Volkswagen had dangled a treat: a ratification bonus of $4,000, sweetened by $1,500 if a first contract at its assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was approved by Halloween 2025. But auto workers had a trick up their sleeves: collective action.

One hundred and sixty workers on the second shift hampered that day’s production schedule by skipping work in a mass call-out. Workers used sick time or paid time off to secure the day off, leaving management in a bind.

Fifteen thousand nurses across 10 campuses in New York City’s three biggest hospital systems are on an open-ended strike. It’s the city’s largest nurse strike in decades.

Picket lines stretched for blocks at Mount Sinai, Montefiore, and New York Presbyterian hospitals on January 12, thronged with nurses plus Teamsters, hotel workers, and university staff showing solidarity.