On the evening of January 31, 1938, hundreds of workers crowded into a San Antonio, Texas factory meeting room. Management had just announced a wage cut of up to 30%, a devastating blow to workers who were already among the lowest-paid in the United States. The atmosphere was tense and uncertain. Then a young Chicana organizer, Manuela Solis Sagar, climbed onto a table and cut through the hesitation: “Well, what are we going to do? Are you going to sit there, or are we going to strike?”

The answer came back in a roar, “Vamos a la huelga!” Within hours the decision was made. By the next morning, thousands of pecan shellers across San Antonio had walked off the job. The barrios of the city's West Side erupted into mass demonstrations as workers took to the streets in a militant display of workers’ power. What followed was nearly two months of struggle against the bosses, against the police, and against the city's corrupt political machine that would shake San Antonio to its foundations.

A city built on exploitation

To understand the eruption of 1938, it is necessary to understand what life was like on San Antonio's West Side. Between 1910 and 1930, the Mexican population in Texas more than tripled, driven north by the upheavals of the Mexican Revolution and the displacement of peasants and small landholders by large-scale commercial agriculture on both sides of the border. These workers arrived in San Antonio systematically excluded from most trades and industries, funneled into the most grueling and lowest-paid work available, including pecan shelling.

By the late 1930s, the West Side resembled one of the most impoverished urban districts in the country. Families of eight or ten were crowded into two-room shacks without running water or electricity, renting for as little as one dollar a week. The pecan shelling plants themselves were overcrowded and unventilated; state health inspectors described filthy floors, broken containers, and no soap or towels. Workers were paid by the pound, just five or six cents per pound shelled, with a WPA survey finding average weekly wages of $2.73.

Julius Seligsman, the “Pecan King” whose operations supplied half the country's pecans and who reportedly paid himself a salary of $1000 a week, testified before a federal hearing that “The Mexican pecan shellers eat a good many pecans, and five cents a day is enough to support them in addition to what they eat while they work.” Respiratory illnesses, particularly tuberculosis spread by the ever-present pecan dust was rampant. Many workers brought shelling home with them in the evenings, enlisting their children to try to earn a few extra cents.

La Pasionaria: Emma Tenayuca and the Workers Alliance

“I was arrested a number of times; I never thought in terms of fear, I thought in terms of justice.” – Emma Tenayuca

The 1938 strike was the culmination of years of labor struggle and militant organizing amongst San Antonio's working class. At the center of that organizing was a young Chicana communist organizer named Emma Tenayuca.

Tenayuca had first emerged as an organizer in 1934, while still in high school, participating in strike support activities at the Fink Cigar Company, one of the low-wage, labor-intensive industries that relied heavily on young Chicana women. She was arrested at 16, the first of many times. She soon became an organizer with the Communist Party-led Unemployed Council, and helped to lead a series of struggles, supporting striking garment workers, demanding public relief for unemployed families, and defending immigrant workers threatened with deportation and repatriation. She built a reputation as an uncompromising advocate for the West Side's working class, earning her the moniker of “La Pasionaria.”

The organizational vehicle for this work was the Workers Alliance. The Workers Alliance was a national mass organization of the Communist Party. In San Antonio, the CPUSA and the Workers Alliance organized for WPA jobs and federal relief, and crucially, fought the systemic discrimination that locked Mexican Americans out of national relief programs.

As early as 1930, the local Communist Party and the Unemployed Council had organized a march of the unemployed drawing over 1000 participants, the majority of whom were of Mexican origin. Under Tenayuca's leadership, the San Antonio chapter became one of the most active in the country, staging sit-ins at City Hall, organizing mass demonstrations, confronting immigration repression, and building a network of chapters rooted in the barrios of the West Side. Through this work, the Workers Alliance elevated Tenayuca to its national executive committee, placing the young Chicana communist in the leadership of a national mass organization

In addition to her labor work, Tenayuca also made significant theoretical contributions in applying the National Question to Chicanos in the Southwest. In her 1939 article titled “The Mexican Question in the Southwest” she advanced the idea that Mexicans in the United States represented an oppressed nationality, stating that “the status of the Mexican people as an oppressed national group may be compared in a number of respects with that of the Negro today.” While she stopped short of calling for self-determination of the Chicano Nation, her analysis of Chicanos as an oppressed nationality earned her a place as one of the earliest revolutionary theoreticians of the Chicano National question.

The strike: Class war in the open

The walkout on January 31 was spontaneous. The local union leadership vacillated and opposed launching such a large-scale strike. But the workers moved anyway, and they moved toward their most trusted militant leaders. Tenayuca, alongside fellow communist organizers like Manuela Solis Sagar, helped transform the spontaneous walkout into coordinated action. Over 10,000 workers ultimately joined the strike, affiliated with Pecan Workers Local 172 of the CIO affiliated UCAPAWA (United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America). What had begun as a response to a wage cut became a social rebellion of the Chicano working class.

The city’s ruling class responded with force. Within a day of the walkout, police arrested several strike leaders, including Tenayuca and her husband Homer Brooks, both known Communist Party members. San Antonio Police Chief Owen Kilday openly justified the crackdown, declaring to the press that he “would not permit the reds to take part in the strike.” San Antonio elites maintained that the strike was an attempt to place the entire west side of San Antonio “under the red banner.”

The workers' response was equally forceful. Hundreds marched on the police station demanding Tenayuca's release. When she emerged from jail the next day, the workers elected San Antonio's most prominent communist organizer honorary strike captain by acclamation.

What followed was weeks of intensifying repression. Chief Kilday deployed over 250 police officers and firemen into the West Side, using tear gas, beatings, and mass arrest against picketers. Workers were charged with blocking sidewalks, loitering and disturbing the peace. The city jail, which critics took to calling the “black hole” of Texas, held over 1000 strikers over the course of the strike, some as young as 14. Inside the cells, workers were hosed down with cold water to break their spirits.

Organizers adapted. When picket lines were broken up for loitering, they devised rolling pickets, coordinated groups moving from plant to plant. When police targeted public property, they picketed from private lots adjacent to the factories, with the permission of homeowners.

All the forces of reaction in San Antonio united in an effort to crush the threat of the strike. The city's corrupt health department shut down CIO soup kitchens on spurious sanitary grounds. The archdiocese issued a statement defending the police beatings and condemning the strike leadership as communist. The Mexican Chamber of Commerce and the local LULAC chapter—representatives of the Mexican American aspiring petty bourgeoisie also joined in the smear campaign against the workers' movement.

Under pressure from the national CIO leadership, Tenayuca stepped back from the public face of the strike; the constant red-baiting had become a strategic liability. But in reality, she continued to run the operation: writing circulars and coordinating picket lines.

Victory, reversal, and legacy

Hearings sought by UCAPAWA president Donald Henderson before the Texas Industrial Commission gave workers a platform to testify publicly to the abuse they had endured. 14-year-old Dora Enriquez testified that she had been arrested and threatened if she returned to the picket line. 45-year-old Refugia Garcia testified that Chief Kilday had personally threatened to “split my head wide open.” The commission ultimately found that the civil rights of the striking workers had been fundamentally violated, though with no enforcement mechanism, Kilday and the bosses continued their campaign of terror.

Texas Governor James Allred eventually pushed both sides toward arbitration. On March 8, after nearly six weeks on strike, the pecan shellers returned to work pending a formal settlement. The arbitration board awarded formal union recognition and a wage increase to five-and-a-half cents per pound for pieces and six cents for halves. It was a real, if partial, victory: workers had forced the state and the bosses to respond to their demands and won.

The victory would be short-lived. The pecan operators mechanized their operations. Julius Seligsman shuttered his plants and reopened with a fraction of the workforce. Many of the workers who had fought so hard found themselves unemployed once more.

