Republished from the US rank-and-file trade union network and publication Labor Notes. This year Labor Notes held its biggest ever conference, with over 4,000 people in attendance. The video from the opening rally is well worth a watch.
Republished from the US rank-and-file trade union network and publication Labor Notes. This year Labor Notes held its biggest ever conference, with over 4,000 people in attendance. The video from the opening rally is well worth a watch.
The rare planetary alignment in mid-June was accompanied by the equally rare alignment of the AFL-CIO convention and the Labor Notes conference. It’s not often there is the opportunity for such direct comparison of the top leadership and activist base of the labor movement. The AFL-CIO met from June 12-15 in Philadelphia. The theme of the convention was “Organize and Rise.”
This year’s Labor Notes Conference (June 17-19, Chicago) will be one for the record books. About 4,000 people are coming more than ever before after a long wait. There’s plenty to celebrate this year, starting with phenomenal new organizing wins at Starbucks and Amazon. Dozens of shop floor organizers from both companies will be there, including plenary speakers Amazon Labor
“They called us essential workers, so we believed them.” The labor shortage taught workers we could use the crisis to our advantage. A hundred thousand American workers either went on strike or authorized strikes in Striketober. And on November 20, 210 union members and allies showed up for a Troublemakers School in Detroit, eager to learn how to build power in their