Labor Notes organizers and pod co-hosts Danielle Smith and @nataschaelena.bsky.social joined picket lines this month and share what they've been hearing from striking nurses. Listen on the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Podbean: labornotespodcast.podbean.com 5/5

Many of them have described facing severe violence on the job, especially in emergency rooms, where they risk being punched so hard it knocks out their teeth, or having heavy objects thrown at them by patients frustrated by overcrowding and overly long wait times 4/5

Nurses are holding the line to defend their hard-fought wins on safe staffing ratios, to demand safety on the job, and to keep mgmt from imposing A.I. in a way that overrides or replaces the judgment of human medical professionals 3/5

Some 15,000 nurses, members of @nynurses.bsky.social, are headed toward week three of an open-ended strike against three hospital systems—the Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and New York Presbyterian hospitals 2/5

This piece, by @inthesetimes.com executive director @alexhan.bsky.social is part of the Labor Notes Roundtable Series: How Can Unions Defend Worker Power Under Trump 2.0? labornotes.org/2025/12/mayb... 4/4

The progress we make is not linear, but happens in moments of upheaval and upsurge. Our task isn’t to create the perfect strategy for the masses to follow. It is to use the lessons of the past to set the table for the fights of the future." 3/4

In the history of this country, worker movements have been the critical central driver toward justice and equality. But workers have always faced daunting odds against powerful opponents with the ability to disorganize and disorient us..." 2/4

The three-year contract also lets cashiers choose to sit while they work, establishes just cause discipline and a grievance procedure, and maintains employer-provided health insurance for workers who work at least 24 hours a week 5/5

New hires will start at a minimum of $19, which will rise with annual cost-of-living adjustments 4/5

The union won major raises. The lowest-paid members will see an immediate raise of 16.5 percent. More than 95 percent of members will make more than $20 an hour, with the median wage rising to $23.37 3/5

The contract covers 850 workers at the 10 stores in Portland, Oregon, that have joined the New Seasons Labor Union. The chain has 22 stores in Portland and Vancouver, Washington 2/5

The issue features Luis's January cover story on union members organizing against ICE raids and building toward a statewide day of action of "No work. No School. No Shopping" in Minnesota on Friday, January 23.

Read it online: labornotes.org/2026/01/will... 2/2