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With an emboldened Trump in the White House for a second term, the ground has shifted dramatically for unions. The labor movement, like many institutions, is scrambling to devise strategies to build power—or even just survive—during these challenging times.
This authoritarian consolidation of power is testing unions. What can unions do to survive in the second Trump presidency? What tactics and strategies can help organize more new members and best survive an all-out assault on labor and other rights?
As a contribution to the discussion and debate that’s needed at all levels of the labor movement, Labor Notes is soliciting contributions from organizers and scholars on what unions can do besides hide or try to curry favor. Our goal is to help organizers think about the moment that we’re in and reflect critically on strategies and tactics relied on over the past several years. What can unions do over the next few years that will help both stop the MAGA agenda and best position the labor movement for the future?
Urgent Times Call for Something Old And Something New from the Labor Movement
October 16, 2025 / Peter Olney and Rand Wilson
We Can’t Rebuild the Labor Movement Without Taking on Big Targets
October 22, 2025 / Kate Bronfenbrenner