Troublemakers Blog

Despite Intimidation, Union Voices Get Louder for Ceasefire in Gaza

A group of people in white medical coats stand behind a red banner reading ‘Health Workers Against Genocide in Gaza.’
October 31, 2023 / Keith Brower Brown, / Caitlyn Clark
In the U.S. and across the world, hundreds of thousands of people have taken the streets to protest Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 8,300 Palestinians, including 3,300 children, since October 7. »

A Call for Openness in Letter Carriers Contract Negotiations

A letter carrier with a big shoulder bag puts mail in a grouped mailbox in an alley, he is backlit.
October 24, 2023 / Ray Tillman
One striking feature of the current labor resurgence is a trend for greater openness during national contract negotiations. This year the Auto Workers (UAW) at the Big 3 and Teamsters at UPS have provided members with detailed information about their bargaining proposals. »

It’s Working: Auto Workers’ Strike Strategy Is Forcing the Big 3 to Pony Up

A group of people in red shirts, one man carrying a child march past the camera with signs saying Stellantis is barganing in bad faith.
October 20, 2023 / Luis Feliz Leon
The Auto Workers (UAW) have thrown the Big 3 on the back foot. For the first time in recent history, the union is playing the automakers against each other—departing from its tradition of choosing one target company and patterning an agreement at the other two. »

U.S. Unions Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

A group of people hold a black banner that says CEASEFIRE.
October 19, 2023 / Alexandra Bradbury, / Luis Feliz Leon
While many union members and other workers are worried and horrified at the mounting war in Israel and occupied Palestine, U.S. unions so far have mostly remained silent. »

Record-Setting Strike Moves Kaiser the Old-Fashioned Way

Workers in purple SEIU Local 49 T-shirts march across a street. Some carry picket signs that say SEIU and some other words too small to read. A large purple banner says "We stand for our patients." The person in front is talking into a bullhorn and others appear to be chanting.
October 18, 2023 / Alexandra Bradbury
Seventy-five thousand Kaiser Permanente health care workers struck October 4-6 in what was billed as the biggest health care strike in U.S. history. »

Book Review: Soldiers as Workers in a Toxic Workplace

Book cover of “Our Veterans” shows a black woman veteran in a parade carrying the edge of a huge American flag with other marchers.
October 13, 2023 / Betsy Zucker
For decades, the armed services and contractors on bases abroad used massive burn pits for waste disposal, rather than safer methods. They burned everything from tires to computer equipment to medical waste and more, often using jet fuel, a known carcinogen, as an accelerant. »

‘Where There Are Scabs, There Is Violence’—That’s Why Scabs Are Illegal in Two Canadian Provinces

October 04, 2023 / Bill Cole
Auto Workers President Shawn Fain has vigorously condemned violence on the picket lines in Michigan, Massachusetts, and California—laying the blame on management for using replacement workers, or as we usually call them in the »

VIDEO: Stand with the UAW: Record Profits Means Record Contracts

A group of workers march in Detroit holding signs that say "UAW Stand Up: Fair Pay and COLA Now."
September 26, 2023 / Labor Notes staff
With 18,000 United Auto Workers members on strike at three Big 3 assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers around the country, Labor Notes held a free national Zoom call on September 23, 2023, to hear reports from the rank-and-file members massing on picket lines and taking creative actions to win their bold demands. »

First Tire Workers to Organize in 40 Years Win First Contract

Workers outside a big plant approach a car with leaflets.
September 26, 2023 / Finley Williams
It was late summer 2017 at the Overtyme Bar and Grill, a hotspot off a busy highway in Macon, Georgia, and Kumho Tire plant worker Mario Smith had important questions for local United Steelworkers (USW) president Alex Perkins: he wanted to know how he could bring a union to the one-year-old factory. »

Viewpoint: With No Reform Caucus, Auto Workers Would Not Be on Strike

Workers in red shirts picket outside. Many of the picket signs are white with UAW logo, Local 412, and the words "Stellantis Bargaining in Bad Faith."
September 26, 2023 / Jane Slaughter
What can workers seeking to reinvigorate their unions learn from the new spirit in the United Auto Workers? »

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