The Labor Notes Podcast

Tyson workers at a meatpacking plant in Joslin, Illinois, arrived at work one day in mid-August to discover that it was suddenly closed and that 2,500 of them would be out of jobs. 

These workers—members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1546—are now rallying to demand that the plant reopen, or that they at least be given six months of severance pay rather than the two the company has offered. 

Caitlyn Clark of Essential Workers for Democracy reported on the plant closure for Labor Notes, and joins this episode. 

A representative for UFCW Local 1546 did not respond to emailed requests for comment. 

Relevant reading: 

2,500 Tyson Workers Laid Off, Plant Shutters Overnight

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

Learn more about the movement to revitalize the UFCW in our podcast episode from June 2025: “Grocery Workers at the UFCW are Organizing for a Fighting Union.”

The incoming new CEO of Tyson just purchased $1 million in Tyson stock, almost immediately after an announcement of low projected earnings due to the beef sector. (Read more here)

After five weeks on the picket line, 80 public transit workers in Jackson, Mississippi, members of ATU Local 1208, have won a 5 percent wage increase; beat back a plan for “microtransit,” a private on-call service that would have brought in drivers without a commercial driver’s license at a lower-tier wage; and stopped cuts to Saturday service. 

 

Labor Notes Organizer Paul Prescod joins the pod.

 

Check out Paul’s coverage of the strike on labornotes.org  

Jackson Transit Workers Win Strike, Save Saturday Service

Mississippi Transit Workers Strike for Better Protections and Service

The Labor Notes Podcast is taking a Summer Friday. We’ll be back next week!

The Trump Administration has been surveilling and investigating unions including the Communications Workers (CWA) and Service Employees (SEIU), as part of its targeting of groups resisting immigration raids in Minnesota, according to a report this month in the New York Times.

But union members and representatives have since told Labor Notes that they are undeterred. “We are proud of our work and will never apologize or back down because of these dirty tricks and intimidation,” said CWA Local 7250 President Kieran Knutson.

Read the story by Luis Feliz Leon: Federal Spies Hunt Minnesota Unions in Search of Conspiracy, But Find Solidarity.

Also check out our episode back in February about the uprising in Minnesota, featuring Luis and Diana Varenik: “How Workers Pulled Off a Mass Strike in Minnesota.”

This fall, 200,000 members of the Letter Carriers will get the chance to vote (perhaps fittingly, by mail ballot) for new leadership. 

For many postal workers fed up with low pay, forced overtime, dangerous heat, and robberies—conditions they see their opaque, undemocratic leadership failing to address—the upcoming election is a focal point for recent reform currents brewing in the union.  

They’ll be voting on 10 officers, three trustees, and 15 regional business agents. Labor Notes Editor Al Bradbury joins the episode. 

Also check out: 

Letter Carriers Set to Deliver Change in Upcoming Union Election by Alexandra Bradbury, July 29, 2026

On the Labor Notes Pod, in April 2025: Facing Privatization And DOGE Attacks, Postal Workers Are Fighting Back

Labor Notes Online Workshop: What to Do When Your Union Breaks Your Heart, Tuesday, August 18 

Labor Notes Online Workshop: Running for Union Office, Tuesday, September 15 

New Labor Notes Book: Running for Local Union Office