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Review: Who’s Got the Power: Hope for Troubled Times [1]

[1]
December 03, 2025 / Eric Dirnbach
Every few years a book comes out that tries to explain what’s happening in the labor movement and maybe cheer us up from the bad news of union decline. Dave Kamper’s new book, Who’s Got the Power: The Resurgence of American Unions [2], does the job. » [1]

Texas College Teacher Fired for Free Speech [3]

Tom Alter, a white man with a short haircut, squints into the sun and speaks into a megaphone, He is surrounded by a tightly packed crowd, diverse in race and gender, holding signs with slogans like "Defend Free Speech," "Defend All Public Workers," and "Reinstate Tom Alter." [3]
November 25, 2025 / David Finkel
Support is building within the labor, academic, and Palestine solidarity movements in defense of Tom Alter, a history professor at Texas State University in San Marcos. » [3]

Viewpoint: Why Our Members Put in 650 Hours Canvassing for Katie Wilson for Seattle Mayor [4]

[4]
November 20, 2025 / Natalie Wellen
Much is going to be written about the path to victory of Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson—a political newcomer who came from behind to win an incredible upset. They will say how her campaign benefited from Trump’s presidency and some vague generalized anger toward all politicians. » [4]

Texas Electricians Open Up Negotiations and Win Big [5]

A band performs in a union hall. The guitarist in front is a tall man in a red T-shirt with a design that starts "No Power" (his guitar blocks the rest of hte slogan" and the arm says "Stronger." There's a woman on bass, a man in a cowboy hat on drums, and a man holding an accordion sitting at a keyboard. Behind them is a yellow AFL-CIO banner. For some reason a black T-shirt is draped over a framed item on the wall. [5]
November 06, 2025 / Paul Steiner
The building trades can be a tough place for union reformers. Union business is typically conducted behind the scenes, with little involvement from members, while the bosses stall and derail negotiations. » [5]

Mega Strike in New Zealand Demands Funding for Public Services, Raises [6]

Workers rally holding colorful banners and signs. [6]
November 06, 2025 / Justine Sachs
New Zealand’s streets filled with nurses, doctors, teachers, health care assistants, public workers, and firefighters on October 23 in a massive one-day strike demanding that the government fully fund public services. In all, some 100,000 workers took part in the action—making it the largest strike New Zealand has seen since its first and only general strike in » [6]

SNAP Axe Could Fall on Grocery Shoppers and Workers Alike [7]

Two white women stand together in front of a wall of lockers, presumably the non-public area of a grocery store, holding a printed blue and yellow sign that reads "Workers' needs vs. grocery greed," with symbols of a fist and Mr. Moneybags. The woman on the left is giving the "thumbs-down" sign. Both smile calmly. [7]
October 31, 2025 / Caitlyn Clark
Beginning November 1, 42 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as “food stamps,” are set to go without benefits. Among them are union members in underpaid industries like grocery and retail. » [7]

How to Build a Union Culture that Welcomes Immigrant Members [8]

"PSC stands with immigrants." They are in a big crowd. Some also carry picket signs, some printed and some handwritten, with messages (some partially visible) including "Dictators don't belong here," "America? Fight for it!" "Oranges don't belong in the White House," "Stop the war on immigrants," and "Stop the coup." One woman wears a hijab. [8]
October 29, 2025 / Dan La Botz, Luis Feliz Leon, and Natascha Elena Uhlmann
Solidarity between workers is the lifeblood of a fighting labor movement. The workplace throws us together regardless of culture, race, gender, and language; we may have little in common but the need to earn a livelihood. But working shoulder to shoulder, we forge genuine bonds. » [8]

Loyola Marymount Is Trying to Bust our Union. We’re Fighting Back. [9]

Back to the Table Now." [9]
October 27, 2025 / Arik Greenberg
I was working from home when I got the email: The college I’ve taught at since 2003, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, was shutting down negotiations. They would no longer recognize the non-tenure track (NTT) faculty union my colleagues and I had fought tirelessly for. » [9]

Bring Your Union Banner to the Protest [10]

From a heroic low angle, we look up at a Black woman marching in a purple SEIU BJ shirt. The yellow SEIU flag she carries is billowing in the wind, mirroring the curve of the building behind her, against the blue sky. We can see the corners of other picket signs--she is part of a dense crowd. [10]
October 23, 2025 / Luis Feliz Leon [11], / Alexandra Bradbury [12]
Nearly 7 million people [13] hit the streets October 18 to oppose Trump’s authoritarian actions. Demonstrators waved American flags and donned whimsical animal costumes. One sight we were especially glad to see in the crowds: union T-shirts, banners, and slogans. » [10]

Indiana Kroger Workers Win Better Contract after Voting ‘No’ Twice [14]

A group in a parking lot in yellow t-shirts listen while one man speaks through a microphone [14]
October 22, 2025 / Andrea Reynolds
With 8,000 workers, the Indianapolis Kroger contract is the largest in Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 700. After keeping members in the dark about negotiations, our local union leadership dropped a concessionary contract in our laps. Wage increases didn’t keep up with inflation, and there was no contract language to address understaffing. » [14]

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Links
[1] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/12/review-whos-got-power-hope-troubled-times [2] https://thenewpress.org/books/whos-got-the-power/?v=eb65bcceaa5f [3] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/11/texas-college-teacher-fired-free-speech [4] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/11/viewpoint-why-our-members-put-650-hours-canvassing-katie-wilson-seattle-mayor [5] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/11/texas-electricians-open-negotiations-and-win-big [6] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/11/mega-strike-new-zealand-demands-funding-public-services-raises [7] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/10/snap-axe-could-fall-grocery-shoppers-and-workers-alike [8] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/10/how-build-union-culture-welcomes-immigrant-members [9] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/10/loyola-marymount-trying-bust-our-union-were-fighting-back [10] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/10/bring-your-union-banner-protest [11] https://www.labornotes.org/author/luis-feliz-leon [12] https://www.labornotes.org/author/alexandra-bradbury [13] https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/second-no-kings-day-protests-likely [14] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2025/09/indiana-kroger-workers-win-better-contract-after-voting-no-twice [15] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=1 [16] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=2 [17] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=3 [18] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=4 [19] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=5 [20] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=6 [21] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=7 [22] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=8 [23] https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/wave-actions-proclaim-we-are-one?page=160