Dan DiMaggio

Labor Notes Turns 40! Send Us Your Memories

The Troublemakers Union turns 40 next year! We’re planning a whole series of events to commemorate the occasion, from special magazine features to speaking tours and more.

As part of our celebration, we’re gathering memories of Labor Notes history, and we’d appreciate if you shared yours.

When was the first time you came across Labor Notes?

What role have Labor Notes and our supporters played in your organizing?

In the Pacific Northwest, the First Paraeducator-Led Strike of the Teacher Uprising

Paraeducators in Port Angeles, Washington, are on strike. In this year’s wave of teacher strikes, it’s the first one led by paraeducators.

Teachers have refused to cross their picket lines, shutting down the district’s schools Thursday and Friday.

NAFTA 2.0: What's the Deal?

What does a renegotiated NAFTA mean for workers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico? At best, it might stem some of the bleeding.

The presidents of the U.S. and Mexico announced on August 27 that they had reached a deal. A month later, Canada is still out of the agreement, though negotiations are likely to continue over the next few months. Text of the draft deal between the U.S. and Mexico may be published as soon as today.

West Virginia Teachers Launch Rank-and-File Caucus

A group of West Virginia teachers, including rank-and-file leaders of the nine-day strike earlier this year, have launched a cross-union caucus.

WV United aims “to keep people fired up and keep working together,” said Jay O’Neal, who teaches eighth grade in Charleston.

Nashville Painters Aim To Build Immigrant Base

How can building trades unions organize workers in an area where they don’t have much of a foothold? You’ve got to become a fixture in the community, and be in it for the long haul.

That’s the commitment the Painters are making in Nashville, Tennessee, where they just launched the Alianza Laboral (Spanish for “labor alliance”) Worker Resource Center.

Arizona Teachers Pull an All-Nighter to Seal the Deal

Arizona teachers struck statewide April 26 to May 3 over low pay and underfunding due to years of tax cuts.

Governor Doug Ducey had promised 20 percent raises heading into the strike, but teachers were skeptical that money would materialize. Their demands also included raises for other school employees and a return of funding to 2008 levels.

Colorado Teachers Reach Their Boiling Point

Pueblo teachers and paraprofessionals struck from May 7 to 11, the first school strike in Colorado in 24 years.

The teachers had been working without a new contract since the school year began. Their school district was refusing to grant them a 2 percent cost-of-living increase and to increase contributions to their health insurance, even after an independent factfinder recommended those modest improvements.

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