The Labor Notes Podcast

The Antidote to Organizing Burnout (w/ Teamsters Local 804 Organizer Antonio Rosario and Sarah Slichter, Movement of Rank-and-File Educators)

It’s natural to feel overwhelmed by the boss’ relentless union busting (it’s why they do it!) and to get discouraged by lapses and disengagement by union leadership.
It can also compound the difficulty of organizing—figuring out how to make a meeting worthwhile, how to connect with members when it feels like your shop floor is in disarray, or even getting through concrete tasks like drafting agendas and to-do lists when everything starts feeling heavy. 
That’s when a return to basic organizing principles—and coming up with structural solutions with our co-workers—may be the way forward. 
Teamsters Local 804 Organizer Antonio Rosario and Sarah Slichter from the Movement of Rank-and-File Educators, join the pod.

Four Union Strategies to Fight on A.I.

A.I is a management power grab, disguised as an inevitable technical upgrade. To fight it, workers can use four strategies proven in the past: name the real problem; unionize it; ransom it; and block it.
Also read the piece by Labor Notes Organizer Keith Brower Brown: Four Union Strategies to Fight on A.I.

Massachusetts Teachers Taxed the Rich and Brought in $3B Last Year

The Fair Share Amendment in Massachusetts, which passed in 2022, has helped offer free community college to tuition residents, provide free school meals for students, run free regional buses, and has helped to fund a multi-billion-dollar capital program for public higher education and vocational high schools.
It’s a tax on the rich that brought in $3 billion in 2025 and went toward public education and transportation. Read more in the piece by MTA president Max Page: “We’re Making ‘Tax the Rich’ More Than a Slogan.”The measure was the result of organizing by groups including the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition, which the Massachusetts Teachers Association has teamed up with. Page, also a member of the Raise Up Massachusetts steering committee, joins the pod along with former MTA president and retiring Labor Notes Organizer Barbara Madeloni.

How to Have an Actually Good 1:1 Conversation

There’s no magic formula for moving your co-worker (nor should there be)! Organizing is about building real relationships across the shop floor based on mutual trust and a shared vision for a better workplace—and having good 1-1 conversations is an important first step! If you’ve ever been to an organizing training, you’ve probably also heard the mantra to listen more than you talk. But what does that mean? You’re not just here to be someone’s therapist or provide a parallel HR service or create endless surveys! You want to transform your workplace into one that meets your bargaining unit’s needs on the job by building power together. To do that, it helps to understand what makes a good organizing conversation. Drawn from decades of tested tactics that have worked in shop floors across industries, here are some ways to have great 1-1 conversations that will leave you and your co-workers energized and more connected to the union you’re building together!  Labor Notes Organizer Sarah Hughes joins the pod.

Secret: Use the Issue Your Co-Workers Really Care Most About To Build the Union

“Secrets of a Successful Organizer” is a core Labor Notes workshop that packages a member-led organizing philosophy into a concrete action plan that you can start using in your union campaigns. It’s also based on our bestseller of the same name where we explore the basics of bringing members into the union, understanding how your co-workers are already organized, and identifying leaders who can amplify members’ demands and help build power. Our “Secrets of a Successful Organizer” online workshop series usually takes place in three sessions on different themes: Beating Apathy, Assembling Your Dream Team, and Turning an Issue Into a Campaign. In this third and final episode in a three-part pod series on this training, we’ll focus on “Turning an Issue Into a Campaign.” Labor Notes Organizer Sarah Hughes joins the pod. Listen to Part 1 and to Part 2 here!

Secret: Your Workplace is Already Organized and Leaders Are Waiting to Step Up!

“Secrets of a Successful Organizer” is a core Labor Notes workshop that packages a member-led organizing philosophy into a concrete action plan that you can start using in your union!
This workshop series, based on our bestselling manual of the same name, usually takes place in three sessions focusing on different themes: Beating Apathy, Assembling Your Dream Team, and Turning an Issue Into a Campaign.
In this second of our three-part pod series on our “Secrets” training, we’ll get into the theme of “Assembling Your Dream Team.”
Labor Notes Organizer Sarah Hughes joins the pod. Listen to Part 1 of this series here. 

Secret: Your Co-Workers Actually Care About Making Your Workplace Better

If you’ve been to a Labor Notes event before, you’re probably familiar with “Secrets of a Successful Organizer,” one of our main workshop series that packages a member-led organizing philosophy into a concrete action plan that you can take to your union and start using in your campaigns.
It’s also based on our bestselling manual of the same name where we explore the basics of bringing members into the union, understanding how your co-workers are already organized, and identifying leaders who can amplify members’ demands and help build power.
Our “Secrets of a Successful Organizer” online workshop series usually takes place in three sessions where we focus on different themes: Beating Apathy, Assembling Your Dream Team, and Turning an Issue Into a Campaign.
In this first of a three-part pod series on our “Secrets” training, we’ll focus on the theme of “Beating Apathy,” i.e. Your Co-Workers Actually Care About Making Your Workplace Better!
Labor Notes Organizer Sarah Hughes, who often leads “Secrets” trainings and teaches union members to run them too, joins the pod.

Why Your Favorite Soup Movie is about Organizing, Actually

This next one's for soup lovers, haters, and everyone in between. You will learn a little about soup and less about what makes something a soup movie. But if you're here for the organizing take on The Birdcage (1996), American Psycho (2000) and Ratatouille (2007), grab a big spoon and a napkin, because soup's on! 🍜

The First Major Meatpacking Strike in 40 Years Extends into Third Week

Update on 4/6: JBS workers have agreed to go back to work and the company is returning to the table, Mother Jones reports. 
Listen to / read our previous coverage on this strike, which workers had extended last week: Nearly 4,000 workers at the JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, walked off the job on March 16, launching a two-week unfair labor practice strike that they had extended then into a third week. Workers spoke to Caitlyn Clark, an organizer at Essential Workers for Democracy, and Lisa Xu, a Labor Notes Organizer, who both join the pod this week.Read Caitlyn and Lisa’s Labor Notes story on the strike here.
Learn more about the 1980s Hormel strike here. 
Support striking JBS workers by contributing to their strike fund, supporting Essential Workers for Democracy’s fundraiser, and learning more about the strike here. And learn more about the movement to revitalize the United Food and Commercial Workers in our podcast episode from June: “Grocery Workers at the UFCW are Organizing for a Fighting Union.”

So You’ve Been in Reform Organizing for a While. What Next?

The new Labor Notes guide to Organizing a Union Reform Caucus spells out some basic concepts and definitions around reform caucuses and organizing, but will also be useful to anyone who has been on this path for a while.Labor Notes Organizers Lisa Xu and Barbara Madeloni (who is retiring) join the pod to talk through some deeper questions around running for office, the relationship between caucuses and leadership, and building democratic structures that can help members work through decision-making and conflict. This is part 2 of a two-part series on this new resource, which you can find on labornotes.org/caucus.  Listen to part 1 here.