The coming year could keep the strikes rolling through steel mills, state offices, telephone lines, axle plants, baseball diamonds, and hospitals from coast to coast. Union contracts expiring in 2026 could open up major fights by manufacturing, education, entertainment, and government workers.

One Battle After Another: The Big Contract Fights Coming in 2026

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People, mostly white, rally outdoors on building steps. Printed signs say "Kill the cuts, save lives" and "UAW says: Fight for our future!" Handmade signs can't all be read but one says "Science belongs to everyone."

Taxing the rich should bring a smile to your face. It certainly brings one to mine.

We’re Making ‘Tax the Rich’ More Than a Slogan

December 10, 2025 / Max Page
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A group of excited people hold blue signs saying “Yes on 1”

[This article is part of a Labor Notes roundtable series: How Can Unions Defend Worker Power Against Trump 2.0? We will be publishing more contributions here and in our magazine in the months ahead. Click here to read the rest of the series.—Editors]

To Get on Offense, Offer Workers Many Ways In

December 08, 2025 / Diamonté Brown
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Fourteen workers, mostly Black and mostly women, pose smiling in a school classroom. Most are wearing yellow "Baltimore Teachers Union" T-shirts.

Several hundred more Starbucks baristas walked out Thursday, the 22nd day of their growing unfair labor practice strike. It is now the longest strike the coffee giant has faced, spreading to 145 stores in more than 100 cities.

Kingston, New York, baristas joined the strike early Thursday, and management didn’t even bother trying to open the store. So the workers, joined by supporters, picketed a nearby store in Lake Katrine, piercing the crisp winter air with chants of “What’s disgusting? Union-busting!” and “I want to eat food and pay rent at the same time!”

Red Cups Raised in Rebellion, Starbucks Strike Spreads

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A crowd raise huge red cups that say “Baristas on Strike”

[This article is part of a Labor Notes roundtable series: How Can Unions Defend Worker Power Against Trump 2.0? We will be publishing more contributions here and in our magazine in the months ahead. Click here to read the rest of the series.—Editors]

Maybe a General Strike Isn’t So Impossible Now

December 04, 2025 / Alex Han
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Educator Carolyn Brown was meeting with school counselors when she got the call: ICE agents were out front. By the time she got out of the building, ICE had abducted a woman and her 17-year-old daughter, an American citizen.

Brown, a coordinator of the International Baccalaureate program at Thomas Kelly College Prep, is also part of the rapid-response team for the school, in a Mexican enclave in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.

ICE Raids Turn Schools into Battlegrounds to Defend Students

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A teacher holds a sign between a school bus and the front of a school, with students visible in the background

Los videointérpretes para personas sordas se están organizando contra el agotamiento

April 30, 2025 / Natascha Elena ...
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Blog

De joven, nunca me consideré intérprete. Era simplemente la vida como hija de padres sordos, en un mundo donde la lengua de señas era esencial.

Aprendí desde una edad temprana que la calidad y disponibilidad de intérpretes podía determinar si una persona sorda tenía acceso a los servicios y derechos que la gente oyente da por hecho.

Me convertí en intérprete profesional porque entendí que tan vital era este acceso. Pero nunca me imaginé que me explotarían en este trabajo ni que me agotaría por prestar el servicio que siempre me había resultado tan natural.

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