But the strike still left an enduring legacy in San Antonio and beyond. For nearly two months, over 10,000 of the most exploited workers in the country, overwhelmingly Chicana women, earning less than three dollars a week, had organized, resisted and fought back. They demonstrated that even under conditions of national oppression, violent repression and economic exploitation, the working class could fight their employers and win. That capacity had not developed spontaneously, but had been carefully built, year by year, through the patient organizing of the Workers Alliance and the militant minority of communists and labor leaders like Emma Tenayuca who led the workers in the struggle.

Today, the San Antonio pecan shellers’ strike remains a powerful reminder that the working class has never won anything without militant struggle. Faced with starvation wages, racist repression, police violence, and red-baiting, thousands of Chicano workers still organized and fought back. Their struggle shows us that militant organization, class solidarity, and communist leadership can transform workers economic grievances into collective power. At a time when workers across the country continue to face exploitation, union busting, and attacks on immigrants, the legacy of Emma Tenayuca and the pecan shellers remains not just a piece of history, but an example to follow.

#EmmaTenayuca #Labor #LaborHistory #SanAntonioTX #TX #N

Des Moines, IA – On the morning of June 8, about 100 nurses, members of the Teamsters union, and community supporters gathered at the Iowa State Capitol in downtown Des Moines to rally and march to UnityPoint Health Iowa Methodist Medical Center, a large hospital in the area. At the rally and march, the crowd chanted “Hey, hey, ho ho, union-busting has got to go!” and “Nurses, nurses won’t back down, patient safety all around!” along with other lively chants.

United Nurses of Iowa organized the rally and march to protest union-busting tactics being used by Unity Point Health management to avoid recognizing their union. It has been 180 days since nurses at UnityPoint Health voted to join Teamsters Local 90. In that time, the company has refused to recognize the union and has instead filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) challenging the outcome of the election. The NLRB has seen underfunding and a large backlog of cases under Donald Trump. In many cases, this means that wait times for cases to be heard or ruled on can take months or even years to see rulings.

Along with members of United Nurses of Iowa in the crowd were Teamsters members from Locals 90, 120, 135, 238, 320, 554 and 705. Additionally, the event drew Democratic Party politicians Josh Turek and Nate Boulton, as well as community organizations such as Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

At the hospital, large inflatable figures of Scabby the Rat and Corporate Fat Cat were set up. Near these inflatables, the marchers gathered to hear speeches from some of the nurses who organized the union drive.

Teamsters Local 90 Secretary-Treasurer Alano de la Rosa opened the rally with brief remarks, saying, “We’re here because healthcare workers deserve respect. We’re here because patients deserve safe staffing and good care,” before turning the microphone over to Sammi Ladd and Belinda Huerta, two of the nurses who organized to form their union. Both nurses spoke about why they are fighting for a union and reiterated the demand for UnityPoint to recognize the results of the election.

Huerta said, “Our employer launched the most expensive union-busting campaign orchestrated by a hospital system. They spent millions on ‘consultants.’ Yet we’re told there’s no budget for staffing.” She concluded her remarks by saying, “To UnityPoint, we say this: if nurses truly matter, prove it. Work with us.”

#DesMoinesIA #IA #Labor #Nurses #UnitedNursesOfIowa #Featured

Two trade unionist leaders from Colombia recently shared updates at a videoconference of international trade unionists on the situation in Colombia and the stakes of the presidential elections. Marlon Puentes, a member of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), talked about how Colombia has been dominated by decades of a radical right-wing government. It is only with the 2022 election of Gustavo Petro that “working-class Colombians have had access to government but not power.”

Puentes recognized that while limited “because the Congress has blocked us,” there have been four years of reforms and key advancements in the Petro administration. He added, “We advance from Petro, but we find ourselves in the same situation as many years before: an ultraright and right wing, aligned with the ultraright of Latin America, aligned with the interests of the U.S. empire. We want to deepen the reforms we got through with Petro.”

During the following week’s videoconference on June 5, the group heard from Cindy Jimenez, a leader in the transport workers union in Colombia.

“We want to continue the wins we had under Petro, to reorganize political power to serve the people, and be a part of the movement across Latin America trying to push back capitalism and rising fascism,” Jimenez stated.

Jimenez added, “In this second round of presidential elections, the people have two choices: the continuation of Uribismo, Espriella’s career was to support the narcotraffickers and paramilitaries. He wants to eliminate the JEP, implement fracking, support Israel, and bring in North American influence.”

She added that amid all the disinformation and fear-mongering being put on the people, “we continue in hope, struggle, resistance and collective mobilization against the advance of fascism in our country.”

The JEP is a tribunal of special jurisdiction created out of the 2016 Peace Accords. It has been an important body to investigate cases of political violence from the 1980s into the 2000s. Its purpose is reconciliation and justice. Notably, the JEP has dropped the charge of rebellion against Colombian revolutionary and former FARC leader, Simón Trinidad. The JEP has also requested that Trinidad appear before the court in order to share his perspective and experiences from the political violence of the 1980s, when around 5000 members of the electoral coalition Patriotic Union were murdered by the far right. Presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda has firmly upheld the demand that Simón Trinidad be released from U.S. prison and repatriated to Colombia to help the peace process.

#International #Colombia #Labor #SimonTrinidad

Nearly 100 roadblocks around the country have the neoliberal agenda of domestic and foreign elites in the grip of the masses of organized Bolivians. From indigenous campesino organizations and trade unions, to mining cooperatives and neighborhood councils, working-class Bolivians have paralyzed the efforts of President Rodrigo Paz to make Bolivia a buffet for corporate interests.

City streets once filled with vehicles and small businesses have turned into massive popular assemblies organized by neighborhood councils. The singular unified demand of the masses: President Rodrigo Paz resign immediately!

The largest trade union federation, Central Obrera Boliviana, has worked in coordination with the social movements over the past several months since Paz’s election in November. The unions and movements immediately announced their rejection of tax cuts for the rich, denounced the end to food and fuel subsidies, and said no to steps to privatize the nationalized resources of Bolivia. They also released demands on May 31 to stop the repression against union leaders and protesters, release those held in detention, to recognize the official union leadership as negotiators, and for the immediate resignation of President Paz.

Wilma Colque, president of a large campesino organization, the Six Federations of the Tropico in Cochabamba, shared her perspective to a gathering of international trade unionists on June 5. The meeting, hosted by the Venezuela trade union federation, Central Bolivariana Socialista Trabajadora/o (CBST), regularly sees union leaders from nearly 30 countries.

Colque lauded “all departments [in the country] on their feet marching in struggle against the privatization of our resources. The people stood up against the stealing of our lithium, our resources. We see what is going on all across Latin America – Argentina, Chile, Perú, these neoliberal dictatorships, making the people poor and the transnationals rich. But in Bolivia, we are anti-imperialist, anti-colonialists, anti-capitalists, we don't want them to be our owners.”

The protests have been met with tear gas and arrests and clear involvement of the U.S.

Former President Evo Morales stated that he received intel from a source within security forces that there was a plan to kidnap or kill him now that the U.S. military is present. The people responded by surrounding his house, and it is reported that workers took over a nearby airport in an effort to prevent a repeat of the U.S. kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Colque added, “We know why the U.S. is here: to massacre the people who are resisting every day. Espionage, infiltrating our spaces, antennas listening to us, intercepting our cellular communications, they are trying to divide us, trying to stop us. They spread lies, disinformation, and make accusations. Tactics we’ve seen before here and elsewhere.”

Colque continued: “It’s clear what has happened. The U.S. lost hegemony around the world and they’re trying to claim trenches in Latin America. They’re going after countries with resources and some advanced technology. But it doesn’t matter if they shoot us, if they kill us, our youth will keep going. Many of us are mothers, we give our life to children, we are the light of the country. To defend our children, we will be disobedient! We have no fear, we are millions, we are free people!”

The willingness of the people to persist amid shortages speaks to the resolve and commitment to the cause. The turmoil has also resulted in the resignation of Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas and Education Minister Beatriz García. Reports speculate that the ministers disagreed with signing a state of emergency that would allow all police and military to use all force to arrest and detain and break up the mobilizations.

