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How Intermodal Yard Workers Doubled Their Pay »

August 30, 2022 | Caitlyn Clark

Like many of his co-workers, Levi Kamel was nearly ready to quit. But before he did, he decided to try one thing: win a union.
Two young women in Starbucks Workers United T-shirts stand outdoors, holding up cardboard signs, mouths open to yell or chant.

Interview: Starbucks Workers Are in the Fight of Their Lives for a Contract »

August 25, 2022 | Daisy Pitkin

Starbucks Workers United just marked the one-year anniversary of its first organizing committee meeting. In that time, the new union has won union elections at 225 stores, covering more than 6,000 workers.

Trader Joe's Union Campaign Takes Two Steps Forward, One Step Back »

August 25, 2022 | Jonah Furman

Trader Joe’s workers in Minneapolis won their union in a landslide vote August 12, making theirs the second store to go with the new, independent Trader Joe’s United. The win raises the question of whether the grocer, with its 530 locations and progressive image, could be the next Starbucks.

Young workers in Starbucks aprons and SBWU logo shirts stand in a semicircle, all in calm postures mostly with hands clasped at rest in front of them. In the center is the manager in a white shirt, talking into a cell phone.

'Milk Was Still Steaming, We Just Walked Out': Scenes from a Summer of Strikes in a South Carolina Starbucks »

August 22, 2022 | Aneil Tripathi

Starbucks barista was Aneil Tripathi’s first job, at 17. Now 19 and a shift supervisor, he helped organize a union in his store in Anderson, South Carolina.
A group of black and white workers wearing purple SEIU T-shirts march.

Nine For-Profit Nursing Homes Pull A Simultaneous Strike—And Another Is on the Way »

August 22, 2022 | Angela Bunay

One thousand workers at nine for-profit nursing homes in Western New York held one-day strikes July 12 and 13. It’s the first time that 1199SEIU (United Healthcare Workers East) has held a coordinated strike across different nursing home employers in the region.
Crowd in UPS brown uniforms stands outdoors looking resolute, some holding signs. One sign visible reads "Make UPS Deliver!"

UPS Says No to Air Conditioning, But Here’s a Surveillance Camera »

August 18, 2022 | Elliot Lewis and Matt Leichenger

On June 25, 24-year-old UPS driver Esteban Chavez Jr. collapsed in the back of his truck while working, and died. Temperatures in the Los Angeles area that day were in the high 90s.
Strikers in red march with printed picket signs. In the center is a Black woman with a serious expression. Her sign reads "Kaiser, don't deny my patients mental health care. KaiserDontDeny.org."

Kaiser Clinicians Strike against ‘Separate and Unequal’ Mental Health Care »

August 16, 2022 | Cal Winslow

Thousands of Northern California Kaiser Permanente mental health clinicians, members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), are on strike.
Eleven smiling people pose outside. Some are holding up silkscreened T-shirts with Tender Claws union logo showing a claw. Many are raising one fist, and one is pointing at another person in the group.

Video Game and Tech Workers ‘Drop the U-Word’ »

August 12, 2022 | Robin LoBuglio

At noon on July 17, my co-workers and I at the video game studio Tender Claws stepped away from our desks.

Immigrant Detainees Strike Over $1-a-Day Pay, Working Conditions »

August 9, 2022 | Alejandra Quintero

At two federal detention centers in California, more than 50 immigrant workers are on strike over unsafe working conditions and low wages.

People in a big convention hall, all wearing red T-shirts, most getting to their feet. They are viewed from the back. At the front of hte room is a dais with people seated, and a huge lighted display that says "Building our tomorrow today" with the UAW logo.

Auto Workers Turn a Corner for Strike Pay and Democracy »

August 2, 2022 | Keith Brower Brown and Jane Slaughter

Reformers in the Auto Workers won day one strike pay at the union’s constitutional convention in Detroit last week.
Images of the covers of the books Class Struggle Unionism, Fight Like Hell, and On the Line

Recent Books of Note for Labor Activists »

August 1, 2022 | Labor Notes staff

A number of veteran organizers and labor journalists are publishing books this year that will be of interest to Labor Notes readers. Many of them participated in a "Meet the Author" session at the recent Labor Notes Conference. Here are a few books to check out or pre-order:
Fighter plane in flight

St. Louis Boeing Plant Workers to Strike »

July 28, 2022 | Jonah Furman

Next Monday 2.500 workers who make fighter jets, missiles, and drones for Boeing in the St. Louis area are set to strike. It would be the largest strike at the aerospace giant since 2008, and the biggest manufacturing strike since last year’s showdown at John Deere.

Every Boss Has a Weak Spot. Find and Use It. »

July 28, 2022 | Alexandra Bradbury, Jane Slaughter, and Mark Brenner

This article is excerpted from the Labor Notes book Secrets of a Successful Organizer, available for $15 at labornotes.org/secrets.
Women shout and raise their fists at a rally. Many are wearing green bandannas and one is holding the bandanna up in the air: it says "Bans off our bodies." A sign held up in background says "We won't go back."

What Can Unions Do Now to Defend Abortion Rights? »

July 27, 2022 | Sarah Hughes

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on June 24 overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent, erasing the constitutional right to an abortion.
Women march behind a giant banner. The part we can see reads "OUR ABORTION." Other signs visible say "If it's not your body, it's not your choice" and "Our bodies, our future."

Yes, Abortion Rights Are a Union Issue »

July 27, 2022 | Alexandra Bradbury | Sarah Hughes

Abortion: it’s a topic unions shy away from. The logic is, why go there? You might alienate conservative workers who otherwise share your workplace concerns.

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