Adapted from Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It's Hard by Ellen David Friedman. Find it at labornotes.org/keepgoing 🐦
Labor Notes
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Putting the movement back in the labor movement since 1979. linktr.ee/labornotes
Russell Sires and John Gasceyare, Teamsters Local 509 stewards in South Carolina, described how they organized over understaffing when management began filling gaps by having lower-paid union members handle some deliveries in violation of their contract labornotes.org/2026/08/stew...
For over four decades now, workers have seen steady, reliable pension payouts replaced by more uncertain returns from 401(k) plans where employees’ payments are invested in retirement accounts vulnerable to the stock market 1/3
Just this summer, letter carriers and others working outdoors experienced hazardous levels of smoke from Canadian wildfires, and found themselves pushed to respond collectively as bosses urged them to keep working if they chose: labornotes.org/blogs/2026/0...
How Letter Carriers Can Organize to Prevent Smoke Injury
Letter carriers and other people who work outdoors, especially in the upper Midwest and East, are experiencing hazardous levels of smoke from Canadian wildfires. Some areas have been experiencing AQI ...
labornotes.org
Jacobin@jacobinmag.bsky.social · 2d agoLiberals struggle to connect with blue-collar workers. How about offering them high-paying jobs with the fringe benefit of fighting climate change?
We were able to show that management was filling staffing gaps by having lower-paid union members do some of the deliveries in violation of our contract, write Russell Sires and John Gasceyare, Teamsters Local 509 shop stewards in South Carolina labornotes.org/2026/08/stew...
Stewards Corner: How We Made UPS Create Full-Time Jobs in Our Local
Often, winning something in your contract is only half the battle—the other half is enforcing it. It was a huge win in 2023 when our national contract campaign made UPS end its two-tier driver program...
labornotes.org
🚨Labor Notes Online Workshop, Monday, Aug. 10: Strategize with other stewards about: ☑️Educating members about their contract and/or workplace issues ☑️Getting co-workers used to standing up to management ☑️Building a union culture on the job Sign up! labornotes.org/events/2026/...
Stewards' Workshop: Thinking Like an Organizer
This workshop is intended for stewards and elected officers who work closely with stewards. Please register only if this applies to you. Join Labor Notes for an online workshop for shop stewards on “t...
labornotes.org
There’s not just one group in the Letter Carriers (NALC) pushing for change, but a whole ecosystem of reform groups, slates, and podcasters among the 5,000-plus delegates coming to Los Angeles for the union convention August 3-7 labornotes.org/2026/07/lett...
Labor Notes@labornotes.bsky.social · 7d agoLeadership change looks likely in the Letter Carriers this fall. Members are taking on low pay, forced overtime, dangerous heat, the rejected contract imposed last year, a grievances backlog, and the president’s secretive approach to bargaining, Al Bradbury reports labornotes.org/2026/07/lett...
Winning something in your contract is only half the battle—the other half is enforcing it. It was a huge win in 2023 when our national contract campaign made UPS end its two-tier driver program, write Russell Sires and John Gasceyare, Teamsters 509 stewards in South Carolina 1/3
Coming to the monthly meeting is often one of the first things that a union member tries when seeking to be more involved. It’s important not to turn them off! labornotes.org/2016/11/how-...
"It was a lot of going around and talking to our co-workers and letting them know they're worth fighting for. Took a lot of convincing, but we got a lot of folks on the picket line." —UNITE HERE Local 274 member Kathleen Householder from Philadelphia labornotespodcast.podbean.com/e/actual-wor...
Labor Notes@labornotes.bsky.social · last wk.Paul and UNITE HERE Local 274 member Kathleen Householder from Philadelphia also joined the latest episode of the Labor Notes Podcast to talk about how workers used World Cup events as leverage in their organizing labornotespodcast.podbean.com/e/actual-wor... 4/4
Leadership change looks likely in the Letter Carriers this fall. Members are taking on low pay, forced overtime, dangerous heat, the rejected contract imposed last year, a grievances backlog, and the president’s secretive approach to bargaining, Al Bradbury reports labornotes.org/2026/07/lett...
Letter Carriers Set to Deliver Change in Upcoming Union Election
A leadership change looks likely in the Letter Carriers (NALC) this fall. Members are mad about low pay and forced overtime, dangerous heat and robberies, the rejected contract imposed last year, the ...
labornotes.org
🚨Online Workshop Tonight: You've been talking to your co-workers, and they say they feel overworked, underpaid, and increasingly pressured by quotas and the constant threat of discipline. How do you fight for better? labornotes.org/events
More than 2,000 stadium workers in Los Angeles scored a goal that no VAR could revoke: they overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike and built a credible threat to walk off the job during World Cup matches scheduled at the SoFi stadium—and won the right to strike over ICE 🧵1/4
We've assembled a resource packet for union members seeking advice on transforming their unions: how (and when) to build a union reform caucus, and how to navigate the challenges of developing a caucus. www.labornotes.org/caucus
Letter carriers and other people who work outdoors, especially in the upper Midwest and East, are experiencing hazardous levels of smoke from Canadian wildfires 1/5
You can’t run a campaign by yourself, any more than you can run a local by yourself. Strong unions involve rank-and-file members. So do strong campaigns.
