Alexandra Bradbury

Postal Workers Throng to 500 Rallies to Save the Postal Service

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Two Black workers foregrounded in a dense crowd. Man on left wears orange New York Metro APWU T-shirt and lifts his hands to clap. Woman on right has thick eyelashes and holds a blue printed sign: "The Post Office belongs to the people, not the billionaires." Both smiling, energetic, probably chanting.
March 28, 2025

From big cities to small towns, postal workers organized hundreds of rallies across the country in the past week to defend a beloved public service—and the nation’s largest union employer—against privatization and DOGE attack.

“Whose Postal Service?” workers chanted in New York: “The people’s Postal Service.”

Postal Workers Brace for Trump’s Wrecking Ball

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A large crowd of people in red "Fight Like Hell" shirts stand outside in bright sunlight. Some hold printed NALC signs with the slogans "Hell No to Attacks on Us" and "Fight Like Hell!"
March 03, 2025

Is the nation’s biggest union workforce, at the Postal Service, President Trump’s next target?

The Washington Post broke the news February 20 that Trump was on the verge of issuing an executive order to dissolve the independent leadership of USPS and move it into the executive branch under the Department of Commerce, now led by enthusiastic privatizer Howard Lutnick, a Wall Street banker. Trump confirmed the next day that he was “looking at” this option.

Welcome, Danielle!

Alexandra Bradbury
A smiling Black woman in round glasses and a jean jacket is shown

Our newest staff writer/organizer, Danielle Smith, joined the Labor Notes staff in October. Danielle is a dynamo—a skilled journalist and organizer.

As a labor reporter for the legal news website Law360.com, she was a member and shop steward of the NewsGuild of New York. Later she joined the union staff as a full-time organizer, and worked on strikes at Business Insider and Law360.

Letter Carriers are Organizing Against an Insulting 1.3 Percent Raise

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At least 32 letter carriers in uniform, holding "no" signs printed in various fonts, pose in a post office parking lot. The group looks diverse in race and gender. Several give the "thumbs-down" hand signal.
November 14, 2024

A wave of anger is cresting at post offices across the country. Letter carriers are looking at the big raises that other union members have won—38 percent over four years at Boeing, 62 percent in six years at the East Coast ports, $7.50 in five years at UPS.

They’re comparing those gains to the tentative agreement their president handed them in October: 1.3 percent a year for three years.

Consolidation Threatens to Rip ‘Service’ Out of Postal Service

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A blue box shows with the notation: “Photo license expired”
October 30, 2024

Workers are battling an overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service that would cost thousands of jobs and slow the mail for half the country.

In the name of efficiency, a letter mailed within Cheyenne, Wyoming, would travel to Denver and back. And if you miss a package, your local post office would no longer have it. It might be 45 minutes away.

In March, Buffalo became the first place to fend off the closure of its mail processing plant, in a team effort by Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 and Postal Workers (APWU) Local 374.

Work to Rule and Open Bargaining Back Down Kroger Warehouse Bosses

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A group of men in sweatshirts gather around a table and sign things, a parking lot is behind them.
August 26, 2024

Teamsters in an Indiana grocery warehouse scored big this year with a contract campaign like never before.

They organized in five languages and sported a multilingual union button. They opened up bargaining sessions for any member to come observe—on the peak day, 150 showed up. They even pulled off a daring work-to-rule action the week before bargaining kicked off, to start from a position of strength.

Viewpoint: O’Brien Speech Played into Republicans’ Phony Pro-Worker Rebrand

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Screenshot of O'Brien, a white man in a suit, wearing a Teamsters lapel pin, speaking at the convention
July 18, 2024

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at Trump’s Republican National Convention on Monday. This was a bad move.

Much of the speech would have been fine if he had delivered it somewhere else. O’Brien railed against corporate greed, singling out Amazon and the private equity vultures that killed Yellow Freight. He called for stronger labor laws. Nobody says that stuff at the Republican convention, so some unionists were pleased to hear righteous themes reach a new audience.

Viewpoint: Migration Isn't Going Away. Unions Have to Get Sharper on It.

Alexandra Bradbury
Workers in red UNITE HERE shirts and carrying round matching signs stand on steps outside. Those in front hold a large printed banner: "Tech Cafeteria Workers Say... No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary for All."

The Trump campaign is doing a great job of stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment. Maybe you’re getting an earful from co-workers. Maybe you’re worried yourself.

Sixty-two percent of voters, including two-thirds of white people and even a majority of Latinos, an Axios poll found in June, now say they support what Trump is promising: mass deportations.

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