Troublemakers Blog
April 01, 2022 /
Solidarity: we celebrate it in song, emblazon it on picket signs, and insert the word into Twitter hashtags. Inducing workers to overcome divisions and unite as a class, however, is far easier said (or sung about) than done. In our current polarized climate, solidarity may seem like an especially elusive goal. »
March 24, 2022 /
This is part of an occasional series where we look back at the “labor episode” of a TV show. The Star Trek series Deep Space Nine has a great union episode with lessons about organizing in a customer service industry. Spoilers ahead for the fourth-season episode “Bar Association”! »
March 23, 2022 /
The recent surge in union action has been met by an increase in union-busting by greedy employers—even in companies whose purpose is to serve and heal, such as hospitals.
The pandemic has put an acute strain on an already chronic problem: short staffing. For years many hospitals have adopted tools from the hospitality and the assembly-line production industry. »
March 16, 2022 / Luis Feliz Leon
Around 60 workers at three Amazon delivery stations—the final stop in the company’s logistics chain—staged a work stoppage early this morning.
Amazonians United, a network of rank-and-file worker committees around the U.S. and Canada, coordinated the walkouts in New York City and Maryland in its latest show of shop floor strength. »
March 11, 2022 /
Content warning: This piece mentions death and suicidal thoughts. —Editors
February 2020: “I don’t want to see anyone in the hallway with a mask on,” the manager said.
We were standing at the nurses’ station, in what was to be the Covid unit. “Um, the CDC is saying this is airborne,” I said. “Not only do we need masks, we need N95s!” »
March 08, 2022 / Joe DeManuelle-Hall
When “microtransit,” the new rage in transit privatization, showed up in Denton, Texas, union activists decided to fight back. »
March 02, 2022 /
Ignacy Jóźwiak of the Polish union Workers' Initiative interviewed Witalij Machinko, leader of the Workers’ Solidarity Trade Union in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 27. This interview comes to us via the International Trade Union Network of Solidarity and Struggle. »
March 01, 2022 /
A wave of worker activism has shaken the labor movement and captivated the public’s attention as the pandemic stretched into its second and third year—and this wave couldn’t have come at a more important time. »
February 21, 2022 / Jonah Furman
In January our movement got its annual punch in the gut from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whose 2021 report shows 241,000 fewer union members than the previous year. Just 1 in 10 workers belongs to a union; in the private sector it’s 1 in 16. »
February 17, 2022 / Sarah Hughes
Holding a union sign at a picket line or rally is a rite of passage for a fighting union. But how often do we stop to think about how we are using these moments of collective action to strengthen our sense of unity, pride, and power? »