#Bolivia #International #Labor #GeneralStrike #Strike #Featured

Porto, Portugal – Workers throughout the country set up picket lines and marched in the streets instead of going to work on June 3, bringing key sectors of the economy to a standstill. Public transit, education, health care and many sectors of production were impacted by a general strike.

The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), a militant class-struggle union which is part of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), called Portugal’s second general strike in six months as they battle to defeat an anti-worker and anti-union “Labor Package” being pushed by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the right-wing parties in the Assembly of the Republic.

After picketing at work sites around the Porto area, thousands of workers gathered at 3 p.m. at Praça da Batalha for a mass march to the center of Porto. This was one of around 30 such marches in cities throughout the country. Workers carried banners representing dozens of sectors and workplaces that were on strike and carried signs denouncing the labor package as representing the interests of bosses, not workers. The most popular chant was “O ataque é brutal — a greve é general” (in English: “the attack is brutal — the strike is general”), making clear that their response to this serious attack on workers’ rights is the whole working class uniting and taking action together.

Speakers from different unions announced what percentage of workers in their workplaces participated in the strike, providing actual numbers to counter Prime Minister Montenegro’s statement to the media that not many workers participated. Union leaders announced that in key sectors the numbers were between 75 and 100%. While public sector unions generally seemed to have higher participation, there were private sector companies that also had significant participation. For example, union members from the most prominent beer company in Portugal, Super Bock, announced that their production was entirely shut down for the day. CGTP posted pictures on social media throughout the day of picket lines at many companies and facilities around the country.

CGTP General Secretary Tiago Oliveira told SIC Noticias, “Workers today are deeply knowledgeable about the content of the labor package. What the CGTP seeks most at this moment is to give voice to the workers. It is with the strength of these people that we are absolutely certain that we will defeat this labor package.”

The CGTP announced they will continue to fight to not only stop this labor package, but to push forward their demands that correspond to the urgent needs of working families: increasing the minimum wage, workers’ rights, and public services.

#PortoPortugal #International #Portugal #Labor #Strike #CGTP

Indianapolis, IN — More than 30 workers, Teamsters members and labor supporters rallied outside the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) office in Indianapolis on the morning of June 2. They gathered to demand union certification for nearly 200 table games dealers and dual-rate dealers at Horseshoe Indianapolis, who struck for recognition in fall 2025.

Although the workers won an NLRB election on December 5, 2025, with 70% voting yes, the dealers and dual-rate dealers have continued to face anti-union tactics from Caesars Entertainment. The company filed three objections to the election results in an attempt to delay certification, leading NLRB Region 25 to schedule a hearing for June 2 – nearly six months after the workers' victory.

The rally began an hour before the hearing. It brought together many of the dealers and dual-rate dealers who spent 52 days on strike last year, along with Teamsters from workplaces including UPS and Kroger. Members of other unions, including the United Steelworkers and the Air Line Pilots Association, also joined community supporters in solidarity.

Outside the federal building, the energy was defiant and militant. Workers carried signs reading “Union now,” “Fight back,” and “Organize” as chants echoed through downtown Indianapolis. Teamsters Local 135's tractor-trailer repeatedly circled the building, sounding its horn as workers cheered.

“What do we want? Union! When do we want it? Now!” protesters shouted, calling for the election result to be respected and for the company to stop delaying recognition.

Other chants came directly from the strike that first united the dealers and dual-rate dealers. “One day longer, one day stronger,” demonstrators repeated – a familiar phrase that became a source of encouragement and solidarity on the picket line.

After the rally, members of Teamsters Local 135 and other supporters entered the federal building for an NLRB hearing on Caesars Entertainment's objections related to the payment of strike benefits during the workers' 52-day strike for union recognition.

Dealers and dual rates revive the strike for recognition

A supermajority of dealers and dual-rate dealers at Horseshoe Casino formed a union with Teamsters Local 135 and demanded recognition from the company on September 4, 2025. When management ignored that demand, the workers moved toward an NLRB election scheduled for October 17. But last year's federal government shutdown postponed the election indefinitely.

The union proposed holding the vote as scheduled through a neutral third party under the stipulated election agreement, but the company ignored that proposal as well. Instead, Caesars hired Littler Mendelson, one of the country's largest anti-union law firms, to launch an aggressive campaign against the union.

With no resolution in sight, the Horseshoe dealers and dual-rate dealers turned to a tactic used widely before the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935: the recognition strike.

Strikes for union recognition continued after the passage of the NLRA, though employer and government attacks on the right to strike in general made them increasingly less common. In the last four decades, the tactic virtually disappeared, as organized labor came to rely on the NLRB election process for union certification and moved away from strikes at all. Meanwhile, union density has collapsed from 20.1% in 1983 to 10% in 2025, with an even greater decline in the private sector.

On October 17, the date originally set for their union election, the dealers and dual rates of Horseshoe casino made history. By a vote of 92%, they authorized a strike for recognition and set up a picket line to force Caesars to the bargaining table. The strike lasted 52 days through severe thunderstorms, subzero temperatures, and heavy snow. Caesars relied on the Shelbyville Police Department and city officials to pressure the strikers, but those efforts failed to break the strike.

After the federal government reopened in mid-November, the NLRB set a date for an expedited election. NLRB Region 25 rejected union requests to hold the vote off-site while the strike continued, forcing striking workers to cross their own picket line to cast ballots.

Following advice from Littler Mendelson, Caesars challenged the eligibility of 50 of its own workers, further delaying the process. Even so, the union won decisively on December 5, 2025, with 100 votes in favor and 47 against. The strike ended a few days later, and the dealers and dual-rate dealers returned to work.

Employer attacks on the right to strike

One week after the union's victory, Caesars Entertainment, through outside counsel, filed three objections aimed at delaying certification. All three focused on strike benefits paid to workers while they were out, which Caesars claimed improperly influenced the election.

Since 2023, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has offered enhanced strike benefits of $1000 per week, beginning on the first day of an authorized strike. Under General President Sean O'Brien, the union has paid these benefits in more than 300 labor disputes in less than three years.

Because the Horseshoe dealers and dual-rate dealers had already organized, whether or not the employer or the NLRB formally recognized them, the IBT extended enhanced strike benefits to support their fight for recognition. Teamsters Local 135 also provided supplemental aid from its own strike and defense fund. That support helped protect workers and their families from serious financial hardship and enabled them to sustain the strike through victory.

These benefits became the basis for all three company objections, which the NLRB allowed Caesars to pursue without requiring proof at the outset. Caesars argued that the benefits bribed workers to support the union, even though the strike began when no election was scheduled. The company also claimed, without evidence, that the union threatened workers with having to repay benefits if they did not back the union.

Despite decades of case law supporting unions' right to provide financial support during strikes, the Region 25 director ordered a hearing on these claims. The hearing took place on June 2 and 3 and drew more than a dozen dealers and dual-rate dealers.

These objections amount to a broad attack on workers' right to strike. Under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) of 1959, workers picketing for union recognition must file an election petition with the NLRB by the 30th day, and employers may file their own petition during that period. As a result, while not every recognition strike ends in an NLRB election, any recognition strike can.

If the NLRB were to rule that strike benefits constitute a form of bribery that taints an NLRB election, it would effectively restrict the ability of workers to strike for recognition at all. Such a ruling would give employers a powerful weapon for breaking recognition strikes any time a union provides financial support to its members.

Caesars' false testimony and Littler Mendelson's real motive

On the first day of the hearing, Jill Bortone, Horseshoe Casino's director of human resources, testified. When challenged during the union's cross-examination, she said twice that she had received a union message about strike benefits before the December 5 vote. When the union attorney produced screenshots of the original message dated December 6, the day after the election, doubts were raised about the accuracy of her testimony.

As the company's case weakened, Caesars attorney Alan Model of Littler Mendelson became increasingly combative before the hearing officer.

