I proudly represent nearly 1,700 nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. We are moms, dads, friends and neighbors who provide care for some of the sickest patients in New Jersey.
It was a painful decision, but on Aug. 4, we began an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike.
We are fighting for a fair contract that will address urgent concerns, like staffing. We need enough nurses on each shift, on each floor, so we can devote more time to each patient and keep ourselves safe on the job.
Nursing is more than a job for most of us. It’s a mission. Our top priority is negotiating a fair contract so we can return to patient care.
Breaking news! New polling shows 88% of people under 30 support unions, 90% of young Americans support strikes and 7 in 10 Americans support labor unions. This Labor Day, the future is bright for our labor movement and the state of our unions is strong as unprecedented activism and organizing is bolstered by powerful public support.
2023 Labor Day Events in Wisconsin
Milwaukee Laborfest: Monday, September 4. Laborfest parade will kick off from Zeidler Union Square Park on 4th and Michigan at 11:00 am and continue to Summerfest Grounds for family-friendly Laborfest with food, music, solidarity and more.
Madison Laborfest: Monday, September 4. Madison Labor Temple, 1602 S. Park Street. Noon to 5:30pm. VO5 and The Periodicals will perform. Food and beverages available for purchase. Children’s games and activities.
Eau Claire Laborfest: Monday, September 4. Phoenix Park, 330 Riverfront Terrace. Solidarity Walk begins at 10:30am with speeches at 11:00 am and picnic noon – 3:00pm.
Green Bay Labor Day Picnic: Monday, September 4. Bay Beach Amusement Park, 1313 Bay Beach Rd, Green Bay from 11:00 am – 4:30pm. Picnic, bingo, kids’ games, face paintings and balloons.
La Crosse LaborFest: Monday, September 4. Copeland Park, 1130 Copeland Park Drive. Parade begins at 10:00am at the intersection of Gillette Street and Kane Street, ending at Copeland Park. Festivities including food/beverages for sale and games at Copeland Park following parade.
Menasha & Neenah Labor Day Parade: Monday, September 4. Parade starts at 10:00am at Menasha Curtis Reed Square and goes through to Downtown Neenah.
Neenah Laborfest: Monday, September 4 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Neenah Labor Temple, 157 S. Green Bay Road, Neenah. Corn roast, burgers, brats, beverage tent, all day paddle wheel, rummage sale, Jakes Jumpers, face painting, slushies, popcorn. Live Music: The Machine Band: 12-5pm
Oshkosh Labor Day Picnic & 22nd Donel H Wyman Memorial Car Show: Monday, September 4, at South Park, 1035 W South Park, Oshkosh. 10:00am car registration. 11:00am – 5:00pm food and refreshments. There will be live music provided by Fork in the Road beginning in the early afternoon. Face painting, playground, and free books for the kids!
Duluth-Superior Labor Day Picnic: Monday, September 4. Bayfront Festival Park, 350 Harbor Drive. Noon – 4:00pm.
Racine LaborFest: Monday September 4, 2023. UAW 180 Union Hall, 3323 Kearney Avenue. 11 – 4:30 P.M. Picnic Lunch served from 12:30pm to 3pm.
Wausau Labor Day Parade: Monday, September 4. Lineup for parade begins at 3:00pm with parade starting at 4:00 pm. The parade route starts near the corner of West Wausau Ave and 3rd Ave and proceeds down 3rd Ave, ending at the Wausau Labor Temple, 308 S 3rd Ave, Wausau.
Union and Community members marching on the RNC presidential debate in Milwaukee August 23, 2023.
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USW members from across the union traveled to the nation’s capital on Sat., Aug. 26, to continue Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream at the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.
The rally took place at the Lincoln Memorial, which also served as the backdrop to King’s impassioned call for equality in 1963.
USW Vice President at Large Roxanne Brown, who joined the group at the D.C. event, said the march provided a needed opportunity for the labor movement to redouble its work on behalf of civil and human rights.
“We can’t stand by and watch as rights are stripped away from Black and Brown folks, from women, from LGBTQ+ people, from immigrants and disabled people,” said Brown. “The house of labor includes everyone, and it’s our duty to fight to improve the lives of all working people. This is our lane, this is our family.”
USW Vice President of Human Affairs Kevin Mapp said that he was inspired by the crowd and believes there is no better time to push forward with King’s work.
“Young people especially are fired up,” Mapp said. “They’re paying attention and they’re organizing their workplaces and their communities. We need to make sure that we, as labor, are communicating with them and working alongside them.”
Union members renew commitment to social justice at APALA and LCLAA conventions
Labor activists across the United States renewed their commitment to social and economic justice at the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) conventions, both held the first week of August.
APALA and LCLAA are constituency groups of the AFL-CIO that aim to address the challenges that workers from diverse backgrounds face. APALA is the nation’s first national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander workers that focuses on advancing worker, immigrant, and civil rights.
Members of APALA convened in Seattle for their 17th Biennial Convention where they elected new leadership and participated in workshops on international solidarity, building their local APALA chapters, and more.
USW Local 9562 member Kevin Boone is a new union activist who was a first-time attendee at the APALA convention. He serves as a steward at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and was grateful to absorb all of the information presented at the event in Seattle.
“You get a sense of how wide the diaspora is here and all the work people are doing,” said Boone.
After 51 days on the picket line, the members of Leinenkugel’s Brewery are victorious and have a ratified contract! These members are going back to work with more than they struck for!
Thank you to all the locals across the country, the local community, friends and family of the membership, state politicians, and anyone else who stood in solidarity with these workers who used their legal right to take a stand! Thank you from all of us at 662!!!
Fred Goldstein was an internationally recognized revolutionary activist and Marxist thinker living and working in the United States. He was the author of Low-Wage Capitalism: Colossus with Feet of Clay, published in 2008. The book describes in sweeping detail the devastating effect of new technology on the multinational working class, leading to the fundamental and irreversible restructuring of global capitalism in the post-Soviet era. The result, Fred argued, was a “race to the bottom” for workers in all the capitalist countries, creating the material basis for future social upheaval. His second book, Capitalism at a Dead End: Job destruction, overproduction, and crisis in the high-tech era was published in 2012. The latter work was translated and published in Spanish and Korean.. … [read more]
Reviving Marx and Lenin A summary outline limited to two main areas: first, certain aspects of imperialism in the age of the scientific-technological revolution and how they are preparing the groundwork for the next phase in the world struggle for socialism; second, an assessment of the causes of the collapse of the USSR and the importance of understanding its difficulties and achievements for both the ideological and practical struggle for socialism, 70 pages, 15 April 2006
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 