs that are driving our nation into a new era of industrial might and provide the economic security that previous administrations let slip overseas.”In September 2025, the department awarded more than $86 million to 14 states in the first round of Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund grants. Across both rounds, the grants invest more than $129 million in 21 states nationwide, including over $30 million for the shipbuilding industry. These investments support the Administration’s reindustrialization agenda and its commitment to building the skilled workforce for high-growth and emerging industries including advanced manufacturing; aerospace; infrastructure; building and construction; cybersecurity; domestic mineral production; healthcare; information technology; maritime supply chain; nuclear energy; quantum computing; and shipbuilding.The department awarded the second round of Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund grants to the following recipients:RecipientStateAmountColorado Department of Labor and EmploymentCO$6,740,000Indiana Department of Workforce DevelopmentIN$6,740,000Montana Department of Labor and IndustryMT$4,837,533Nebraska Department of LaborNE$4,633,750Oregon Higher Education Coordinating CommissionOR$6,740,517Pennsylvania Department of Labor and IndustryPA$6,740,000Washington Employment Security DepartmentWA$6,740,000Learn more about the Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund Grant Program.  Wed, 30 Sep 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20260930 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/olms/olms20260930 CLEVELAND – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has led to criminal charges for two former union officials who allegedly embezzled approximately $350,000 from the union members they swore to serve.An investigation by the department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards in Cleveland found that the former president and secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1746 conspired to access the union’s finances for unauthorized transactions for their personal benefit from 2017 to 2022.Criminal charges were filed this month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against the union’s former President Pamela Brown and former Secretary-Treasurer Adelle Burrell-Williams. The charging documents allege these former officers used the union’s debit card to withdraw cash at casinos and wrote unauthorized checks from the union’s operating account. The department also alleges that Brown and Burrell-Williams attempted to avoid detection by creating false reports and failing to maintain financial records. The union lost approximately $350,000 as a result of Brown and Burrell-Williams’ actions.  The former union officials were responsible for overseeing the union, managing its finances, paying authorized expenses, maintaining financial records, and creating financial reports during their tenures as principal officers of Local 1746, a union representing 1,200 employees at Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services.The prosecution of this case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.Criminal complaints, or the filing of an information, are charges only and are not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Labor union fraud such as embezzlement, filing false reports, maintaining false records, destroying or concealing records, and other criminal activity can be reported by email to OLMS-Public@dol.gov, to the OLMS National Office at 202-693-0143, or to your local OLMS field office. Find your local OLMS office.  Wed, 30 Sep 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/olms/olms20260930 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20260930 SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a court order to appoint an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of a defunct Arlington-based aerospace company.The order, entered in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, appoints AMI Benefit Plan Administrators Inc. as the independent fiduciary for the Commercial Aircraft Interiors LLC 401(k) Plan, which has been frozen since the employer shut down operations in 2023. In this role, the independent fiduciary will be able to distribute its assets to eligible former employees who have not been able to access their retirement savings because the only responsive company representative, Charles Pratt, lacked the legal authority needed to approve distributions. The independent fiduciary will also be able to formally terminate the plan.“The appointment of an independent fiduciary will give the participants in the Commercial Aircraft Interiors plan access to the funds that rightly belong to them,” said Liam Roberts, district director for the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration in Seattle. “We urge all workers to contact the department for assistance when their retirement plan has been abandoned and they have not received the benefits to which they are entitled.”Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, all employee benefit plans are required to be managed by named fiduciaries. Without one, participants and beneficiaries cannot get information about their accounts or collect retirement benefits. The Commercial Aircraft Interiors plan has approximately $260,000 in assets and 59 participants.EBSA ensures the security of retirement, health, and other job-based benefits for American workers and their families. The agency is responsible for protecting more than 155 million workers, retirees, and their families, who are covered by approximately 2.8 million health plans, 837,000 private retirement plans, and 521,000 additional welfare benefit plans. Together, these plans hold about $15.2 trillion in assets.Employers and workers can contact EBSA at askebsa.dol.gov or call 866-444-3272 toll-free for help with private sector job-based retirement and health plans. Wed, 30 Sep 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20260930 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ilab/ilab20260929 WASHINGTON – The United States and Mexico today announced the successful resolution of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) facility-specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter regarding theAkwel Juárez México, S.A. de C.V. (Akwel or the company) facility located in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The United States and Mexico agreed on a course of remediation to address labor violations occurring at the facility, including employer interference in union activity and retaliatory dismissals of workers. That plan has now been implemented, and the denial of rights concerns raised in our request for review have been remediated. As a result, the United States Trade Representative has directed the Secretary of the Treasury to resume liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from the facility.The measure marks genuine progress in safeguarding U.S. workers' ability to compete internationally, requiring Mexican producers to follow Mexican law and the terms of the USMCA. Actions taken during the course of remediation allowed the Akwel workers to elect a representative union and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with improvements to wages and working conditions at the facility. This case represents another victory for the Trump Administration, whose America First policy prioritizes American workers by preventing foreign auto parts manufacturers from weakening worker protections to obtain an unfair trade