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One masked worker speaks into a bullhorn as another looks on. Both look happy and young.

Labor Notes Conference 2022: It’s Gonna Be Big »

May 12, 2022 | Alexandra Bradbury

This year’s Labor Notes Conference (June 17-19, Chicago) will be one for the record books. About 4,000 people are coming—more than ever before—after a long wait.

A Life in Transit: ‘What You Can Get Is Set by How Far You Are Prepared to Go’ »

April 28, 2022 | Tim Schermerhorn

Tim Schermerhorn is a Black socialist, lifelong political activist, Labor Notes board member, and retired militant New York City transit worker.

Learn It, Do It, Teach It: Member Organizers Turn the Moment into a Movement »

April 27, 2022 | Stephanie Basile, Brittany Carloni, and Andrew Pantazi

Over the last five years, in big pro-union cities and small Southern towns, more than 7,000 workers in 145 shops have organized with the NewsGuild, a sector of the Communications Workers (CWA).

Retaliation Can't Stop Growing Starbucks Union »

April 20, 2022 | Jonah Furman

So far, over 200 Starbucks stores across the country have filed for union elections, with 25 of the 27 that have voted so far choosing to join Starbucks Workers United. That includes the union going five for five yesterday in elections at stores in Richmond, Virginia.

‘Add Personal Story Here’: Starbucks Anti-Union One-on-Ones Fall Flat »

April 20, 2022 | Sara Mughal

The last time I wrote in Labor Notes, I described the captive-audience “listening sessions” that Starbucks corporate had attempted to use against me and my co-workers who are trying to unionize our Hopewell Starbucks in central New Jersey.

Viewpoint: Abolish the H-2A Program! »

April 19, 2022 | Dignity Campaign

This statement is from the Dignity Campaign, which includes the following organizations: Community2Community Development, the California Institute for Rural Studies, the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition, the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, and Frente Indigena de Organizaciones Binac...

Minneapolis Strike Wins Big Raise For Lowest-Paid Educators »

April 19, 2022 | Barbara Madeloni

After three weeks on strike, members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers voted to accept a new contract that brought significant wins and made inroads on critical issues.
Inside a warehouse three young people smile as they unveil a bright yellow banner that says "Amazon Labor Union, Vote Yes"

Take Heart, and Take Risks »

April 15, 2022 | Alexandra Bradbury

Nobody predicted this—we sure didn’t. What Amazon workers in New York pulled off was supposed to be impossible.
A woman speaks into a mic in foreground. Others wearing ALU T-shirts look on in background. The speaker and the listener nearest her are smiling. They are outdoors and it is sunny.

‘They’re Playing Really Dirty’: Amazon Lashes Back in Staten Island Warehouses »

April 14, 2022 | Luis Feliz Leon

The company has billed itself as the everything store. Now Amazon is the throw-everything-at-them union-buster—trying every trick in the playbook to throttle worker organizing at its Staten Island warehouses in New York City.

Review: On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union »

April 12, 2022 | Luis Feliz Leon

Working in the industrial laundry factories of Phoenix, Arizona, is a dirty and dangerous job. Immigrant workers must sort through a tangle of soiled hospital linen with thinly gloved hands. When the conveyor belt is sped up, workers can prick their fingers with syringes and scalpels.

Tight crowd of people outdoors embracing and yelling in celebration. Most visible person in center, face upturned, wears a red baseball cap and a T-shirt that says The Congress of Essential Workers. Behind, many people hold up cameras capturing the moment.

Viewpoint: Amazon Win Shows We Need an Eclectic and Class-Wide Approach »

April 8, 2022 | Rand Wilson and Peter Olney

Against nearly impossible odds, a new independent union called the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) has won the first NLRB-supervised union certification election at an Amazon warehouse in the U.S.
A speaker talks to a roomful of union members who sit in chairs.

How Student Workers at Grinnell College Are Winning a Wall-to-Wall Union »

April 4, 2022 | Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers Executive Board

The Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers (UGSDW) on March 4 signed a first-of-its-kind neutrality and election agreement with Grinnell College.
Four actors on stage in front of a black background.

'Coal Country' Mines Seam of Class Anger in West Virginia Explosion »

April 4, 2022 | Jenny Brown

If Don Blankenship were a fictional character, critics would say he was a cartoon evil capitalist. Unfortunately, he’s real.

Amazon Workers on Staten Island Clinch a Historic Victory »

April 1, 2022 | Luis Feliz Leon

It’s the magical stuff of Disney movies.

When Workers Swapped Segregation for Solidarity »

April 1, 2022 | Toni Gilpin

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.

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