Luis Feliz Leon

Persecuted by Trump, Will Unions Build Towards May 2028?

Luis Feliz Leon
A group of autoworkers with black “Protect Our Freedom to Vote” shirts march

Three years ago the United Auto Workers, glowing with confidence after a successful strike at the Big 3 and pledging ambitious new organizing drives, put out a call for a national strike on May 1, 2028.

UAW President Shawn Fain called for unions to align their contracts with the Big 3 to build leverage and create a crisis for the billionaire class. It was a new day in the UAW, and a wider labor renewal felt possible.

UAW Members Voting for International Officers

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UAW delegates (men and women, Black and white) sit listening at the union's 2026 convention. Table signs identify those in the foreground as from Region 8, Locals 129 and 276.
August 25, 2026

United Auto Workers members are voting by mail ballot for their top officers, for the second time in the union’s 91 years. Ballots went out August 21 and are due back by October 5.

The contest will decide whether President Shawn Fain, who became famous for leading 2023’s Stand-Up Strike against the Big 3 automakers, will be able to continue the union’s about-face from its previous employer-friendly ways.

Federal Spies Hunt Minnesota Unions in Search of Conspiracy, But Find Solidarity

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Agents covered head to toe in tactical gear and warm clothing stand in a diamond formation, facing outward, in a city street. Their faces are covered. The vests say "police" though they are not in uniform. They all wear heavy boots and some carry spray cans. Visible behind them is a one-story brick building lined with retail shops, with faded signs reading "8 Street Nourish" and "Tobacco & Mas."
August 14, 2026

Yesterday news broke of a sweeping undercover investigation by the Department of Homeland Security in Minnesota early this year to infiltrate and surveil meetings and obtain the financial records of nonprofit groups and two of the country’s largest unions, the Communications Workers (CWA) and the Service Employees (SEIU).

Learning, Recharging, Uniting at Labor Notes 2026

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Several people stand on stage with fists raised and with a Labor Notes banner behind them.
July 02, 2026

In a time when there’s real cause for fear and despair—and when the Trump administration is pushing hard to divide us—the Labor Notes Conference June 12-14 in Chicago was an oasis of inspiration and solidarity.

As Contract Deadline Looms, Auto Parts Workers Say ‘No Axles, No Trucks!’

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People, mostly wearing red, hoist printed signs in a packed indoor rally. A woman in the foreground, smiling, wears a "no tiers" button. Her sign, held high, reads "UAW: Fight for Job Security." Other visible signs say "UAW: Fight for No Tiers" and "UAW: It's Our Time at Local 2093 American Axle." A man behind her, applauding, wears a red and black buffalo plaid shirt. Most people visible in the photo appear to be white.
May 21, 2026

Axles are to vehicles what joints are to human bodies: the mechanism that facilitates movement. For parts worker Rosie Dodge, who has worked on a paint line for American Axle & Manufacturing for 10 years, the metaphor is embodied in the work environment.

“They just do not treat us like people,” Dodge said. “We are often referred to as bodies, like they don’t even want to give us credit for having a pulse. They do what they call ‘manpower moves,’ and they say, ‘We just need bodies over here.’”

In Major Breakthrough, Volkswagen Auto Workers Reach Tentative Deal

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A Black woman in a red "Stand up UAW" T-shirt throws her hands in the air in celebration, phone in one hand, tears in her eyes. Other workers in matching shirts, and other people, stand nearby, all smiling, some clapping. In a room, looks like a union hall, with a logo on the wall that says "United we stand, divided we fall" around a handshake.
February 10, 2026

Volkswagen had dangled a treat: a ratification bonus of $4,000, sweetened by $1,500 if a first contract at its assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was approved by Halloween 2025. But auto workers had a trick up their sleeves: collective action.

One hundred and sixty workers on the second shift hampered that day’s production schedule by skipping work in a mass call-out. Workers used sick time or paid time off to secure the day off, leaving management in a bind.

In the Twin Cities, a Massive Strike Against ICE

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A big crowd carries a banner “ICE out of MN!”
January 27, 2026

Icicles hung from the beards of men in union beanies. The lobbies of large commercial buildings in downtown Minneapolis opened to the public for respite filled with people rubbing each other’s sore feet, peeling the sticky adhesive off foot warmers to place them under their socks, and jamming their feet into thickly insulated boots.

Will ICE Ignite a Mass Strike in Minnesota?

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Mass march with many handmade anti-ICE signs. Most prominent are rainbow butterflies with the word "Together." Another in lower right says "How do have money for ICE but not teachers, veterans, childcare, health care, mental heath services, clean water, SNAP?" A flag farther back in crowd shows Star Wars rebellion logo.
January 16, 2026

Minnesota appears to be in gear for a mass uprising. Unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses there are calling for a statewide day of “no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping” on January 23.

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