Troublemakers Blog

March 27, 2020 / Chris Brooks
Some employers are laying us off and canceling our health care. Others say workers must show up for work regardless of the danger—and then not giving us the protective equipment we need. What can non-union workers do to protect themselves, their families, and the public? »
March 26, 2020 / Chris Brooks
You must register to participate in this webinar. Please register here. Defying health experts who say we need a five-week national lockdown, Republicans and employers are pushing for workers to endanger themselves and everyone around them by returning to work in April. »
Cartoon. First panel, a tower of workers holds up boss. Second panel, boss flounders mid-air after workers vanish. At bottom handheld signs say "Justice, Respect" "Fair Pay" "Workplace Rights." Caption: "Always keep in mind, your boss needs you... more than you need your boss."
March 25, 2020 /
There’s good news and bad news about TORN, the latest book of cartoons from Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki. The good: It’s a doozy! The bad: It’s their last one. »
March 25, 2020 /
It took the coronavirus to get a nurse in every New York City school, something teachers and parents have long demanded. The chancellor made the announcement March 5. But by then it was time for more serious measures. Ten days later, under pressure from rank-and-file teachers organizing for a sickout, the mayor finally agreed to close the schools. »
March 23, 2020 / Chris Brooks
The coronavirus crisis is spurring record-breaking sales for grocery store chains, straining supply chains and exhausting employees. »
Workers in Italy sitting outside a warehouse on strike in orange vests.
March 20, 2020 /
S.I. Cobas, or in Italian the Sindicati Interaziendali Comitati di Base (Cross-firm Base Committees) have done extensive work organizing in the logistics sector, principally in northern Italy. As their name suggests, base committees are formations at the “base” and are not part of the country’s three principal trade union federations: CGIL, CISL, and UIL. »
In the light of this pandemic, it is imperative that we protect workers immediately, prevent the exploitation of this crisis by management, and consider how to use this moment to advance demands that last far beyond the coronavirus. How do we do this? What is happening and what can we learn from each other? »
Nurses performing drive-thru tests for COVID-19 at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.
March 20, 2020 /
The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest workplace issue of our lives. Across the country, it is throwing into relief the cold capitalist logic of American workplaces, where the health and safety of workers, their families, and the public is subordinate to the employers' need for profit. »
The Louvre's outside pyramid at sunset.
March 19, 2020 / Joe DeManuelle-Hall, / Jane Slaughter
Direct action gets the goods. If your employer is still not acting like workers’ lives matter, take a page from union members who are putting muscle behind their bargaining—they're shutting the place down first. »
A striking worker holds a sign saying "CWA and IBEW Demand Good Jobs at Verizon" during the 2016 Verizon strike.
March 18, 2020 /
The unions representing 34,000 workers at Verizon have negotiated paid leave for union members who can’t work during the COVID-19 outbreak. Will other unions fight for these benefits to protect members? Like many health care workers, UPS drivers, and grocery workers, telephone workers are on the job as essential workers during the coronavirus outbreak. »

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