Free Republic

SEATTLE, WA - Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Seattle on Friday to mark May Day, continuing a 140-year tradition of advocating for American workers' rights.While the day is rooted in labor history, this year’s participants also focused on immigration reform and opposition to current federal policies including the US's involvement in multiple wars.Participants at the rally spoke on how modern workers' rights are inseparable from immigration issues and international concerns.Many demonstrators voiced specific opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the current presidential administration’s handling of immigrant labor.

The easiest way to misunderstand the Navy’s shipbuilding mess is to treat it as a shipyard story. That is how the issue is usually framed. Too few workers, too much complexity, too much bureaucracy, too many delays. None of that is wrong, but it is only the visible part of the problem. The deeper problem sits upstream. The Navy’s procurement troubles reflect not just industrial strain, but a long stretch of strategic drift. If Washington cannot decide what kind of fleet it wants, shipbuilders will never deliver it on time... For most of the Cold War, the Navy knew what...

Beneath rolling storm clouds and a spattering of spring rain, about two dozen people holding blue and white signs march in front of Harvard University’s Science Center. Circling around a young woman holding a megaphone, their chants ricochet off stately brick buildings dotting the campus. The woman in the middle shouts: “What’s outrageous?” “Harvard’s wages!” the crowd replies. ... The strike comes at a tenuous time for Harvard, which has endured the glare of the national spotlight as President Donald Trump assails the university with the full force of the U.S. government. Harvard has faced government lawsuits, billions of dollars...

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a measure prohibiting public schools from using taxpayer-funded resources to support teachers’ unions, a move supporters say restores government neutrality while critics argue it limits educators’ ability to organize. The legislation, House Bill 516, bars school districts from facilitating payroll deductions for union dues and restricts the use of public resources to assist union activities. The law is set to take effect July 1. Supporters of the measure, including the Freedom Foundation, which prompted the report, argue that allowing payroll deductions amounts to indirect taxpayer support because public employees and systems are...

Approximately 1,350 union workers at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, are escalating their strike against Olin Winchester as they demand better wages and stronger contracts. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 778 have been on strike since April 4 after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract offer from company management. ... The IAM Local 778 negotiating committee met with company representatives earlier in the week. The company indicated it would provide future dates to continue discussions. The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is a critical facility in the U.S. defense industrial base. Workers...

ALBANY– Gov. Kathy Hochul is quietly negotiating a possible deal with one of New York’s top labor leaders to allow public workers from teachers to nurses hired after 2014 to retire at 55, sources said. The age is currently 62 for those hired in the past 14 years. The potential fat pork deal pact would involve more than a billion dollars in sweetening pensions for the unionized public employees. Legislative leaders are being kept in the wings of the talks – which could be wed into the state budget package and lead to taxpayers footing billions – with Hochul dealing...

Nurses from the country's largest nurses union, National Nurses United (NNU), will join rallies across the United States as part of the March 28 No Kings protests. Nurses continue to condemn the Trump administration's authoritarian politics and call for the abolition of ICE, an end to Trump's war in Iran, and demand what's collectively needed for a healthy future for our society. "Nurses will continue to take to the streets to protect our neighbors and protest the fascist politics Washington is trying to force on everyday people at home and abroad," said Mary Turner, RN and NNU president. "We will...

US authorities are to examine Roman Abramovich’s ties to the Kremlin as part of a national security review of a $2.3bn (£1.18bn) bid for Oregon Steel by a company controlled by the Russian billionaire. Experts in Washington say the US government panel that reviews foreign deals will scrutinise the proposed takeover, announced last month, more closely if Mr Abramovich is found to be acting with the backing of the Russian government. Mr Abramovich is believed to be close to Vladimir Putin, Russian president. The Russian steel company, Evraz, is controlled by Mr Abramovich and Alexander Abramov, group director. Evraz and...

Taxpayers are yet again helping fund disruptive activism in Los Angeles — this time the radicals planning to chaos across the city and county for Saturday’s “No Kings” protests, which organizers claim will be the biggest yet. One the leading groups participating in the event is the Liberty Hill Foundation, a social justice nonprofit that receives $14 million in Los Angeles city funding for tenant outreach and housing programs. Public filings show the group has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the ACLU of Southern California, raising further questions about taxpayer-supported organizations being used for radical political advocacy. ACLU...

Newly released emails reveal how the Biden administration’s Department of Education (ED) in 2022 attempted to form a secret parent advisory council to give teachers unions and left-aligned activist and parent groups power over federal education policy. Under former President Joe Biden, the department created the National Parents and Families Engagement Council ostensibly as a “partnership between parents and families, educators, district leaders, and entire school communities to support student success.” But behind the scenes, the short-lived council was composed of hand-picked activist organizations that focused on radical racial, gender and immigrant-focused ideologies. As Defending Education notes, “not a single...

