Feeling fatigued by the constant onslaught of bad news? We got you–because the antidote to that particular overwhelm is celebrating our wins.
Each week, The Labor Force partners with labor groups to share their urgent needs with our growing community of labor activists and supporters. Together, we’re building a stronger labor movement by donating to strike funds, attending rallies, demanding pro-worker policy from our electeds, calling CEOs to tell them to stop union-busting, and more.
There’s a lot of bad news out there, so it’s more important than ever to celebrate our wins. Going forward, we’ll be regularly reporting back on what we have collectively accomplished.
In just the last couple of weeks, here’s how The Labor Force community showed up and made an impact:
We Rallied For May Day
On May 1st, we took to the streets with May Day Strong at May Day events across the country. With over 1,000 events, we’re told this was the largest number of May Day events held in U.S. history.
We Stood With Union Baristas
After Blue Bottle, the national coffee chain owned by Nestlé announced it would unilaterally install surveillance cameras in six unionized Boston cafés, y’all stood strong with Blue Bottle Independent Union, sending over twenty five thousand letters to Blue Bottle higher-ups demanding they bargain in good faith with the union.
After Blue Bottle failed to budge on the camera issue and baristas walked off the job in protest, together we donated to the union’s strike fund so that striking baristas could still pay their bills. We’ll keep you posted on what happens next with BBIU.
We Fought Against Anti-Worker Legislation
In a letter campaign, we told our representatives (again) to reject the National Right-to-Work Act, with over 180,000 letters sent to Congress so far.
We Had The Back Of A Union Leader When Retaliation Hit
After Trader Joe’s fired Jamie Edwards, a TJ’s worker and the founding president of Trader Joe’s United, the independent union of Trader Joe’s workers, y’all had Jamie’s back. The Labor Force community and its partners donated to Jamie’s GoFundMe, ensuring they can cover the basics while they seek new employment and fight for reinstatement.
We Protected Federal Workers
And finally, The Labor Force continued to support federal workers in a big way. In case you missed it, the Trump administration recently stripped bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of federal workers, many of whom are members of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal workers in the country. Trump’s Executive Order also financially gutted federal unions by making them unable to collect dues by voluntary paycheck deduction.
In response, we partnered with AFGE to launch the Federal Worker Defense Fund. Since its inception, The Labor Force and its partners have collectively raised tens of thousands of dollars for the fund to help AFGE fight back against Trump’s retaliatory actions and protect federal workers, and we’re still going!
Let’s celebrate these wins, and keep on fighting! Thank you for all that you do.
In Solidarity,
The Labor Force
P.S.: The more folks who join forces with us, the bigger our impact. Can you spread the word by sharing this post with someone else who likes good news and wants to build a bigger, stronger labor movement?