Labor spring is here!
Our latest coverage, including last week’s historic convergence of unions and community groups.
Hello, friends! And hello, new subscribers! It’s been a while since Up With the Workers has been in your inbox, and if this is the first newsletter you’re receiving—welcome! We’ve been busy reporting and strategizing for the next few months. Check it out below.
ICYMI: Thousands of essential workers and community members took to the streets, city council, and state capitol in support of striking workers and social demands, including better union contracts, a labor standards advisory board, social housing, environmental sustainability, and better schools. By the end of the week, three more locals reached tentative agreements or voted to accept contracts, and many workers got lessons in leadership and solidarity. Read our story, co-published with In These Times: Minnesota’s Labor Spring Has Arrived. Here’s What’s Going Down.
We were very excited to co-publish Sarah Jaffe, who wrote an in-depth piece on the strategic alignment for In These Times and Workday Magazine here: The Most Important Labor Story Right Now Is in Minnesota—It Might Be the Model We All Need. Read the Spanish version here.
Isabela’s Q&A with longtime Labor Education Service media coordinator and overall legend John See is a treasure. His work reflects how the labor movement has weathered changes in politics and technology, including a business-oriented media landscape, and how media can serve as a public good when there are people doing the work to make it more accessible: An Interview with John See: Labor Historian and Video Innovator on Nearly 40 Years of Service to the Minnesota Labor Movement. Stay tuned for information about the digital archive!
“Whenever someone is being oppressed, we should stand with them.”
Sarah’s piece on The Auto Workers Who Stand with Gaza includes an interview with UAW member Marcie Pedraza, who tells the story of how she introduced a cease-fire resolution which her union local voted to pass.
Before you leave, here’s the poem from which our signature comes from, “Paul Robeson” by Gwendolyn Brooks in case you haven’t read it in a while…
That time
we all heard it,
cool and clear,
cutting across the hot grit of the day.
The major Voice.
The adult Voice
forgoing Rolling River,
forgoing tearful tale of bale and barge
and other symptoms of an old despond.
Warning, in music-words
devout and large,
that we are each other’s
harvest:
we are each other’s
business:
we are each other’s
magnitude and bond.
Thank you for reading! We are each other’s harvest.