Labor Notes (October 16, 2025)

11/06/2025

Targeting Trump’s corporate backers can be a key part of our strategy. The Tesla Takedown, which organized rallies outside the carmaker’s showrooms nationwide, had a powerful immediate effect on Musk and his involvement with DOGE. Are there similar targets that could give us visibility and leverage, especially if we could link to union efforts to organize at those companies?

In July, Free DC took similar actions around Amazon-owned Whole Foods stores in Washington, D.C., to protest the cloud computing services the company provides to ICE. The Athena coalition is linking broad anti-Bezos activities to building power for workers at Amazon warehouses. For unionists like us who believe that winning collective bargaining at Amazon is an essential task for the labor movement, this is a positive development that needs to be amplified.

CREATIVE SOLIDARITY

U.S. unions have seldom employed strikes for political goals like saving the Social Security retirement age, as unions in Western Europe do. Thus union membership lacks the experience, and our leaders are too timid, so the possibilities for nationally coordinated, militant direct action by labor are not great. A bright spot is the organizing around May 1, 2028 that is inspiring many activists—but that’s two and a half years away. (Check out the Labor Notes resource page at may2028.org.)

Yet labor does not have to be paralyzed in the face of Trump: there is plenty of room for action that strikes at the MAGA billionaire boys club and becomes a problem for Trump’s sponsors.

In major cities where union density is relatively high, the labor movement has the opportunity for creative direct action. For instance, imagine when SEIU California President David Huerta, who was arrested in June for defending his members from ICE, goes to trial on federal charges. Perhaps buildings in downtown Los Angeles and other cities where unionized janitors clean could be shut down.

Something similar could be done at buildings where Amazon has offices or at other companies in the Trump business constellation. Janitors are vulnerable because most are Latinos, but they could go home for the day while other unions could step up to donate money for their compensation and picket in their stead.

Think of the visuals and what a great message of class solidarity. Imagine if hard hats and longshore workers were doing informational picketing at the tallest building in L.A. in support of workers’ rights and against ICE. It would be like the 2004 film “A Day Without a Mexican” on steroids. Similar protest actions could unfold in other sectors of high immigrant employment, like hotels and agriculture.

While it might sound fanciful, these are the types of creative—and courageous—actions that it is going to take for the resistance to Trump to begin to develop some momentum and overcome the feelings of helplessness and fear that are holding us back. With millions of members under attack, unions have a big role to play in nurturing and supporting these actions and puncturing the narrative that Trump’s actions are supported by working people.

Despite the unevenness of labor’s response to MAGA, this is no time for caution. Labor leaders and activists need to find points of strength and synergy to step up. No business as usual while this bad boss rules.