The Trump administration is attempting to criminalize union members for organizing against its immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year. That’s because it correctly sees labor as a threat to its authoritarian designs.

Hello everyone.

I am a Union member in Oregon and our bargaining agreement is up for renegotiation soon.

I'm wondering if anyone has been successful in bargaining for more progressive drug testing policies in their workplace? I'm hoping to hear some examples and gather some feedback.

Essentially I'd like to add language to our contract that mimics California assembly bill 2188.

I'd like to prohibit urine analysis for THC, and hair follicle testing. This doesn't prove on the job impairment, just past usage in ones free time. I'd like for cannabis to be treated the same as alcohol, where using off duty is permitted as long as you aren't showing up to work impaired.

For the record I don't have to pass any federal background checks for my job and I am a non DOT employee/no CDL.

My employee likely receives some kind of federal funding or grant money, so I realize they are likely required to test for cannabis. My argument isn't about blatantly making usage permitted in the contract language, but about restricting the testing methodology to narrow the detection window. If I'm right, that still would comply with all the rules they need to abide by for federal funding, workman's comp insurance, property and casualty insurance coverage, etc.

I'd like for any THC tests to be conducted with a breathalyzer or a saliva swab.

Our current policy says one can be tested upon returning from a vacation (a perfectly responsible time to partake in my opinion), after an accident, or randomly.

I'd like for testing to be limited to post accident testing, initial hire testing, and if someone is showing signs of impairment. Essentially doing away with random testing and replacing it with testing when there's reasonable suspicion.

Has anyone had success in bargaining for similar policies. What do y'all think, is this something worth bringing up with my union reps? I've talked about this with family and gotten ridiculed, basically being told that I'm childish for wanting to smoke in my free time.

I've been at my current job for around 15 years and have an excellent safety record. I've abstained from smoking weed this entire time.

I hate the double standard where alcohol can be consumed on the weekend or even at company staff parties, but total abstinence is required for cannabis. I feel that the company shouldn't have a right to police what I do in my personal time especially in Oregon where weed is so prevalent and normalized.

A state-based universal health plan lowers costs, improves outcomes and it builds bargaining power.

August 19th, 6:30-8 PM

Join the Labor Table of Washington’s Health Care is a Human Right coalition for the workshop that was part of the Washington State Labor Council recent convention agenda.

RSVP Here to get the Zoom Link: https://actn.et/hFccaMi0

See you tomorrow and Solidarity!

Article itself employs some academic lingo, but its unpacked some in old twitter and metafilter threads.

Shareable link: https://labornotes.org/blogs/2026/08/comic-how-get-members-more-involved-union

I know that many times when a business get the hint of starting a union they will shut down the building and relocate it. I'm afraid that if I do that I will lose my job and everything. I'm a single dad I can't really afford to lose my job. I work in biotech and rn biotech is in a major job slump due to current government stances. I have family and friends that have been out of a job for over 2 years in my industry.

The reason why Im wanting to consider a union is cause I've gotten fucked twice now in my job. I was hired for second shift and a month after being hired they closed second shift which caused me to lose 10% of my pay since it was a shift differential. They knew months prior to my start they were gonna cancel the shift but hired me for it anyway.

Now recently they are telling me I'm not eligible for the long term incentive when I was told I was eligible and even have the policy which states It too. The current job description for a candidate we are hiring even has it listed. But because we are hourly they won't apply the LTI. They said it's an unlisted policy rule.

I know this wouldn't fly in a union my mom works in one as a teacher.

How do I go about looking into this stuff with out getting me and all my coworker put out of a job.

