What the hell is going on at the Department of Labor?
On January 10, the DOL posted this on X: "One Homeland. One People. One Heritage. Remember who you are, American."
Read that again. Slowly. If that doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, it should.
Myriad people immediately flagged the post as sounding eerily similar to one of the Nazi Party's central slogans — "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" (one people, one realm, one leader). And they're not wrong to hear the echo. Even if you want to give the DOL every possible benefit of the doubt (you shouldn't), the vibe is unmistakable: nationalist propaganda, identity worship, and "blood and soil" messaging dressed up as patriotism.
And it wasn't even that subtle. The post was paired with a black-and-white montage of Revolutionary-era imagery and propaganda-style art — the kind of aesthetic authoritarian movements love because it sells nostalgia, certainty, obedience, and "purity" in one neat package.
Keep in mind, this is the Department of Labor. Its job is supposed to be enforcing wage-and-hour laws, protecting workplace safety, ensuring fair labor standards, and helping people get employed and trained. Not cranking out memes that wink at fascist tropes and flirt with Nazi-era rhetoric, slogans, and iconography.
This isn't happening in a vacuum. Union leaders and historians are sounding alarms about a "rhetorical shift towards white supremacy" within the federal government, with campaigns featuring idealized, mostly White male workers, "Americanism" over "globalism," and messaging designed to convince the "real Americans" that only people like them belong. Indeed, ICE is recruiting potential agents with the tagline, "We'll have our home again," a lyric tied to white nationalist groups.
When federal agencies start talking like this, it's not "patriotism." It's not an accident. It's propaganda — and it's the point.
Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.
Ford Worker Suspended for Calling Trump a 'Pedophile Protector' Says He Has 'No Regrets Whatsoever' — via MEDIAite
What to Do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement Shows Up at Your Worksite — via hr bartender
Trump Team Piling Up Injustices in Minnesota — via The Chief Organizer Blog
The Trump Administration Use of the False Claims Act in Anti-DEI Campaign — via The D & O Diary
HR told me to carry a non-viable pregnancy to term — via Ask a Manager
Whither Bostock? — via SCOTUSblog
Supreme Court appears likely to uphold transgender athlete bans — via SCOTUSblog
Is HR Useless? Only If You Ignore Compliance, Risk, and Reality — via Improve Your HR by Suzanne Lucas, the Evil HR Lady
Employers Don't Have a Crystal Ball. EEOC Charges Still Matter. — via Eric Meyer's Employer Handbook Blog
The unlimited PTO trap: Insights from the experts at Deel — via HR Dive
The unlimited PTO trap: Insights from the experts at Deel — via HR Dive
Restaurant Owes $366K to Workers It Gipped Out of Pay With Illegal Tip Pool — via Joe's HR and Benefits Blog
Gen AI Is Threatening the Platforms That Dominate Online Travel — via Harvard Business Review
Handling Investigations in a Global Workplace — via Employment Law Worldview