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Dolly Parton Helped Us to Speak Up and Join Together

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A row of musicians with large clocks behind them perform, with Dolly Parton in the center
August 28, 2026

Dolly Parton’s song, “9 to 5,” has endured as a beloved anthem for nearly half a century. What many people don’t know is that the direct inspiration for the song—and the hit movie—was the 9 to 5 working women’s movement that began in Boston in the early 1970’s. It was the movement that inspired the song and the movie—and the song and the movie gave the movement a giant boost.

Baristas Ask Organizations to Boycott until Starbucks Signs a Contract

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August 27, 2026

No contract? No Starbucks coffee at the union hall.

Seeking to pressure Starbucks to finally sign a contract with its 12,000 unionized baristas, Starbucks Workers United announced a boycott of the chain August 25. In addition to individual customers, they are asking organizations and unions to stop patronizing the coffee giant, including avoiding catering and sponsorships, until they get a contract.

The AFL-CIO has already signed on, and the 25,000-strong Chicago Teachers Union voted to boycott on August 26.

UAW Members Voting for International Officers

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UAW delegates (men and women, Black and white) sit listening at the union's 2026 convention. Table signs identify those in the foreground as from Region 8, Locals 129 and 276.
August 25, 2026

United Auto Workers members are voting by mail ballot for their top officers, for the second time in the union’s 91 years. Ballots went out August 21 and are due back by October 5.

The contest will decide whether President Shawn Fain, who became famous for leading 2023’s Stand-Up Strike against the Big 3 automakers, will be able to continue the union’s about-face from its previous employer-friendly ways.

Deere Workers Reject Contract Extension: We’ll Meet You at the Table in 2027

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The camera focuses on two women in a crowd of picketers, diverse in race and gender, carrying printed blue and white "UAW on strike" picket signs. The women are wearing different UAW T-shirts. One has the collar cut off, revealing part of a tattoo that reads, in cursive, "darkness light shall prevail." Both women wear serious, determined expressions.
August 24, 2026

This article has been updated from the version originally published August 11. –Editors

The agricultural machinery maker John Deere tested the mettle of the United Auto Workers this summer, probing for softness as the union heads into a leadership election. Voting ‘no’ on August 23, members essentially told Deere to stick it.

New Voices Gain Ground at Letter Carriers Convention

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August 20, 2026

Update, September 23: Letter carriers are now receiving (and delivering) ballots in the highly anticipated national officers election. Two members have compiled an even-handed voter's guide.

“The number one takeaway is that the times in the NALC, they are a-changing,” said Margo O’Neill of Branch 352 in Des Moines, Iowa, who attended her first Letter Carriers convention August 3-7 in Los Angeles.

Federal Spies Hunt Minnesota Unions in Search of Conspiracy, But Find Solidarity

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Agents covered head to toe in tactical gear and warm clothing stand in a diamond formation, facing outward, in a city street. Their faces are covered. The vests say "police" though they are not in uniform. They all wear heavy boots and some carry spray cans. Visible behind them is a one-story brick building lined with retail shops, with faded signs reading "8 Street Nourish" and "Tobacco & Mas."
August 14, 2026

Yesterday news broke of a sweeping undercover investigation by the Department of Homeland Security in Minnesota early this year to infiltrate and surveil meetings and obtain the financial records of nonprofit groups and two of the country’s largest unions, the Communications Workers (CWA) and the Service Employees (SEIU).

Stewards Corner: How We Made UPS Create Full-Time Jobs in Our Local

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Fifteen workers in brown UPS uniforms stand in a semicircle while another uniformed worker speaks to them
August 03, 2026

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.

Letter Carriers Set to Deliver Change in Upcoming Union Election

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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.
July 29, 2026

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.

Running for Local Union Office: Building a Campaign Team

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Two women and a man, all wearing Somerville Educators red T-shirts, laugh as they look at a book
July 23, 2026

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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