Model, who says he specializes in “NLRA compliance” and represented Starbucks in its recent anti-union campaign, signaled the company's broader goal in his opening remarks. He argued for limiting recognition strikes by restricting a union's ability to support members on the picket line. Over the two-day hearing, he presented no evidence for the company's third objection: that the union threatened workers with repaying strike benefits.

Lawyers like Model hate working people. They ideologically despise unions because they represent the organized power of the working class. Billing tens of thousands of dollars per hour, they work on behalf of big business and monopoly corporations to attack labor.

For Littler Mendelson, this case is larger than Horseshoe casino. By reviving the strike weapon during an organizing campaign, the dealers and dual rates dealt a mighty blow to their union-busting playbook and won. Employers and their dogs like Model fear the power of the recognition strike will spread to other workplaces. Much to their dismay, this has already happened in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where workers at Batesville Products Inc. are engaged in their own strike for recognition, also with Teamsters Local 135.

Teamsters power at the NLRB hearing

The union presented a strong defense to the objections, calling witnesses and introducing evidence showing the true picture of the Horseshoe strike. Payroll records and other documents showed that Caesars artificially juiced wages for dealers who continued working during the strike and even paid scabs from another casino to break the strike, all of which far exceeded the $25 per hour of strike benefits ($1000 per week divided by 40 hours on the picket line).

Strike leaders testified to the discipline on the strike line, in which both part-time and full-time dealers walked the picket line for five eight-hour shifts each week, and highlighted the real economic harms that strikers overcame to fight for their union. In a particularly powerful display, the union introduced a petition that dealers and dual rates gathered themselves in the days before the hearing. Well over 100 workers signed the petition to demand union certification from the NLRB and to dispel the company's bogus objections.

The proceedings ended on June 3. Both the union and the company have additional days to file a 25-page brief outlining their positions and using the available evidence introduced at the hearing. The hearing officer will make a recommendation to NLRB Region 25 director Colleen Maples, who will then issue a ruling.

After the hearing, dealers and dual rates pledged to continue fighting in the workplace. They have already formed their union, and billion-dollar corporations cannot override the power of organized labor.

#IndianapolisIN #IN #Labor #Teamsters #Featured

Porto, Portugal – Business elites and conservative political leaders are powerless to stop the massive working class wave about to hit them as momentum builds toward a nationwide general strike June 3.

Portugal’s largest union federation, the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), called a general strike to demand that Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the conservative parties in the Assembly of the Republic abandon the “Labor Package” they are trying to pass that aims to harm the rights and living standards of workers and weaken their unions. This will be the second general strike against the Labor Package; the first took place on December 11, 2025.

Each day brings news of more unions planning to join the general strike as workers in different sectors and workplaces meet and vote to participate. Billboards, posters and graffiti are widely visible on the streets promoting the general strike.

Public transit will largely screech to a halt as unions representing transportation workers have announced they’ll participate in the strike. These include the Federation of Transport and Communications Unions (FECTRANS), the National Union of Railroad Workers (SNTSF), the National Union of Train Drivers (SMAQ), among others.

A spokesperson for the National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel (SNPVAC) told the media that as many as 500 airline flights could be cancelled by the strike, with possible spillover the day before and after, as cabin crew and airport ground workers participate in the strike.

The National Union of Workers in Local and Regional Administration, Public Companies, Concessionaires and Related Entities (STAL), representing local municipal workers, will participate in the general strike, which will impact services like trash collection, libraries and services at municipal government offices.

The National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) and the Portuguese Nurses Union (SEP) have committed to strike nationally, which could bring most non-emergency medical care to a halt. The National Federation of Teachers (FENPROF) is participating in the general strike, so schools are likely to be closed.

Call centers are a huge sector of the economy in Portugal, largely employing young people. The National Union of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Workers (SINTAAV) in that sector is participating in the strike.

Some unions have gone beyond the one-day strike and announced they will be striking for part or all of the week. This includes the Union of Migration Technicians (STM), who will strike all week from June 1-5 to protest understaffing and outsourcing that has placed immense pressures on workers at Portugal’s immigration agency.

Among the many other unions participating in the June 3 general strike are the Commercial, Office and Service Workers' Union of Portugal (CESP), Union of Health, Solidarity and Social Security Workers (STSSSS), Union of Manufacturing Industries, Energy and Environmental Activities (SITE), Union of Workers in the Hotel, Tourism, Restaurant and Similar Industries of the North (Hotelaria Norte), National Union of Professionals in the Clothing and Textile Industry and Trade (SINPICVAT), Union of Performing Arts, Audiovisual and Musician Workers in Portugal (CENA-STE). This is just a sampling of the much longer list.

In addition to unions, many social movement organizations are also mobilizing for the general strike, including organizations such as Vida Justa, Plataforma Ja Marchavas, Revolutionary Antifascist Action Group (GARA), and more.

On June 3, workers won’t just be staying home from work. The CGTP is organizing around 30 mass mobilizations and marches in cities across Portugal.

Portugal’s constitution is among the most progressive in capitalist countries with regard to the right of workers to unionize and strike to improve their conditions. This labor reform package aims to chop away at those constitutional guarantees.

A flyer from CGTP explaining the reasons for the general strike says, “the labor package serves only the interest of capital; it means more exploitation, the concentration of wealth, greater injustice, the erosion of wage, unfair dismissals, the deregulation of working hours, the dismantling of collective bargaining, and restrictions on the right to strike and freedom of association. The PSD/CDS government, supported by Chega and IL, wants to retain everything that is wrong with labor legislation – which is already unfavorable to workers – and make it much worse.”

Instead of this anti-worker labor package, the CGTP proposes to increase workers’ salaries, workers’ rights, and public services.

#PortoPortugal #Portugal #International #Labor #Strike

Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, May 24, nearly 200 letter carriers and their supporters gathered to rally and fundraise for the union reform slate Concerned Letter Carriers (CLC), outside American Family Field ahead of a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.

A presidential election for the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will be held this fall amid a series of growing pressures for letter carriers. The candidates at the top of the CLC slate visited Milwaukee to build support for their reform slate and to showcase their policies. CLC presidential candidate James Henry and vice presidential nominee Corey Walton and other CLC slate members spent time socializing with the crowd and addressing the many issues which plague letter carriers.

“Our needs are not being met, we hit the streets every day, and management can’t guarantee our safety on the job or off the clock,” Henry said. “Pay and benefits keep sliding and we want to make sure we get those back to a place that respects our craft!”

Throughout their fight for a new contract, letter carriers have been worried about privatization and increased cutbacks. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, private sector logistics CEOs have been appointed Postmaster General in recent times. Their policies have led to increases in use of discipline of letter carriers, reduction in capacity and persistent delays of mail.

CLC supporters feel that the sitting NALC president Brian Renfroe has failed to address these issues. Renfroe presided over negotiations for the letter carriers’ 2022-2025 contract which was settled with meager increases in pay, well below the pace of year-on-year inflation. Currently Renfroe is negotiating another contract and the CLC slate supporters feel the contract fight is once again falling short of the needs of working letter carriers.

James Henry also spoke about the need for unity among all carriers, stating, “If we come together as a unit at every level, our power is unshakable and unquestionable,” he said. “If we stay fractured and separated across the country, we’ll never take that step forward.”

Recent years have seen an uptick in union activity in the NALC, as well as many other unions across the country. Letter carriers in Milwaukee are represented by NALC Pioneer Branch 2. Many Branch 2 members have committed to campaigning for the CLC slate. The election will occur this fall after the 2026 National Convention in August.

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #Labor #NALC

Salt Lake City, UT – On Sunday, May 17, over 50 members of ATU 382 formed a picket line for a decent contract in downtown Salt Lake City. Working under an expired contract for six months, transit workers and community supporters demonstrated in front of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) International Bus Roadeo, demanding Utah Transit Authority (UTA) address worker safety, outsourcing, and pressing economic demands.

