Troublemakers Blog

Setting the Pace in Auto: Thinking Bigger than Tariffs

At least a dozen activists crowd up to the door of a VU Manufacturing office, where a company flack is gesuring widely and trying to fend them off. One activist is holding a camera aloft, others holding signs or wearing UAW or Labor Notes gear. A woman
March 28, 2025 / Andrew Elrod
President Donald Trump’s infatuation with tariffs dates back to the 1980s, when he first said tariff was “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” On March 26 he announced “a 25 percent tariff on all cars not made in the U.S.,” but exempted auto parts that »

Trump Goes Nuclear on the Federal Workforce

A group of worried-looking protesters hold signs about government cuts
March 28, 2025 / Joe DeManuelle-Hall
In his broadest attack on federal workers and their unions to date, President Donald Trump on Thursday announced an executive order that claimed to end collective bargaining rights for »

Three Ways to Support Detained Farmworker Organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez

Supporters gather at a rally demanding Alfredo's release with signs reading "ICE Hands off Lelo", "Chinga la Migra" and other statements in solidarity with Lelo.
March 27, 2025 / Natascha Elena Uhlmann
Longtime farmworker organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this week in what many believe to be retaliation for his organizing. Juarez was pulled over while driving his wife to work. »

Union Pins and T-shirts On Sale to Benefit Labor Notes!

A collection of labor pins.
March 20, 2025 / Natascha Elena Uhlmann
Do you enjoy collecting old union buttons and pins? Want a vintage labor T-shirt? Longtime organizer and labor activist Rand Wilson is donating to Labor Notes all proceeds from the sale of his collection of labor swag! »

Concurso: Canciones y cantos para la huelga

A group of people stands outside a building, singing. Edwin, a young man with guitar, has his head leaned back shouting into the sky. Several other people have fists in the air, one wears a big smile, and some hold big paper on which lyrics are written out: "Sign me up for the union, bring me my union card, We can work better with decent pay, health care, childcare, and more of a say..."
March 14, 2025 / Kira Yeversky y Edwin Everhart
La música tiene el poder especial de levantar nuestra moral en tiempos de temor y duelo. En el Coro de trabajadores de Pittsburgh, el Pittsburgh Labor Choir, hemos aprendido que las canciones alcanzan su mayor fuerza cuando todas las personas se unen a cantarlas y no solo las escuchan. »

Army Corps Workers Defend Parental Leave with Direct Action

A seated woman with glasses in black holds a newborn baby wrapped in a white blanket to her chest.
March 13, 2025 / Daniel Kim
The doctor recommended at least 18 weeks to recover from childbirth. But Jane (whose name was changed for this article) was entitled to only 12 paid weeks under the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act. So she put in a request with her employer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for advance sick leave to cover the other six weeks. »

How Health Care Workers Are Defending Their Transgender Patients from Trump’s Attacks

A group of 10 people inside hold signs saying “Nurses Care for All People” and “transgender rights are human rights”
March 04, 2025 / Sarah Lazare
In the five years Quinn has worked as a licensed counselor, they have seen the astonishing positive impact that gender-affirming care can have on young patients’ lives. »

Solidaridad internacional es la respuesta sindical a los aranceles y las deportaciones

Un grupo de cincuenta trabajadores con gorras rojas y camisas blancas levantan sus puños y posan para la cámara.
February 28, 2025 / Jeffery Hermanson
El presidente del sindicato United Auto Workers (UAW), Shawn Fain, ha recientemente expresado la disposición del UAW a «trabajar con Trump en materia de comercio». »

Contest: Songs and Chants for the Strike Line

A group of people stands outside a building, singing. Edwin, a young man with guitar, has his head leaned back shouting into the sky. Several other people have fists in the air, one wears a big smile, and some hold big paper on which lyrics are written out: "Sign me up for the union, bring me my union card, We can work better with decent pay, health care, childcare, and more of a say..."
February 27, 2025 / by Kira Yeversky and Edwin Everhart
Update: This blog is now also available in Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese. »

Two Unions Strike the University of California

Two men in blue shirts that say “UPTE” play snare drums while others march in the background.
February 27, 2025 / Labor Notes staff
Picket lines formed across California Wednesday as 20,000 health care, research, and technical workers in UPTE (Communications Workers Local 9119) and 37,000 patient care workers in AFSCME Local 3299 walked out on short strikes across the University of California system. »

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