Employers say illnesses and injuries are caused by worker carelessness. But the union realizes that it’s the hazards themselves that cause injuries, and that it’s the boss who sets up the workplace, either designing in hazards or failing to design them out. labornotes.org/2024/06/boss...
As major unions like the UFCW and SEIU consider committing serious resources to support a broader effort to organize Amazon, there is a lot to learn from another ambitious union campaign: SEIU’s Fight for 15, write organizers Rand Wilson and Peter Olney labornotes.org/blogs/2026/0...
Viewpoint: What Amazon Workers Can Learn from the Successes (and Failures) of the Fight for 15
If the labor movement is to maintain and raise standards, then we must organize Amazon—one of the largest employers and most powerful corporations in the U.S. today. Already thousands of Amazon worker...
labornotes.org
UNTA, the National App Workers Union, held a work stoppage across Mexico in May to demand the recognition of the basic labor rights of workers providing services through digital platforms
Labor Notes@labornotes.bsky.social · 3w ago"That's just ideology" — Luis Fernando Mora Reyes, an app worker from Mexico City, told the Labor Notes Podcast why he doesn't buy the line that gig work lets people "be their own boss." Listen to the full episode out now: labornotespodcast.podbean.com/e/app-worker...
Becoming an organizer is not about selling the union, or getting your co-workers to do what you want them to do. Compliance is what the boss demands. Our organizing should be the opposite. Adapted from Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It's Hard. labornotes.org/store/keepgo...
“Without immigrants, you will not have nurses,” said @nynurses.bsky.social president Nancy Hagans, who is also a Haitian immigrant. “You will not have licensed practical nurses. You will not have certified nursing assistants. You will not have homecare workers.” www.labornotes.org/blogs/2026/0...
‘Give Me a Chance to Survive’: Workers, Employers Dread Deportations’ Effect on Health Care
“They killed my cousin,” said the Brooklyn man, a Haitian immigrant in his forties, explaining why he came to the United States four years ago. He asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. The si...
labornotes.org
“$30 an hour will be a game-changer for me,” said Shafeek Anderson, who has worked seven years at the Sheraton. “It would mean I could actually start saving for the future.” labornotes.org/2026/07/worl...
Labor Notes@labornotes.bsky.social · 3w agoLabor Notes Organizers Paul Prescod and @nataschaelena.bsky.social report: labornotes.org/2026/07/worl... 4/4
"That's just ideology" — Luis Fernando Mora Reyes, an app worker from Mexico City, told the Labor Notes Podcast why he doesn't buy the line that gig work lets people "be their own boss." Listen to the full episode out now: labornotespodcast.podbean.com/e/app-worker...
We typically don’t experience respect at work—we experience coercion. The boss may call us “partners” or claim “we’re a family here,” but the employment relationship is fundamentally undemocratic: The employer makes the decisions, and workers are required to comply 1/3
"Amazon organizers can learn from the Fight for 15’s success at building pressure through a broad public campaign—and from its failure to build an organization of, by, and for workers. At Amazon, we need to succeed at both," write Rand Wilson and Peter Olney (story link in reply)
“Without immigrants, you will not have nurses,” said Nancy Hagans, president of the New York State Nurses Association. “You will not have licensed practical nurses. You will not have certified nursing assistants. You will not have homecare workers.” labornotes.org/blogs/2026/0...
‘Give Me a Chance to Survive’: Workers, Employers Dread Deportations’ Effect on Health Care
“They killed my cousin,” said the Brooklyn man, a Haitian immigrant in his forties, explaining why he came to the United States four years ago. He asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. The si...
labornotes.org
In a World Cup-fueled union win, concessions workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have won the right to walk off the job, should ICE pose a threat to their safety. labornotes.org/2026/07/worl...
🚨 Stewards' Workshop reminder tonight (Wednesday, July 15). Hear from stewards about how they've used grievances to organize their coworkers, and talk to other labor activists about how to handle sticky situations. There's still time to sign up: labornotes.org/events/2026/...
Stewards' Workshop: Assertive Grievance Handling
This workshop has limited capacity and is for stewards and elected officers who work with stewards - not staff. Please register only if this applies to you. Fighting grievances isn’t only about how we...
labornotes.org
It’s easy to feel frustrated with a member who doesn’t show up to union meetings. But a change in strategy can help you bring shorter meetings to more members—and help develop new union activists. labornotes.org/2017/09/brin...
Bring the Union Meeting to the Members
How many members attend your union meetings? And how do you feel about that? Whether it’s just a handful or a hundred, no activist is ever satisfied. But you can drop a whole load of frustration if yo...
labornotes.org
In a World Cup-fueled union win, concessions workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have won the right to walk off the job, should ICE pose a threat to their safety 1/4