Tammy Davison, a garage worker, criticized UTA executive Jay Fox for ignoring worker needs in the lead-up to this year’s Winter Olympics, saying “The upper management’s going to Milan on UTA’s dime while we’re still waiting on a contract for a fair wage.”

Workers chanted ,“Maintenance, locomotive, light rail and bus! We're one, UTA, so don't mess with us!” and sang “Six months no CBA! Six months no CBA! That’s the UTA way!” to the tune of La donna è mobile. Bus drivers operating the shuttle route to the Roadeo honked their horns in approval, as the chanting and song carried into the venue.

“It’s been six months and we’re still trying to negotiate,” said Norm Blessett, another transit worker. Blessett said ATU members chose the Bus Roadeo because of its high profile as an international competition. “This was the best place to let UTA know we’re not happy,” said Blessett.

The Bus Roadeo bills itself as “bringing the industry together” in a “hands-on competition that puts the skills of bus operators and maintenance professionals to the test.”

The transit workers also called out the UTA for underhanded, anti-union tactics during bargaining.

“During negotiations, the UTA decided to fire two of the negotiators on the union side,” said Doug Underwood, vice president of ATU 382. “It’s trying to divide the union; there’s just no fair bargaining.”

UTA workers chanted, “When our leadership is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “Stronger together!”

Workers from other trade unions answered the transit workers’ call for support, with Teamsters, CWA, AFSCME, and IATSE among those represented.

Cynthia Shaw, a campus worker and member of CWA 7765, said, “We’re stronger together. When all union members and all workers in Utah stand together, we are stronger together.”

“I rely on UTA to get to calls downtown, going to the Maverick Center,” said Michael Kroll, a rigger and member of IATSE 99. “These workers need better compensation.”

Workers held down the picket line at a high level of energy for hours, from the morning until the afternoon. ATU members vowed to continue their fight for a strong contract and to overcome the UTA’s greed.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #Labor #Transit #ATU

Tacoma, WA – A dozen people gathered along the fence of U.S. Oil & Refining Co on Wednesday, May 27 in an emergency picket and vigil for the 11 people killed in the Longview paper mill disaster. Signs with statements like “Clean it up or shut it down,” “Justice for the Longview 11” and “System change not climate change” waved as attendees picketed the back gate.

This emergency event was called by Climate Alliance of the South Sound (CASS) in response to one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Washington state history. On Tuesday, May 26, a paper mill chemical vat imploded, killing ten workers and wounding several more; at least one of whom has since died from their injuries. The paper mill, owned by multi-million dollar company Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., was severely out of compliance with state and federal regulations.

Dez Chalfant, rank-and-file worker with UFCW 367 and delegate of the Pierce County Central Labor council, stated, “Nippon Dynawave has had a history of non-compliance with environmental and safety regulations. They were fined for their noncompliance, and despite that, they still gambled with the lives of their employees and allowed this tragedy to occur. They risked the lives of their workers and polluted the environment in their own self-interest.”

Attendees highlighted how the U.S. Oil & Refining Co. in the Port of Tacoma is also out of compliance. Picketers chanted, “Noncompliance causes deaths, U.S. Oil could be next!” drawing a clear connection between U.S. Oil & Refining and Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co.

“We've had, for decades and decades, up until 2023, a paper mill virtually identical in our backyard. We have the same pollutants as Longview does,” CASS member Cora Swindale said, further connecting Tacoma and Longview. “So it feels like there's a lot of parallels, and it feels like there's a lot of ways where this tragedy could have happened here.”

All 11 of the workers killed were union workers with AWPPW Local 580. Four of the identified people killed — Gilbert Bernal, Dillon Miller, Jared Ammons and CJ Doran — were fathers, some with very young children and pregnant wives.

“Many of us in Climate Alliance come from working-class families. I myself come from a blue-collar family, and so it's really sobering to be reminded of the fact that so many of our loved ones can go to work and not come home, and that shouldn't be the case,” Jami Nelson-Cortes explained. “We shouldn't have to be sacrificing worker safety for profit, especially when many of our parents are the sole income for our family or the main income for our family.”

The U.S. Oil & Refining Co. is on the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ reservation, but under the jurisdiction of the Tacoma Port Commission due to laws passed in 1918. As of 2025, the elected port commission has been deemed legally responsible for the pollution of tenants in the port.

After several speeches highlighting the connection between workers’ rights, climate justice and indigenous sovereignty, including several songs to honor the killed workers, attendees resumed the picket. Chants including “One struggle, one fight! Climate justice, worker’s rights!” “Cut the carbon emissions, empower the climate commission” and “Gilbert Bernal, say his name, non-compliance is to blame!” filled the air.

“Everywhere we look, we see protections and regulations that are meant to prevent these things being stripped back. It's really clear that they don't care about us, so it's time to stand up and fight back,” Swindale stated.

The Climate Alliance of the South Sound is demanding that the acting port commission, including John McCarthy, shut down U.S. Oil and Refining Co. until they can achieve full compliance, including full compensation for all workers who lose work due to this noncompliance.

The emcee of the event, Justine Racine, tied these demands into CASS’s broader campaign for a community-controlled climate commission. “We at CASS stand in solidarity with the people of Longview and demand that Nippon Dynawave compensate the families affected, and for Nippon Dynawave to meet the environmental standards and safety standards they grossly neglect, and we demand a community-controlled climate commission in Tacoma that can keep companies in Tacoma compliant to environmental standards.”

#TacomaWA #WA #LongviewPaperMill #Labor #WorkerSafety #PeoplesStruggles

This was the first LIRR strike since 1994. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York (MTA) failed to bargain in good faith, according to the rail unions involved, and workers hadn’t received a raise since 2022. The MTA offered a wage proposal that would have resulted in a 2.8% loss in real wages because of rising inflation. The workers demanded a 16% wage increase over three years. This set wages up to be one of the main issues at the bargaining table, along with changes to work rules.

The striking workers were represented by five different unions: the Teamsters-affiliated Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Transportation Communications Union. Together, those unions represent 55% of the unionized workforce at the Long Island Rail Road.

Although the details of the tentative agreement have not been publicly shared, BLET Vice President Kevin Sexton stated, “After years of negotiations, we've finally received an agreement that reflects the value our members bring to this railroad.”

The strike began at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, with 24 picket locations across Long Island and Manhattan. The process to get to the strike was very long, including years of negotiations, mediation from the National Mediation Board, and two Presidential Emergency Boards. This long and bureaucratic process comes from the Railway Labor Act, which applies to the airline and railroad industries and often seeks to prevent militant strikes in those important logistics fields.

In this case, the federal mediators sided, in a non-binding decision, with the union’s demands for real wage increases.

Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul was a key anti-worker politician throughout the fight. She has significant power over the MTA and appointed its CEO Janno Lieber. Hochul insisted that raises would lead to an 8% increase in fares. However, she and Lieber have now said that there will be no increase to fares or taxes since the strike was settled.

The tentative agreement is currently being reviewed and voted on by union workers. This was a significant rail strike and as such has been watched closely by other transit union workers, wondering if this may set a new precedent in union negotiations across the railroad and transit industries.

#NewYorkNY #NY #Labor #LIRR #MTA

The demands are for the creation of a judicial body that would have the power to resolve land disputes, advance agrarian reform, and for the Colombian Congress not to sabotage debate on the matter.

There have been recent one-day national strikes by organized sectors in Colombia recently in April, and by educators in July 2025. Historic national strikes in 2020 and 2021 lasting days and weeks faced violent repression from the right-wing Ivan Duque government, military and police forces.

The massive mobilizations made it clear that the Colombian masses had enough of the oligarchy and held firm for change. These actions transformed the conditions in the country and made possible the election of Gustavo Petro and Gladys Marquez in 2022. Petro has been one of the leading outspoken elected officials in the world standing in resolute solidarity with Palestine. His recent statement about Bolivia’s mass movements’ strike being a “popular insurrection” against President Paz has caused the expulsion of the Colombian ambassador.

