As Trump guts collective bargaining rights, Dem-NPL stands firm with Labor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 29, 2025

FARGO – Ahead of Labor Day, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL stands firm with Labor as Donald Trump puts corporate interests over the American Worker.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn said, “We wish every worker a well-deserved day of rest, and then to join together with us to stop Donald Trump’s anti-labor agenda. Democrats are the party of the five-day work week, of paid sick time off, of the National Labor Relations Board, of policies that support workers during their careers and provide them with social security and Medicare so they can retire with dignity. Donald Trump is notorious for screwing over workers and for not paying his bills, so it’s not a surprise that he’s taking a torch to the hard-fought collective bargaining rights that unions and Democrats have pushed for decades. Trump is a union-busting scab, who puts his billionaire pals over the prosperity and safety of the American worker. I am a proud union member, and I’m damn proud that our Dem-NPL staff is union. Democrats support pro-worker and pro-union policies that will make daily life more affordable. Republicans’ only solution is to hang a giant banner of Donald Trump on the Department of Labor. The difference could not be clearer.”

North Dakota House Minority Leader Zac Ista (D-Grand Forks) said, “All North Dakotans want is for everyday life to be a little more affordable. Labor unions make that happen by negotiating for better pay and benefits. Let’s help them help workers by electing more pro-union lawmakers in 2026.”

Donald Trump is a union-busting scab, who puts his billionaire pals over the prosperity and safety of the American worker.

  • He said striking workers should be fired.
  • He’s ripped away collective bargaining rights from federal workers, including from veterans who work at the VA
  • Trump has packed the courts with anti-labor judges
  • He has made workplaces less safe by cutting the number of OSHA inspectors to the lowest number in history!
  • Trump’s unhinged trade war is hiking costs for American businesses and farmers, putting them in survival mode as more than 75% of business executives said that they are considering raising prices.
  • Costs on cars, coffee, and clothing are all going up.
  • Working Families are paying more for their electricity bills and struggling to afford school supplies.
  • Trump’s Big, Ugly Budget bill will make things even worse by:
    • Putting 1.75 million construction jobs at risk — with unions warning, “this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of the country”
    • Putting 2 million clean energy jobs at risk
    • Jacking up energy bills by hundreds of dollars across the country
    • Creating the largest upward transfer of wealth from working families to the ultra-wealthy in American history
    • Kicking nearly 24,500 North Dakotans off their health insurance
    • Causing nearly 3,300 North Dakotans to lose their job
    • Putting three rural hospitals in North Dakota at risk of closing
    • Increasing North Dakotans’ electricity bills by 8.1%

The difference between North Dakota Democratic-NPL lawmakers and Republican lawmakers is also clear.
Kevin Cramer has a lifetime score of 20% from the AFL-CIO, John Hoeven’s is 17%.

Former Senators Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, and Heidi Heitkamp had lifetime scores of 94%, 97%, and 86% percent respectively.

Senator Heidi Heitkamp helped author the Butch Lewis Act to protect the pensions of over a million retired Teamsters. Kevin Cramer supported that bill when he was running for her seat, but voted against it when he was finally in the Senate. It was signed into law as part of the American Rescue Plan by Joe Biden.

In the 2025 Report Card put out by our state’s public employees union, North Dakota United, Democratic-NPL lawmakers voted with the union on average 94% of the time, Republican lawmakers did so only 53% of the time on average.

The top three performing lawmakers were Democratic-NPL Senators Josh Boschee, Kathy Hogan, and Tim Mathern, who all scored 100%.

The lowest was Sen. Jeff Magrum (R-Hazelton) with 20%. Reps. Ben Koppelmam (R-West Fargo), Karen Rohr (R-Mandan), and Mike Schatz (R-New England) all had 23%. Reps. Lori VanWinkle (R-Minot), Donna Henderson (R-Calvin), and TJ Brown (R-Fargo) had 25%.

Democratic-NPL lawmakers proposed a number of bills in 2025 to advocate for North Dakota workers, including:

  • Sen. Josh Boschee (D-Fargo) advocated for apprenticeship grants to help workers jump-start their careers in the trades.
  • Sen. Ryan Braunberger (D-Fargo) and Rep. Austin Foss (D-Fargo) both fought for protections for working-class renters
  • Sen. Kathy Hogan (D-Fargo) fought for an employer child care tax credit to offset income tax liability for employers who make child care expense contributions to their employees.
  • Rep Karla Rose Hanson (D-Fargo) fought to protect access to fertility treatment and contraceptives so working North Dakotans can start and grow their families on their terms
  • Rep. Zac Ista (D-Grand Forks) advanced a bill to qualify educators for a lifetime teacher license sooner in their careers.

    • CONTACT:
    Laura Dronen
    Communications Director
    [email protected]