Los Angeles teachers are expected to announce a strike date Wednesday that could halt classes for nearly 400,000 students. The timing is set to coincide with a massive rally in downtown LA involving three major unions. The walkout, if it happens, would be open-ended, lasting until a new contract is agreed upon. United Teachers Los Angeles represents more than 30,000 educators and staffers, whose contract expired last June.

The nation's largest labor group that represents thousands of farmworkers said on Tuesday it will not take part in any Cesar Chavez Day activities after allegations against the civil rights activist and union co-founder recently surfaced.

BREAKING: The Chicago Teachers Union voted to strike on May Day (the 1st). "No School, No Work, No Shopping" We need to put the teachers union cartel out of work for good.

(LOS ANGELES) – Over 100 Amazon drivers at the DAX7 facility in Los Angeles marched on their bosses today, demanding the employer recognize them as members of Teamsters Local 396 and bargain a union contract. The drivers are organizing to address Amazon’s low pay, punishing delivery quotas, and dangerous working conditions. “The movement to unionize Amazon grows stronger every day because of courageous workers like the drivers at DAX7,” said Randy Korgan, Director of the Teamsters Amazon Division. “Amazon will claim that these drivers don’t work for them, but that is a lie. Amazon Teamsters will not rest until they...

Detroit Diesel, a manufacturer of diesel engines and axles in Detroit, has announced the addition of a third shift, the recall of laid-off workers, and the hiring of dozens more, in response to strategic tariff pressures. In October, after months of lobbying, the federal government imposed a 25 percent tariff on heavy truck imports to prevent further offshoring and drive investment in the US heavy truck industry. The move is the latest win for UAW members in the union’s fight for reshoring and reinvesting in good union jobs. “Strategic, targeted tariffs are an important tool in the toolbox to undo...

Recent tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have led to widespread refusal by some shipping crews to sail through the waterway, even when companies have issued orders, due to heightened security risks and union demands. Why Crews Are Refusing to Go Through The Strait of Hormuz, a 20% global oil chokepoint, has seen tanker traffic drop by 70–90% since U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, and retaliatory Iranian missile and drone attacks Wikipedia+1. Iran has issued warnings to fire on any ship attempting passage, and at least 200 vessels are anchored outside the strait NewsBreak. Insurers have canceled...

The Royal Navy’s mission to intercept Iranian drone threats has stalled in port because the Portsmouth repair yard now operates on a “nine-to-five” schedule. The high-stakes mission to protect a British airbase from Iranian drone strikes remains on hold while maintenance crews finish welding and system overhauls during standard business hours, according to union officials, The Telegraph reported. The deployment of HMS Dragon, a Type 45 air-defense destroyer designed to intercept high-speed missile and drone threats, to Cyprus has been delayed because the Ministry of Defence and private contractor Serco reportedly introduced these restricted shifts as a “cost-cutting” measure that...

(WYOMISSING, Pa.) – Teamsters at the Sunnyside dispensary in Wyomissing, Pa., have voted unanimously to authorize a strike after the company failed to present a contract that fairly compensates its workers. Sunnyside is a subsidiary of Cresco Labs, a publicly traded multi-state operator in the cannabis industry. “Our members are united and ready to do whatever it takes to secure a strong contract,” said Bill Shappell, President of Teamsters Local 429. “Sunnyside is part of a rapidly growing industry, and these workers are essential to the company’s success. They will not accept wages and working conditions that fall short of...

San Francisco criminal and civil court clerks — the people who manage court records, process court filings and prepare court orders — are going on strike Thursday after complaining for months of overwhelming workloads. A “last-ditch effort to find a resolution” between the clerk’s union and court management failed on Wednesday afternoon, said criminal courtroom clerk Rob Borders. The court will remain open for mandated services, Court Executive Officer Brandon Riley said in a statement, but disruptions are predicted. Management employees will “triage” emergency matters and prioritize cases with statutory deadlines, like criminal arraignments. ... Clerks first threatened to strike...

San Francisco just dropped a $300,000 sprinkler mandate on 9,800 condo owners — and that’s just the beginning. California homeowners are now facing a stack of unfunded mandates that could cost half a million dollars per property. No vote. No public funding. No way out. In this video I expose how a failed San Francisco politician got a $300,000 per unit fire sprinkler retrofit mandate passed after it was defeated TWICE — by burying it in a routine fire code update. I reveal why the sprinkler fitters union is blocking repeal, how the national plumbers union is pushing this mandate...