As Colombian presidential terms are limited to one four-year term, Petro’s time is up and the first round of elections will occur on May 31. Currently, there are three main candidates, with the leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda having support from much of the social movements. One of the armed guerrilla groups, the Ejército Liberación Nacional (ELN) vows to uphold a three-day ceasefire during the election window to allow as many voters to participate. The ELN has carried a number of attacks on military and police stations recently.

In addition to supporting the “total peace” of the 2016 Peace Accords with the FARC, Cepeda has stood out in his support for the freedom of political prisoner Simón Trinidad. Trinidad is a former leader of the FARC and currently in his 22nd year being held in the U.S. supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Organizers with the Committee to Free Simon Trinidad have recently filed for a commutation of Trinidad’s sentence.

#International #Colombia #Labor #Strike

Denver, CO – On the afternoon of May 14, dozens of people rallied at the Cow and Calf statues outside the Denver Art Museum (DAM) to support the museum employees’ struggle for a union contract.

The crowd, led by the Denver Art Museum Workers United (DAMWU), marched three times around the block from 12th and Tacoma Street to 14th and Bannock, chanting, “Exploitation ain’t the way, workers gotta get their pay!” and “Hey hey, ho ho! Poverty wages have got to go!”

The workers at the Denver Art Museum have been negotiating for a contract for over two years, mainly demanding higher wages, a better policy to protect immigrant employees, and more funding for the DAM worker food pantry.

“A fair wage would mean a lot of things for a lot of different people who work here. For some people, it’s about being able to afford food, it’s about being able to afford rent, to afford healthcare, to save for the future,” said Macey Borant, a DAM employee in the exhibitions department. “For me, I can’t actually afford to live in Denver with what I make at the museum, so I live in Greeley. I commute here, and the trip here is an hour and a half each way, and it’s really taxing on top of an eight-hour shift.”

The DAM pays $19.29 per hour, or Denver’s minimum wage. This is the least amount paid among all multicultural institutions, including the Botanical Gardens, Museum of Nature and Science, and the Children’s Museum, which offer $20 to $22 per hour upon hire.

DAMWU also demands free parking for employees. Parking is $6 per day at the Cherokee Street parking garage nearby, and monthly passes are $100 per month – a fee that many employees cannot afford on their current wages.

“We’re here tonight to tell management that we’re not making concessions, we will not be pressured, will not compromise, and that we are united!” said Sean Chase, another DAM worker. “If the Denver Art Museum is a world-class institution, then you should be paying world-class wages!”

The Denver Art Museum said that they would give a small wage increase, smaller than the workers are demanding, only if they get rid of the sick time the workers won in their last negotiations.

The Denver Art Museum Workers United union is going back to the negotiating table on Wednesday, May 27.

#DenverCO #CO #Labor

Months of popular resistance to political decisions to benefit the wealthy elite have brought Bolivia to a boiling point. Trade unions are two weeks into a general strike that calls for the resignation of center-right President Rodrigo Paz. Rural indigenous organizations have surrounded the house of former President Evo Morales to protect him from an assassination or kidnapping attempt. Reports say that workers have seized the airport near the home to prevent an operation similar to what the U.S. did to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The general strike, called for by the main trade union federation, Central Obrera Bolivian (COB), started on May 3. Over 70 unions shared over 100 demands ranging from political issues to economic needs in the wake of the first few months of a massive shift in government policy. When President Paz failed to attend an important dialogue meeting, the Federation of Mining Cooperatives joined the national mobilization.

So far, 60 roadblocks throughout the country are reported, with 47 of them in the La Paz Department, where the capital and national government are.

This is the second general strike in Bolivia in the first six months of President Paz’s term.

Below is a timeline of events that has led to this moment:

2006-2019: Indigenous trade union leader Evo Morales and Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) party in power. Nationalizations of key industries like mining results in massive redistribution of wealth from the rich elite and toward investment in development and an economy benefitting the poor and working class.

2019: Evo is elected again but a far-right coup using widespread threats of violence ousts Morales and Vice President Álvaro García Linera. Far-right Christian Jeanine Áñez takes over, in violation of the constitution. Massacres of indigenous protesters result in nearly 40 deaths.

2020: Áñez is clearly unpopular and withdraws candidacy as MAS candidate Luis Arce eventually wins the presidency.

2020-2024: Arce struggles to correct neoliberal policies under Áñez and Camacho and struggles for political legitimacy both within MAS and across the country.

September 2024: “March to Save Bolivia” sees 3.4 million people participate. Met with intense repression, arrests and an assassination attempt on Evo.

May 2025: Second “March to Save Bolivia” sees 3.6 million people with a central demand to register Evo with a new party as MAS is split and courts blocked Evo to register as MAS candidate.

August 2025: General elections for president see “centrist” Rodrigo Paz ahead of far-right Quiroga, MAS candidate Castillo 2%, and 20% of voting Bolivians voting “null” as a protest to Evo’s ban.

August 2025: The judiciary releases two key politicians from the 2019 coup against Evo Morales.

November 2025: Paz is sworn in as president. Judiciary releases Jeanine Áñez from ten-year prison sentence for her role in the 2019 coup.

December 2025: Over 60 unions send message to Paz that his first moves “only benefit privileged sectors,” as his first efforts in the economy are to deregulate and privatize, eliminate taxes on monopoly businesses and fortunes, and remove subsidies, which results in massive price increases for water, electricity and bread. Especially impactful to the key mining sector is the 86% increase in gasoline and 160% increase in diesel.

December 22, 2025: The COB declares an indefinite strikes, later joined by the miners

January 2026: The National Telecom Company removes Telesur and RT from many media platforms.

February 25, 2026: The COB declares a “State of Emergency” in the country with massive mobilizations against Paz.

May 3, 2026: Over 70 unions with over 100 demands start an indefinite general strike after Paz decided not to attend an important dialogue table.

May 13: The Federation of Mining Cooperatives joins the strike, adding a key sector to the stoppage. 60 roadblocks across the country with 47 in the department of La Paz.

May 15: Evo Morales declares that some Bolivian forces are working with the U.S., DEA and SOUTHCOM to capture, detain or kill him. Rural indigenous organizations surround his home to protect him. Reports that workers have seized the nearby airport to prevent transportation for any kidnapping.

#International #Bolivia #Labor #EvoMorales

Minneapolis, MN – El viernes, 1 de mayo, una coalición encabezada por el Comité de Derechos de Inmigrantes de Minnesota y el Movimiento de Protectores Indígenas y respaldado por más de 60 sindicatos, grupos de derechos de inmigrantes, y otras organizaciones progresivas salieron a las calles para conmemorar el 20ª marcha annual el Día Internacional de los Obreros.

La coalición exigió que ICE se saque de Minnesota y la legalización para todos, puesto que la marcha siguió meses de lucha intensa contra la ocupación federal de la ciudad por los policías de inmigracion y confrontaciones militantes entre la gente y ICE. 10,000 manifestantes marcharon, cantaron, mostraron pancartas y celebraron durante la marcha del Día Internacional de los Obreros este año.

La marcha llenó la Calle Lako, el corazón de la comunidad inmigrante en Minneapolis del Sur, con grandes banderas, y contingentes de varios sindicatos, grupos de derechos de inmigrantes, grupos contra-guerra, grupos de estudiantes y otros movimientos progresivos. Como tradición para las marchas de MIRAC de 1 de mayo, la bandera principal fue sostenida por jóvenes, este año un grupo de estudiantes del colegio. La enorme marcha tuvo tres camiones de sonido, cada uno con su propio programa de discurso. La gente y las familias bordearon las aceras de la calle Lake para dar elogio a los eslóganes y brindar la marcha, saliendo de los varios negocios de inmigrantes para mostrar su apoyo.

Justo antes del inicio del programa, Consejeros de la Ciudad de Minneapolis progresivos tuvieron una rueda de prensa para leer la resolución del consejo municipal para nombrar al 1 de mayo como Día Internacional de los Obreros, seguido por una interpretación de baile por Danza Unida.

