As Americans mark Labor Day, Donald Trump is heading into the holiday with a record of rising costs for working families and open hostility toward the unions that represent them. From tariffs squeezing household budgets to a labor board stacked against organizing workers, Trump’s policies have made the basic promise of Labor Day, that hard work should pay off, impossible to keep.
Tariffs Are Squeezing Small Businesses, Consumers, and Farmers, With a New Canada Fight Looming
- The smallest U.S. businesses lost 292,000 jobs in 2025, nearly four and a half times more than during the pandemic, as tariffs drove up costs.
- Small business bankruptcy filings jumped 67 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier.
- Trump’s tariffs on automobiles and auto parts are projected to raise new vehicle prices by roughly $2,000 to $4,000.
- The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found the tariff regime would lower average household income by about $1,800.
- On September 8th, Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will take effect, targeting steel, dairy, appliances, farm equipment, and pulp and paper, a direct hit to American farmers and manufacturers after trade talks collapsed.
Grocery Prices Remain High as Trump’s War in Iran Sends Diesel and Fertilizer Costs Soaring
- The national average price of diesel hit an all-time high of $5.85 a gallon last week, surpassing the previous record, as the war disrupts global fuel supply.
- Nearly all U.S. school buses run on diesel, and higher fuel costs are straining school district budgets just as the school year begins.
- The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has driven the price of urea, a key nitrogen fertilizer, up nearly 45 percent since the war began, raising the cost of growing food for the nation’s farmers.
- Even before the war, U.S. Department of Agriculture economists projected food prices would rise more this year than in 2024 or 2025, and farmers now warn those costs will directly hit your grocery shelves.
Trump Has Waged an Open War on Workers Since Taking Office
- The federal workforce has shrunk by more than 352,000 employees through firings, forced resignations, and retirements, the largest reduction in more than 60 years.
- Trump signed an order stripping job protections from 8,000 senior civil servants, reclassifying them so they can be fired for any reason.
- Trump illegally fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox despite her term not expiring until 2028, gutting the board meant to protect workers’ organizing rights.
- The Trump Labor Department has proposed rolling back more than 60 workplace rules, including a plan that would strip 3.7 million home care workers of minimum wage and overtime protections.
Mass Deportations Are Costing Americans Construction Jobs
- Economists project Trump’s deportation agenda will eliminate 861,000 jobs held by U.S.-born construction workers alongside 1.4 million held by immigrants.
- A national study found construction was hit harder than any other industry, with U.S.-born workers losing more jobs than the immigrant workers who remained.
- New housing permits were down 7.4 percent year over year in March 2026 as labor shortages slowed projects nationwide.
- The construction industry needs 349,000 net new workers in 2026 just to meet demand, a gap Trump’s deportation program is making worse, not better.
Published: Sep 8, 2026