Troublemakers Blog

GM strikers picketing on the road holding signs.
February 13, 2020 / Chris Brooks
Officials in the Auto Workers (UAW) have been working arm in arm with the Big Three automakers since the 1980s to increase productivity. So perhaps it was inevitable that union officials’ hands would find their way into the employers’ deep pockets. »
February 10, 2020 / Chris Brooks
University of California President Janet Napolitano proudly touted her opposition to Trump’s racist immigration policies before he even moved into the Oval Office. Now she’s following in Trump’s footsteps, threatening international students with actions that could lead to their deportation in an attempt to smash a wildcat strike at the university’s Santa Cruz »
Worker saying, "A. Philip Randolph once said, 'At the banquet table of nature there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take, & you keep what you can hold. If you can't take anything, you won't get anything, & if you can't hold anything, you won't keep anything. And you can't take anything without organization." Worker waves a flag "union power." Zoom out to boardroom with banner: "GenericCorp Celebrates Black History." Suited man says "I thought this would be more about jazz or 'brotherly love.'"
February 04, 2020 /
January 28, 2020 /
This is the latest installment in an occasional series where we evaluate the “union episode” of a television show. »
Dedham educators in red, on a picket line, with red and white signs.
January 13, 2020 / Barbara Madeloni
They stood on a picket line at the entrance to the school parking lot: seven educators out on strike for the first time. Public sector strikes are illegal in Massachusetts. But the night before, after two years of fruitless negotiations, the 300 members of the Dedham Education Association had voted overwhelming to walk out. »
December 20, 2019 / Dan DiMaggio
Labor Notes has been at it for 40 years. But 2019 will go down as one of our busiest and most productive yet. »
December 18, 2019 /
Early in his new book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor, former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse makes a striking observation. »
December 13, 2019 /
After a much-contested election process, the largest union of journalists in North America has chosen a 32-year-old reporter at the Los Angeles Times to be its new leader. »
December 02, 2019 /
Labor Notes is in the midst of our year-end fundraising drive. Below is the text of our fundraising letter, which will hit supporters' mailboxes in the first half of December. Donate to support our ongoing efforts to put the movement back in the labor movement at labornotes.org/donate. »
Lead couple of Nothing But a Man depicted sitting together, smiling.
November 27, 2019 /
You’ve probably noticed that Hollywood doesn’t turn out many movies about unions. But, says film buff and labor historian Toni Gilpin, there are some overlooked movies out there that depict working people and their lives on the job even though they might lack scenes with picket lines. This is her latest installment in an occasional series of viewing »

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