En la congregación inicial, las multitudes escucharon a Diego Guaman de Operación Vuelo Sagrado, un grupo comunitario de las bases que fue creado como respuesta directa a la campana en aumento a los inmigrantes en Minnesota y la necesidad de protegerlos, educar y apoyar a las familias inmigrantes.

“Ser inmigrante no es un crimen, pelear por tus derechos no es un crimen y hacer oír tu voz no es un crimen!” proclamó Diego Guaman.

Manuel Pascual, participante de MIRAC, les contó a las multitudes un poco de la historia de May Day y la importancia de salir a las calles en la 20ª marcha de 1 de mayo de la ciudad, “Cada año estamos aquí el 1 de mayo y cada año queremos decir la misma cosa: este es el dia del obrero. ¡El día de los obreros inmigrantes! El único día de fiesta del mundo que nos pertenece a nosotros!” Concluyó su discurso diciéndoles a las multitudes sobre la campaña actual de MIRAC para convertir Minnesota en Estado Santuario y un fin a toda la colaboración local y en el estado con ICE. “Estamos organizando, estamos presentándonos, y estamos retrocediendo a nuestros vecinos cuando ICE intenta llevarlos. Hoy es la práctica, mañana seguimos adelante!

La marcha se detuvo en la Calle Lake y la Avenida Bloomington, sitio de una gran operación federal en la cual policías de inmigracion estaban presentes el junio de 2025. Las multitudes escucharon a Isavela Lopez, activista que fue brutalizada por policías federales aquel día y ahora enfrenta cargos federales sin validez.

“Yo se que no estoy sola,” dijo Lopez, “En el momento se trata de más que me, y se trata de los niños en Palestina, se trate de la gente de Venezuela, y se trata de la gente que quedan encarcelada en los centros de detención ahora mismo!

Benji Gomez, miembro de las bases de Teamsters Local 638, quien también organizó una despensa comunitaria para las familias inmigrantes ubicado en su garaje durante la Operacion Metro Surge con la ayuda de los otros Teamsters de su sindicato, le dijo a las multitudes, “Soy inmigrante. También soy el primero de mi familia que me inscribí a un sindicato y me ha dado verdadero poder. Los sindicatos existen porque los obreros se presentaron juntos y exigieron dignidad, sueldos justos, condiciones sanas y respeto, y muchas veces esos obreros eran inmigrantes, ¡gente con la menor protección pero con el coraje de organizarse de todos modos! Eso sí es verdad hoy en día.”

En la marcha también aparecieron habladores incluyendo Presidente de AFL-CIO Minnesota Bernie Burnham, Presidenta de Local 59 de MFE MArcia Howard, miembros de Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, MN8, Monique Cullors-Doty con los Honrados 39, el Comité Anti-Guerra de MN, y muchos mas que representaban sus sindicatos y otras organizaciones de las bases.

La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad también tuvo un contingente grande y visible en la marcha.

La marcha terminó en una tienda Target al otro lado de la calle de la 3ª Delegación anterior (quemada) con un teatro criticando Target y la avaricia corporativa, y también más discursos inspirando a la gente que siga tomando acción. Al final de la marcha, los organizadores pidieron a los manifestantes que coman en los negocios que tienen como dueños inmigrantes en la calle Lake y que asistan a la posfiesta en el Mercado Central para concluir el día.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Trabajo #DerechosdeInmigrantes #1ºdemayo #MIRAC #OSCL #ImmigrantRights #Labor #MayDay #FRSO

Tampa, FL — Despite a thunderstorm and tornado warning, a small but passionate group of workers and community members rallied in Ybor City on May 2 to celebrate International Workers' Day. The rally was organized by the West Central Florida Future Labor Leaders, the youth branch of the West Central Florida Central Labor Council, with demands to defend workers’ and immigrants’ rights.

The speakers included workers from a wide range of unions, such as Graduate Assistants United, the American Federation of Government Employees, Service Employees International Union, Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Polk Education Association. An immigrant rights group, the Tampa Immigrants’ Rights Committee, also spoke in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Day Without Immigrants protests.

Just one day before the rally, on May Day itself, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the union-busting SB 1296 into law. The bill is a direct attack on public-sector unions in the state, creating additional barriers to recertification. SB 1296 comes just three years after SB 256, another bill that raised the bar for recertification and decertified more than 100 public-sector unions in the state.

Shortly after losing their union in 2023, the University of South Florida's custodial, groundskeeping and maintenance workers had their jobs privatized. This past year, the workers unionized again, this time with SEIU.

“Since we were privatized, they have taken everything away from us,” said Juan Pena, an electrician at USF and organizer with SEIU 32BJ. “We’re fighting for fair wages, fair contract and salary.”

Speaking in Spanish, Paola Gutierrez with SEIU 32BJ said, “Siempre he dicho que todos unidos somos una sola voz y por eso creo que los sindicatos están listos para defendernos,” or “I have always said all of us united are one single voice and that’s why I believe that unions are ready to defend us.”

The rally ended with a short march around Centennial Park, with attendees chanting “Get up, get down, Tampa is a union town!” The march came to a close just behind the “Immigrant Statue,” a bronze sculpture honoring the Cuban, Italian and Spanish families who immigrated to and built Ybor City.

#TampaFL #FL #MayDay #InternationalWorkersDay #ImmigrantRights #Labor

Tacoma, WA – Several hundred people took to the streets of Tacoma on May 1 to rally for immigrants and workers’ rights. The crowd gathered around 4 p.m. and began chanting with messages such as “Stand up and shut it down, Tacoma is a union town!” and “Power to the people! No one is illegal!” Energy was high, and the mood of the event was celebratory.

The rally opened on Tacoma’s downtown Theater Plaza, with speeches from union members, immigrant rights activists, and tenant organizers. Nearly 40 organizations endorsed the event, including Teamsters Local 117, Washington State Nurses Association, Indivisible Tacoma, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Malaya Tacoma, and many more.

“I think May Day is the sickest holiday ever created,” said one attendee, Edgar Alvarez. “I’m here to contribute to the workers’ movement first and foremost. We’re in a spot right now where we need to start building momentum.”

The program at Theater Square concluded with a performance of Solidarity Forever by local protest band Bugs for Change. The crowd then moved into the street and marched first up the hill to Tacoma City Hall.

The crowd continued with chants such as “Union jobs and education, we will fight for liberation!” and “Stop the deportations!”

“Immigrant workers were on the front lines of the Haymarket affair, they were on the front lines of the 2006 megamarches and continue to be on the front lines of labor struggles across the country,” said Rie Guerrero of Pierce County Immigration Alliance. “The reason we’re stopping here at Tacoma City Hall is because one of the entities reaping profits from the abuse of our immigrant neighbors is our very own city government. The city of Tacoma has invested its retirement system in a mutual fund that has holdings in GEO Group, meaning it has banked its employees' financial futures on the continued profitability of concentration camps like the Northwest Detention Center.”

After that rousing speech, the crowd marched back down the hill towards the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC).

“We’re marching to demand justice for the immigrants that are in detainment in the NWDC,” said Moon Gosserand, emcee of the coalition event. “We must always, even if we don’t know them personally, stand up for the people that need it.”

The planned route to the NWDC crossed Tacoma’s 11th Street bridge, and, as protesters approached the bridge, members of the Tacoma Police Department started forming barricades to block the marchers from continuing on their route. However, the marshal team refused to turn back and pushed through. Eventually the police relented and the protesters continued as planned, completely shutting down the 11th Street bridge.

Chanting continued as the crowd made their way to the NWDC, including chants such as ““When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “Shut it down! Shut it tight! Workers of the world unite!”

Upon arrival at the NWDC, the crowd continued chanting and the program resumed on the street outside the detention center. There were more songs and speeches, including one from Maximo Londonio, a member of Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 695, who was imprisoned by ICE in May 2025.