advantage.The Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative facilitated a resolution with the Government of Mexico (Mexico) to remediate workers’ claims at Akwel.Actions taken by the facility to address the matter include:Reinstating three workers with full backpay and benefits and paying full severance to six workers, based on their respective preferences; Restructuring human resources and labor relations management, and taking appropriate disciplinary action against staff who violated workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights;Implementing and training all company personnel on its neutrality statement and guidelines related to freedom of association and collective bargaining, including a zero-tolerance policy for violations, and committing to retraining annually; Informing workers about the denial of rights at the facility by conducting meetings and posting notices at the facility to acknowledge Akwel’s unlawful and interfering practices and affirm the company’s intention to respect workers’ rights in the future;Installing and publicizing a complaint mechanism through which workers can report violations of their rights and breaches of company policies anonymously and confidentially; andMaintaining on the company website and in any internal communications platform the neutrality statement and guidelines, collective bargaining agreement, training materials, and information about complaint mechanisms maintained by the company and Mexico, such that the information is easily accessible to workers.Actions taken by Mexico to address the matter include:Monitoring the facility with regard to the obligations of the course of remediation and compliance with Mexican laws related to freedom of association and collective bargaining; Conducting in-person training that is structured to ensure all workers understand their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining and how to exercise it, including by informing workers of the denial of rights at the facility and educating workers on the conciliation process available to any dismissed worker;Conducting separate workers’ rights training for supervisors, human resources and labor relations personnel, and other high-level and “trusted” officials; Maintaining a direct email address, reporting platform, and telephone line for workers to anonymously report any potential acts of unlawful interference or other violations of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, and timely investigate any allegations; and Imposing sanctions in accordance with Mexican law, including financial penalties, on Akwel for violating Mexican laws related to freedom of association and collective bargaining.BackgroundThe Secretary of Labor and the United States Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC). On October 24, 2024, the ILC received an RRM petition from Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores y Empleados Especializados, Conexos y Similares de la República Mexicana (SINATAM), a Mexican labor union, along with ten workers as signatories. The petition alleged Akwel had violated workers’ right to collective bargaining and freedom of association by refusing to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the petitioner union, dismissing workers based on their union affiliation, and threatening and harassing workers to disincentivize their union activity. The ILC reviews RRM petitions that it receives, and the accompanying information, within 30 days. The ILC determined that there was sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms. As a result, on November 22, 2024, the United States submitted a request that Mexico review the matter. Mexico agreed to conduct a review and, on January 6, 2025, concluded a denial of the rights had occurred at the facility. Subsequently, the United States and Mexico agreed on a course of remediation. The end date of the course of remediation was January 31, 2026. The United States closely monitored compliance with the course of remediation.Read the full course of remediation.Read an unofficial courtesy Spanish translation of the full course of remediation.Read the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury.Learn more about the department’s work to make global competition fair for American workers. Tue, 29 Sep 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ilab/ilab20260929 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ilab/ilab20260925 WASHINGTON – The Office of the United States Trade Representative has invoked the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to review whether workers at Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (Yokohama), located in the state of Coahuila, Mexico, are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. This follows the recent closure of the Yokohama tire manufacturing plant in Salem, Virginia and the layoff of nearly 600 American workers. The United States will suspend the liquidation of all entries of goods into this country from the Yokohama facility, which produces tires, until further notice.Today’s action demonstrates the Trump administration’s America First approach, which ensures our trade partners do not undermine worker protections to gain an unfair trade advantage or attract investment. The Secretary of Labor and United States Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC). On August 26, 2026, the ILC received an RRM petition from the Liga Sindical Obrera Mexicana (LSOM), a Mexican labor union, and the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW). The petition alleges that Yokohama is violating workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining by retaliating against workers for engaging in union activity. These actions include engaging in unequal treatment against LSOM supporters, the denial of access to the plant for LSOM special delegates while granting unrestricted access to the representatives of a competing union, irregularities leading up to a Certificate of Representation vote, unlawful dismissals, and non-compliance with the sectoral collective bargaining agreement for the rubber manufacturing industry (known as the “contrato ley”). The ILC reviews RRM petitions that it receives, and the accompanying information, within 30 days.  After conducting this review, the ILC determined that there is sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms. As a result, the United States Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico that Mexico review whether workers at Yokohama are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Mexico has 10 days to agree to conduct a review and, if it agrees, 45 days from today to complete the review.  The RRM, developed under the first Trump administration, is an unprecedented trade tool that works to level the playing field for American workers and businesses by addressing weak labor law enforcement in Mexican workplaces that compete in trade with the U.S.   Read the request for review.Read the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury.View information about previous requests.Learn more about the department’s work to make global competition fair for American workers. Fri, 25 Sep 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ilab/ilab20260925 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20260924 In the week ending September 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 197,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 196,000 to 198,000. The 4-week moving average was 202,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 203,250 to 204,000. Thu, 24 Sep 26 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20260924