Alexandra Bradbury

Green Shoots

Alexandra Bradbury
Several people chant with round Hotel Trades Council signs.

Gardeners have a saying about newly planted perennials: “They sleep, then creep, then leap.”

Last summer I pulled a lot of grass out of my yard (hard work!) and planted a garden. The new plants stayed small through the winter, gathering strength. Now suddenly my garden is teeming with new leaves.

Spring has brought green shoots in the labor movement too. Here are some causes for hope:

More Unions Are Saying ‘ICE Out’

Alexandra Bradbury
People march in the street carrying various banners and signs. The most visible banners says "Labor says ICE out." Others partially visible are for two Oregon health care unions, OFNHP and ONA. Their red and green shirts (respectively) are also visible, and someone has a blue AFT shirt. Many handmade picket signs are visible, including "We are all Alex," "Unions want ICE out," "Hold ICE accountable," and "Ge(stop)o the bullshit"

More unions across the country are taking a stand against Immigration and Customs Enforcement since the January 23 mass strike in Minneapolis and the January 24 killing of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse and union member.

Pretti was a member of the Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3669, working in the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital. His death at the hands of Border Patrol agents has shocked and outraged people across the country. Health care and V.A. workers have felt it even more keenly.

Indiana Casino Dealers Are Bringing Back the Recognition Strike

A dozen or so workers stand on a corner in from of a parking garage with a giant horseshoe logo on it. They look determined. They carry a mix of hand-lettered and printed signs saying things like "Dealers on strike," "Organize," "Fight back," "Horseshoe Teamsters on strike," and "On strike only against Horseshoe Casino Greed, Teamsters Local 135." Behind them is a canopy that has been insulated with tarps closing some of the sides. Camp chairs and a propane tank are visible. Some wear knitted hats.
November 10, 2025

There are no clocks in a casino, so the dealers all set their phone alarms for noon. Everyone was a bundle of nerves. Before work, a couple of people threw up.

But when the cacophony of alarms sounded, everyone lifted their hands in the air, slammed down the lids on their games of baccarat, blackjack, craps, and roulette, and announced they were on strike. “It was more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt in my life,” said dealer Tera Arnold. “I had goosebumps head to toe.”

Still Got the Power of the People

Alexandra Bradbury
People in red T-shirts picket in the sunlight on a downtown sidewalk. Shirts say "Hotel workers strike" and "UNITE HERE Local 23." Picket signs say "Houston's workers on strike for fair wages." Another slogan partially visible on some signs is "One job should be enough."

In these terrifying times, I keep thinking of something Racine, Wisconsin, educator Angelina Cruz once said: “There’s a reason we’re supposed to feel isolated and powerless. It’s because we’re not.”

Every day Trump unveils some outrageous new cruelty against immigrants, federal workers, peaceful protesters dressed as frogs, or whoever is the target of today’s Two Minutes Hate. He and his gang of billionaires act like they’re all-powerful—and they’re getting away with so much, so fast, that it’s easy to start believing it.

Coping with Climate Crises on the Job

Several people with colorful signs in red and orange face the camera, one says “Delbar treat your workers right”
July 16, 2025

Heat, smoke, flooding, hurricanes, fires, turbulence—on the job, workers are already facing the ravages of a changing climate.

These problems are ripe for organizing—usually everyone is feeling it. Often it’s very clear what solution would help, and who could deliver it.

Such fights don’t address the underlying causes of climate change. But they’re opportunities to build union power by strengthening the bonds among co-workers and getting folks into action together.

Labor Defends Jailed Immigrants: Forklift Driver, Hospital Worker

Ten people, some with Machinists Union shirts, stand with a Machinists Local 160 banner
May 28, 2025

UPDATE: On May 29, SEIU Local 925 announced that Lewelyn Dixon was being released after being held by ICE for three months. An immigration judge ruled that Dixon could not be deported. "Because of our communities coming together and exercising people power, Auntie Lynn is being released from detention," the union said in a Facebook post.

The Seattle-area labor movement is rallying in defense of immigrant members seized by the Trump regime.

Postal Workers Throng to 500 Rallies to Save the Postal Service

Two Black workers foregrounded in a dense crowd. Man on left wears orange New York Metro APWU T-shirt and lifts his hands to clap. Woman on right has thick eyelashes and holds a blue printed sign: "The Post Office belongs to the people, not the billionaires." Both smiling, energetic, probably chanting.
March 28, 2025

From big cities to small towns, postal workers organized hundreds of rallies across the country in the past week to defend a beloved public service—and the nation’s largest union employer—against privatization and DOGE attack.

“Whose Postal Service?” workers chanted in New York: “The people’s Postal Service.”

Postal Workers Brace for Trump’s Wrecking Ball

A large crowd of people in red "Fight Like Hell" shirts stand outside in bright sunlight. Some hold printed NALC signs with the slogans "Hell No to Attacks on Us" and "Fight Like Hell!"
March 03, 2025

Is the nation’s biggest union workforce, at the Postal Service, President Trump’s next target?

The Washington Post broke the news February 20 that Trump was on the verge of issuing an executive order to dissolve the independent leadership of USPS and move it into the executive branch under the Department of Commerce, now led by enthusiastic privatizer Howard Lutnick, a Wall Street banker. Trump confirmed the next day that he was “looking at” this option.

Welcome, Danielle!

Alexandra Bradbury
A smiling Black woman in round glasses and a jean jacket is shown

Our newest staff writer/organizer, Danielle Smith, joined the Labor Notes staff in October. Danielle is a dynamo—a skilled journalist and organizer.

As a labor reporter for the legal news website Law360.com, she was a member and shop steward of the NewsGuild of New York. Later she joined the union staff as a full-time organizer, and worked on strikes at Business Insider and Law360.

Pages