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Troublemakers Blog

Bottom-Up Organizing: How We Got Clean Porta-Johns

Two portajohns are reflected in a truck side mirror.
October 29, 2026 / Kevin Szczesny
The first day I showed up on the Marriott construction site in downtown Detroit, everyone warned me about the state of our bathrooms. You could smell them halfway across most floors. They were full in 24 hours, urinals were often clogged, and some people had taken to using buckets and hiding them in closets. »

Labor Goes on Election Defense

October 20, 2026 / Luis Feliz Leon
New York City unions representing 1 million members launched a new coalition October 15 to defend the right to vote ahead of the midterm elections November 3. A thousand members rallied outside the city’s main post office, pledging to mobilize the labor movement to defend the elections from Trump administration interference. »

Book Review: Maximum Leverage: From the Street to the Picket Line

Cover of book Maximum Leverage shows a rainy night street scene.
October 19, 2026 / Kurt Stand
Union strength or weakness is often seen only through the light of a strike or lockout. Phil Cohen’s memoir, Maximum Leverage: From the Street to the Picket Line, tells a different story. »

Trabajadores de la salud de Iowa exigen el regreso de una compañera deportada

Un grupo diverso y serio de personas se encuentra apiñado en el interior de lo que parece ser una iglesia, frente a los tubos de un órgano, sosteniendo una gran pancarta roja impresa con el lema «Esenciales, no deportables» y el logotipo de Escucha Mi Voz. La persona situada en el centro habla por un micrófono. Varios niños están sentados delante y uno de ellos sostiene un cartel escrito a mano: «¡Liberen a mi abuela! ¡Liberenla! ¡Odio al ICE!».
October 13, 2026 / Sara Gilmore
Fatou Traore se dirigía a su trabajo como personal de limpieza en los Hospitales y Clínicas de la Universidad de Iowa (UIHC) en la mañana del jueves 24 de septiembre, cuando agentes de ICE la detuvieron. »

Iowa Hospital Workers Demand Return of Deported Co-Worker

A diverse and serious crowd of people stands close together inside what looks like a church, in front of organ pipes, holding a big printed red banner that says "Essential not deportable" with the logo of Escucha Mi Voz. The person in the middle is speaking into a mic. Several kids sit in front and one holds a hand-lettered sign: "Free my grandma! Free her! I hate ICE!"
October 13, 2026 / Sara Gilmore
Fatou Traore was on her way to work as a custodian at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) on the morning of Thursday, September 24, when ICE agents detained her. »

Palestinian Arts Workers Call for Solidarity

Seven women in long skirts and kerchiefs kneel, their arms in motion, apparently mid-dance. They are on a stage, bathed in red light.
October 07, 2026 / Mona Abhari
Palestinian cultural workers living through apartheid, occupation, and genocide are calling for solidarity from their counterparts abroad. »

Film Review: A Portrait of How Workers Build a Strike

Close-up of a man's chin with bullhorn and the back of someone's Teamsters jacket in a crowd. Overlaid in yellow type is the movie title: Who Moves America.
October 06, 2026 / Luis Feliz Leon
“Who Moves America” is touring the U.S., with upcoming screenings across the West Coast, Northeast, and South. See when it’s coming to your town, or request a screening, here. »

How Unions Can Reverse Privatization of Medicaid and Why It Matters

A diverse group of people, mostly in white lab coats, stand outside holding printed signs that say, in red on white, "Medicaid saves lives." Other signs say "Code red: patients in crisis" and "Our patients rely on Medicaid to get the care they need. This bill would end that."
October 01, 2026 / Rose Roach
The following was adapted from a March 2026 speech that Rose Roach, National Coordinator for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, gave to the Minnesota AFL-CIO. »

Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians Protect Their Hearing and Their Craft

Orchestra musicians on a stage, apparently performing or rehearsing (conductor's baton is raised). Everyone, including the conductor, is wearing matching blue T-shirts that say "Philadelphia Musicians Union Local 77-274" on the back.
September 24, 2026 / Paul Prescod
Philadelphia Orchestra musicians have won first-in-the-nation protections against hearing loss. The groundbreaking provisions, which could serve as a model for other orchestras, are part of a contract just ratified by Musicians (AFM) Local 77-274. »

AutoZone Workers Are Trying to Form the Company’s First-Ever Union

Three workers pose for a group selfie in front of the store. They read as three men of different races. The man in the middle is wearing an orange Knicks T-shirt.
September 21, 2026 / Luis Feliz Leon
UPDATE, September 26: AutoZone workers won their union election on Friday—the first ever union election win at the company. »

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