One attendee reflected on the crowd which had marched nearly two miles from the starting location, “It’s really cool to see so many people from Tacoma uniting and showing up,” said Sterling Peel, a band leader with Bugs for Change and general member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “It really shows that this is a working-class town for the working-class people, and we have a strong working-class movement, and I love to see it.”

The program concluded with a song offered by members of Tangoll Migrante Movement which included the refrain “¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” Many attendees vowed to continue fighting.

“Bottom line is, get in the streets!” said Alvarez. “If you’re not in the streets, get in the streets.”

#TacomaWA #WA #ImmigrantRights #Labor #MayDay

New York, NY – On Wednesday, May 6, the Movement of Rank and File Educators gathered for general assembly in Midtown Manhattan. More than 40 classroom teachers from across the city met to discuss the presence of NYPD in schools and the police’s role in oppressing the student body of New York and intimidating teachers and staff in schools. The group was joined by the Dignity in Schools organization, which is against scanners and police in schools.

The meeting began with a teach-in on the history of policing in schools in NYC, which first began in the 1970s after the United Federation of Teachers made a mistake by striking against Black and Puerto Rican parents who wanted to exercise control over their children’s schools, known as the Oceanhill – Brownesville strike. The UFT, led by Albert Shanker, made an historic mistake by pitting the rights of white teachers to a job against the rights of Black and brown parents to decide who taught their children, instead of uniting the struggles together against a common enemy.

The assembly moved on to discuss the way language in the UFT contract about students “disruptive behavior” has been used by teachers to have students removed from their classes. This practice disproportionately affects Black and brown students today.

They also talked about how the NYPD imposes expensive scanners for students onto certain schools, and obscures data about where these scanners are located in the city. It can be assumed that most scanners are placed in majority Black and brown schools. Some students in the NYC public school system are required to go through metal detectors and scanners operated by cops and are treated as possible suspects when they get to school.

The frequent delays at scanning make students late to school and makes it more difficult for teachers in the classroom to teach their lessons. The group discussed how the money that goes into expensive scanners could easily be used to give teachers better working conditions, and students better learning conditions, or funneled into job positions in the school that are staffed by unions.

The teachers then broke out into groups to talk about the situations in their schools, and, with the help of a campaign toolkit, some came up with plans to get rid of racist scanning and NYPD presence in their schools through rank-and-file mobilization and engagement of the broader school community.

#NewYorkNY #NYC #NY #MORE #UFT #Labor #PoliceAccountability #Teachers

San Jose, CA – On May 7, dozens of community members gathered at Hillview Branch Library for a panel discussion led by rank-and-file union members and organizers about the state of the labor movement in the South Bay.

The panel members included Ariya Amin of San Jose Teachers Association; Armando Barbosa of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265; Nancy Mendoza of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5, and Philip Nguyen of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Service Employees International Union Local 521.

The discussion centered around the importance of unions, local struggles against school and store closures, ICE, and the fight against the Trump administration’s attacks on workers.

“Unions are essential to us harnessing our collective power. We will always be up against forces that are opposed to that, so it is essential to be organized,” said Amin, “As teachers, our working conditions directly affect our students. We not only advocate for ourselves, but our students and their families.”

“The union is important because it gives the working class a voice at the table,” stated Barbosa, “We think about entering into a labor non-physical warfare, because that’s what we’re really up against. We are in battle. The contract is our sword and our shop stewards are our defense mechanisms.”

Nancy Mendoza highlighted the effects of the Trump administration on organizing Cardenas grocery store workers, “Cardenas workers, a lot of them came on a parole visa, so they all got laid off. Trump suspended their visas and they were unable to work.”

Cardenas, however, took advantage of the situation to circumvent the union’s organizing efforts. Mendoza added, “Cardenas grocery store tells the workers that we work with ICE. That’s a big one, so now we’re giving them cards for Know Your Rights and we’re holding classes for them to attend so they know their rights for when they face ICE.”

The event concluded with a short Q and A session and opportunities to socialize.

#SanJoseCA #CA #Labor

Santa Ana, CA – On May 1, nearly 300 people packed into Sasscer Park for International Workers’ Day. The rally and march, which also commemorated the 20th anniversary of the immigrant mega marches, was organized by the Orange County May Day Coalition. The energy in the crowd grew as the emcee of the rally, Abe Quintana from Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) led chants of “ICE out of Santa Ana! ICE out of OC!”

Michelle Ceballos from UAW started by emphasizing “the wealthy have extracted more and more profit from us, kept our wages low, raised prices, and bought out our politicians! It doesn’t have to be this way! May Day reminds us that when we fight, we win!”

Speaking on the immigrant mega marches 20 years ago Ceballos added, “In 2006, on a Day Without an Immigrant, millions hit the streets to defeat an anti-immigrant law, and won. In January, hundreds of thousands across the U.S. shut it down, to get ICE to back off. Today, people joined the call to shut it down again, to keep building momentum for a mass movement!”

Erika Armenta, the wife of Noe Rodriguez, a man who was killed by Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) is also a member of CSO OC. Armenta told the crowd, “We need community control of the police to ensure that officers who have taken the lives of our loved ones face consequences-specifically, that they be fired and subsequently imprisoned. They must be held accountable for the lives they have unjustly snatched away!”

Armenta also spoke of CSO OC’s fight for immigrant rights, “Our Immigration Committee works with the working-class immigrants of the Coach Royal mobile home park who are fighting unjust evictions and abuse from Kingsley Management Corporation.”

Hussein Imreish from the Palestinian Youth Movement said,“ For the past two years we have seen how essential the labor movement is for Palestine. Through our campaigns such as Mask of Maersk and the Peoples Arms Embargo we have connected with principled and dedicated workers who reject the imperialist forces inflicting violence and exploiting our people.”

Diana Terreros from Freedom Road Socialist Organization Orange County (FRSO OC) kicked off her speech by saying, “Immigrants are super exploited to increase the profits of the billionaires.” Terreros spoke about the local example of Kingsley. “They do illegal terrible things to the residents all for profit and then count on the residents being too afraid to fight back due to their status. They have even threatened to call ICE on them! Shame!” Terreros finished with a call to action by saying, “We are an organization of fighters working shoulder to shoulder with the working class and have a real strategy to build a united front against these capitalists and you should join us in this fight!”

Gaby Hernandez from Chicanos Unidos stated, “We have worked heavily and led the campaign against gang injunctions. Gang injunctions create prisons in our communities without walls.” Hernandez added that “We started fighting against injunctions in 2006 and just a few months ago we were able to shut down injunctions here in Orange County!”

At the height of the rally, the large crowd started marching. The protesters stopped traffic, fully taking over the road, chanting “ICE out of OC!”, “Donald Trump, let’s be clear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and “Jail killer cops!” throughout downtown as the crowd filled the busy streets.

The crowd held up signs saying “No Ice! Stop the deportations,” “Workers Forever, CEOs never” and “Fight for workers' and immigrants’ rights” while passing cars gave honks of support.

While marching, David Pulido, a member of FRSO OC and a chant leader for the march, brought attention to the parking lot where 73-year-old Miguel Chavez was brutally arrested by the SAPD in 2022. “They shot him with less-lethal rounds and sicced a K-9 dog at him! He later died from his wounds!” This started powerful chants of “Justice for Miguel Chavez!” and “Jail killer cops!”

This OC May Day coalition was comprised of and included organizers from CSO OC, OC DSA, FRSO OC, UAW, Harbor Institute, El Centro Cultural de Mexico, Code Pink OC, OC Peace Coalition, CHIRLA, Orange County Banner Drop, OC Mutual Aid, Chicanos Unidos, Palestinian Youth Movement Orange County Environmental Justice, General Strike US, Nuestras Manos, Santa Ana Lucha, Santa Ana Active Streets, Save Orange Hills, Green Party of OC, Union de Barrio, VietRISE and Climate Action Campaign and.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #OC #OrangeCounty #MayDay #InternationalWorkersDay #ImmigrantRights #Labor #CSOOC