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Fifteen workers in brown UPS uniforms stand in a semicircle while another uniformed worker speaks to them

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. After the lower-tier drivers moved up to regular, our center in Charleston, South Carolina, had 91 full-time delivery drivers.

But over time, drivers left, and eventually our center dropped down to 75. When we asked management to fill vacant jobs, they said we had adequate staffing.

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Black and white women and men march through a Detroit street. Everyone is wearing a red "fight like hell" T-shirt with the NALC logo, and some people are carrying printed signs with the same design. Most prominent in the frame, looking directly into the camera, are two Black women in sunglasses, one raising a fist at shoulder level and the other holding a sign above her head.

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 backlog of tens of thousands of grievances, and the president’s secretive approach to bargaining.

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Two women and a man, all wearing Somerville Educators red T-shirts, laugh as they look at a book

An excerpt from Running for Local Union Office: A Labor Notes Guide

As your union election approaches, you’re going to have a lot of work to do. Texting and phone banking. Campaigning. Getting all the last-minute details right.

Do you want to be doing all that work alone?

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.

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A group of nurses hold picket signs by a street

What should union workers do when their nonunion co-workers come under attack?

When our health care system in Rochester, New York, announced deep cuts to employee health benefits last November, “we started hearing from people right away,” said critical care nurse Carmen Camelio, president of the Rochester Union of Nurses & Allied Professionals. “And not just members.

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A group of nurses in red T-shirts with signs walk towards the camera.

Two years and six strikes into bargaining—after switching law firms, cancelling negotiation sessions, firing union leaders, and allegedly backing a decertification effort—perhaps it’s dawning on University Medical Center in New Orleans that nurses don’t tire out easily.

On May 1 the nurses held their sixth strike—at five days, the longest yet—and their picket lines keep growing. There was dance music blasting, spontaneous line-dancing, boiled crawfish and jambalaya.

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Several people stand on stage with fists raised and with a Labor Notes banner behind them.

In a time when there’s real cause for fear and despair—and when the Trump administration is pushing hard to divide us—the Labor Notes Conference June 12-14 in Chicago was an oasis of inspiration and solidarity.

Los trabajadores por aplicación luchan por hacer valer sus derechos bajo la reforma laboral

Trabajadores realizan un paro laboral en sus motocicletas.

Al grito de, “No somos socios, somos trabajadores”, cientos de trabajadores de todo México que prestan servicios de transporte y reparto a través de las plataformas digitales realizaron un paro laboral de dos horas el 15 de mayo para exigir tarifas justas, un fin a las desconexiones injustificadas, y, en última instancia, un acuerdo colectivo de trabajo con gigantes de las aplicaciones como Uber, Didi y Rappi.

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Workers stand by on their motorcycles.

Chanting, “We are not partners, we are workers,” hundreds of workers across Mexico who provide rides and deliveries through apps held a two-hour work stoppage on May 15 demanding fair rates, an end to unjustified deactivations, and ultimately, a collective labor agreement with app giants like Uber, DiDi, and Rappi (two Uber Eats-style delivery platforms).

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