The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the top US labor watchdog, is tasked with protecting workers’ rights, overseeing the labor movement and ruling on disputes between employers and unions.

Its five-seat board, which hears disputes and oversees union elections, requires at least three members to issue a ruling. But days after regaining power, Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox – an unprecedented decision – from the board, leaving it without this crucial quorum to make decisions.

“The Trump administration thus far seems to have been treating the agency with this kind of combination of hostility and aggressive neglect,” said Lauren McFerran, who served as chair of the NLRB under Joe Biden.

Four current rank-and-file workers spoke to the Guardian. Each requested anonymity, fearing retaliation.

“The NLRB’s employees just want to do our jobs and be treated with respect,” said one official. “But from day one, this administration has crippled the agency, and treated us as enemies.”

The National Labor Relations Act, enacted in 1935 to federally protect workers’ rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining, now exists “on paper only”, the official claimed.