Labor Notes

In a time when there’s real cause for fear and despair—and when the Trump administration is pushing hard to divide us—the Labor Notes Conference June 12-14 in Chicago was an oasis of inspiration and solidarity. In every hallway you could feel the electric buzz of conversation, of strategies in the making. Labor Notes gives workers a rare chance to come together across unions, sectors, and identities.

As America turns 250, it’s easy to despair about where we're going. The Labor Notes Conference was a powerful antidote. These 4,000-plus fighters have not given up. They're still fighting. And this country is filled with courageous working people like them, who believe that a better world is possible “I didn’t hear no bell,” says Rocky Balboa, as he miraculously gets up yet again in the midst of a brutal street fight at the end of “Rocky V.” The best union activists have that underdog determination.

The federal monitor charged with rooting out “fraud, corruption, illegal behavior, dishonesty, and unethical practices” in the Auto Workers union issued a report today accusing UAW President Shawn Fain of “retaliation” against Vice President Rich Boyer. Earlier reports by Monitor Neil Barofsky had made similar claims regarding Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock.

The federal monitor charged with rooting out “fraud, corruption, illegal behavior, dishonesty, and unethical practices” in the Auto Workers union issued a report today accusing UAW President Shawn Fain of “retaliation” against Vice President Rich Boyer. Earlier reports by Monitor Neil Barofsky had made similar claims regarding Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock.

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Chanting, “We are not partners, we are workers,” hundreds of workers across Mexico who provide rides and deliveries through apps held a two-hour work stoppage on May 15 demanding fair rates, an end to unjustified deactivations, and ultimately, a collective labor agreement with app giants like Uber, Didi, and Rappi (two Uber-Eats style delivery platforms).

Delegates to the United Auto Workers constitutional convention affirmed this week the aggressive direction the union has taken under President Shawn Fain, who took office in 2023 and immediately set the 400,000-member union on a new path, illustrated in bold campaigns like the Stand Up Strike against the Big 3 automakers.

Yesterday the federal government arrested and indicted 15 people, many of them union activists, on conspiracy charges over the protests and massive strike against ICE in Minnesota last winter. Two of those indicted had just returned from the Labor Notes Conference, where Emmett Doyle’s prize-winning song “Hold the Line” was also sung (see box). The Minneapolis 15 include union carpenters, electricians, teachers, university staff, and nursing home workers. Donate here to support their legal defense.

Quick! What do these exciting stories have in common? Educators bringing a new fighting spirit to their unions, from Los Angeles to Chicago to Massachusetts. Members overthrowing corrupt leaders in the Teamsters and the United Auto Workers. Grocery workers and letter carriers rebelling against subpar contracts. Building trade workers organizing to turn their locals around. The answer is union reform caucuses.

Minnesota trade unionists active in worker assemblies are among the 15 people indicted by the federal government today, as part of a sweeping crackdown on organizing in opposition to the ICE and Border Patrol since December 2025. Among a slew of other allegations, the indictment cited some of the individuals’ participation in assemblies of trade unionists and other workers held at the United Labor Centre in Minneapolis as evidence that the activists participated in a criminal conspiracy.