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Ahead of a planned Department of Labor visit today by Elon Musk’s government-slashing group, unions launched protests and a lawsuit.

By Kim Kelly, In These Times

A coalition of unions is now asking a federal court to block far-right billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the internal systems of the Department of Labor (DOL), after In These Times broke the news of the planned meeting with the agency today.

For the past several weeks, Musk and his DOGE project have been slashing and burning their way through the U.S. government on a self-directed mission of destruction. Now, he’s coming after the DOL.

On February 4, in an afternoon meeting with senior management, workers were ordered to turn over access to the DOGE operatives wherever they ask for it. Those who impede the process or refuse to reply were told they risk termination. Sources said that the orders came down from Acting Secretary of Labor Vince Micone, and that the DOGE operatives will be staying for ​“an indeterminate period of time.” Workers were dismayed. ​“I work for the American people,” one DOL worker told me. ​“To turn over their data to a bunch of idiots without proper clearance feels wrong.”

the outside of the DoL building

“We’re supposed to stop everything we’re doing and do whatever the DOGE kids ask,” one employee who works with agency data and asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons told In These Times. ​“I needed to tell someone because this goes against every protocol of our jobs. It feels dirty and illegal.”

With just a few hours of notice, a crowd of about 300 federal workers and union members — many sporting navy American Federation of Government Employees bomber jackets and assorted union swag — gathered in front of the Frances Perkins Building this afternoon to protest the planned arrival of Musk and DOGE to the Department of Labor.

AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler spoke alongside members of Congress, including Democratic Reps. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Suzanne Bonamici.

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