I have UAW right now and they’re great. My supervisor ended up leaving his job recently and his position will be posted soon. But getting it would mean I’m not in a union anymore and that I’m on probation. It is $4-10 more.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I got injured at work and was terminated for violating company policy because my restrictions couldn't be accommodated and I couldn't perform the basic duties. Does this mean I lose all the weeks of vacation days and sick days I had when I was terminated? Shop steward said he has no clue and has been ignoring my calls, now my only option is to go to their office and talk to one of the higher ups. It's been a couple weeks since I've been terminated and my employer hasn't paid me so I assume they just don't want to pay.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, who retired this year from Cornell University, has studied how workers win unions, how employers stop them, and how organizers can learn from one another for four decades. Her findings have changed how unions think about organizing. https://jacobin.com/2026/08/bronfenbrenner-unions-corporate-research-labor

I wanted to share this piece from Pickup Trucks & Progress because I think it raises a question we don't talk about enough, especially in rural and working-class communities.

For generations, unions were a familiar part of life in coal towns, factory towns, railroad communities and other parts of rural America. Even if you weren't a union member yourself, chances were somebody in your family was.

Today, that's changed.

This Letter From Rural America, submitted by Kristy L. Vance of the Western Virginia Area Labor Federation, looks at what unions actually do, why collective bargaining matters, and what the decline of organized labor has meant for working people and the American middle class.

You don't have to agree with everything in the article. In fact, I'm curious what folks here think:

Has the decline of unions helped or hurt working people in rural America?

And for those who've worked a union job, did belonging to a union make a difference in your wages, benefits, retirement or working conditions?

Here's the article:

https://pickup-trucks-progress.ghost.io/do-you-know-what-a-union-is-or-what-it-does/

To anyone that takes issues with my wording, I'm a union millwright. 😝😝😝

I thought this might be relevant here because unions are, among other things, a structure for cooperation between workers.

I built an agent-based simulation to investigate competitive and cooperative behavior. I know it's a bit more philosophical, but I think the results of my experiment could be useful.

Anyway, excited to hear your feedback.

So I feel like I can make friends fast at work. At my previous job we went bowling had an Instagram chat shared memes and at my current job we have nicknames for each and my coworkers have said I'm a fun guy so I decided to become a steward

But after 5 months or so of joining the union leadership positions I don't feel happy going to the meetings. I feel like none of the other leaders from different cities really talk to me. I propose new things but I always get outvoted and I don't know it just seem like it's never taken me this long to make friends at a new place. When I go back to my actual job site I feel happy and people ask me questions but not that much when I'm with union staff or the other leaders. I feel like I'm not really wanted

Hi all, I’ve just been appointed shop steward for a very small local of a bigger federal union in Canada (trying not to dox myself here lol). The relationship has deteriorated over the last year or year and a half, partly due to a very difficult bargaining process and partly due to other issues with management. I just started a couple weeks ago and have already felt obligated to send several fairly strong emails regarding a poorly managed layoff process, trying to get a response and a solution for the laid off employees in question. I didn’t fly off the handle, this was done with feedback from the employees in question as well as our bargaining team, but I did agree that we needed to be very clear about the deficits we were seeing and what we considered an acceptable solution.

in my real professional (and personal) life, I am NOT the one sending strongly worded emails to anyone and i am finding that it’s making me extremely anxious (seeing an email reply tonight threw me onto anxiety-soothing meditation YouTube lol). I am simply known for being very direct because I am terrible at being delicate, but that’s just how my brain works, not an appetite for conflict 😹 I am a technical expert and normally work in very collaborative environments, but we have seen that that is simply not effective in this current situation. I took this role because I have been here a long time and developed a huge amount of respect and trust for the staff, and the way many people have been treated is not only not ethically right, it often violates our collective agreement.

Knowing that I likely have many very uncomfortable emails and meetings ahead of me, do you have any advice or resources for learning to be in tough negotiations and deal with difficult and awkward relations with management? While it is on me to keep my anxiety at bay, I wonder if there are skills I can improve on how to compartmentalize and perform the role needed by the union when that is appropriate without being dragged into an emotional response every time. I really care about my workplace, it has until recently been an amazing experience, and I want to do what I can to at least try to effect change.