Mark Brenner

Donald Trump’s win is the gut-punch finale to a surreal election season. For thousands of rank-and-file activists the outcome is even more bitter after the inspiration and energy stirred up by Bernie Sanders’ improbable campaign.

Unfortunately, we don’t need a crystal ball to figure out what a Trump presidency has in store for labor, especially with Republicans controlling the House and the Senate.

An organizer has to learn to recognize the existing networks and natural leaders, who may be hidden in plain sight.

How can you move people from passive to active supporters of the union, and incorporate them into your core group of organizers?

Janitors are building a coalition to confront the Twin Cities' extreme racial and economic inequality. Their new contract pushes wages for most of the workforce over $15 an hour immediately.


Labor activists from around the country gathered October 3 to celebrate Herman Benson’s 100th birthday and pay tribute to the organization he founded, the Association for Union Democracy.

Thousands of nurses poured into the streets of New York City, coordinating their contract campaign across 17 hospitals for the first time. Voting for strike authorization could come soon.

After nearly two years of organizing and a grueling six-month strike, in February workers at Golan’s Moving and Storage in Skokie, Illinois, ratified their first contract.