Almost a century ago, labor activist Emma Tenayuca led Mexican American women in San Antonio’s legendary pecan shellers’ strike, facing down bosses, police, and the Klan. Today amid renewed nativist hate, we can learn from her example.
Under Siege, and Showing its Age
Most of the city unions endorsed the former governor, but a few believed in Mamdani. “It means that for the first time our members will really have a mayor who supports workers,” said Brandon Mancilla, Director of UAW Region 9A.
Unions’ reluctance to engage with workers’ social identities—such as race, ethnicity, and faith—has hindered efforts to build a strong, multiracial labor movement.
A $30 minimum wage law has inspired dueling ballot measures.
New York City is often thought of as a stronghold of organized labor. But the city’s unions look worryingly passive as their strength erodes.
Over 100 staff of three retail stores becomes first union of their kind in the state.
Blockades by dockworkers stand out as one of the most concrete and disruptive forms of solidarity that workers can offer when governments refuse to act.
Huerta is home now. But the fact that ICE would publicly detain someone with his visibility and institutional support simply for protesting should serve as the ultimate warning for anyone who believes in worker power.
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