The Labor Notes Podcast

Are you a new steward trying to find your footing and avoid rookie mistakes? Are you a veteran steward trying to grow your stewards’ network and make sure newbies stick around? This episode has advice for new stewards and old stewards alike and anyone else who is looking to build power in their workplace.

Labor Notes Organizer Kari Thompson joins the pod.

Walking through your union halls or scrolling through social media in 2026, you’re probably encountering a stream of anti-immigrant propaganda. These views bleed into the workplace, where pushing back can feel daunting.

But with immigration agents ramping up their assaults at workplaces and on daily commutes, workers are figuring out how to take up this conversation in a way that builds solidarity in their unions.

IBEW Local 11 member Francisco “Paco” Arago and IBEW Local 666 steward Chris Anders join pod co-hosts Danielle Smith and Natascha Elena Uhlmann to share how electricians are having organizing conversations around immigration. Read Natascha’s piece on dispelling anti-immigrant myths in the workplace.

Paco is a member of the Latin American Electrical Workers Alliance or LAEWA, a new caucus formed in 2025, which Natascha and our co-worker Keith Brower Brown have previously reported on. LAEWA is working on revitalizing Latino member organizing in the union. Follow LAEWA on Instagram at @laewa.local11

Chris and Paco are both also members of Caucus of Rank-and-File Electrical Workers or CREW, which is a new member caucus that launched in September, as our co-worker Keith reported at the time. Follow CREW on Instagram at @rankandfile_crew

We bet that when you’re watching Valentine’s classics like Mamma Mia, Wuthering Heights, or The Princess Bride, you’re thinking not just about yearning, intrigue and some very gloomy hills, but also about collective action, the campaign mountain, and building power from the ground-up!  

If not, here are some classic Labor Notes pieces to get you falling in love with your union all over again: 

Don’t Complain, Organize!
 
Info Requests Can Cool an Overzealous Boss! 

Slingshot: Take the High Road

Taking Bottom-Up Action Changes the Balance of Power

More than 75,000 people, including teachers, food service workers, Uber drivers and many others marched through downtown Minneapolis on January 23, where federal agents have staged a military occupation in the Twin Cities since December. 

The march was part of a day of action in Minnesota, and the culmination of a call for “No Work. No School. No Shopping,” by unions, houses of worship and other civic organizations. For many who participated, it was a foray into flexing economic disruption muscle, and an escalation from large demonstrations like “No Kings,” which have drawn millions to the streets.

Joining this episode are Labor Notes staffers Luis Feliz Leon and Diana Varenik, who were there with workers in Minneapolis on January 23 and that weekend. Read Luis’ dispatch from Minneapolis: In the Twin Cities, A Massive Strike Against ICE

More than a million workers across the manufacturing, telecomms, health care, grocery, higher education and other sectors will be taking on their bosses in major contract expiration fights this year.

These campaigns are an opportunity for rank-and-file workers to build power on the shop floor and in their unions. They can also help workers strengthen connections across the labor movement to fight existential threats in this new era of deadly immigration raids and billionaire assaults against workers and the public sector.

Labor Notes organizer Keith Brower Brown joins pod co-hosts Danielle Smith and Natascha Elena Uhlmann. Keith and Natascha wrote the piece, One Battle After Another: The Big Contract Fights Coming in 2026.