This Labor Day, we’re not just looking back at history, we’re celebrating the powerful wave of worker victories happening right now. From coast to coast, we’re organizing, striking, and securing transformative wins that reshape industries and redefine what’s possible when we stand together. The past few years have shown us something remarkable: the labor movement isn’t just surviving, it’s thriving and evolving. We’re proving that collective action works across every industry, and we’re doing it in ways that speak to the challenges of today’s economy.
Game-Changing Victories That Make Headlines:
Michigan Home Care Workers Reclaim Union Rights: 35,000 MI home care workers reclaimed our union rights, ensuring we have a voice in determining our pay and working conditions. This victory restored power to those of us who provide essential care to our most vulnerable community members.
California Fast Food Workers Make History: over half a million California fast food workers organized and won the nation’s highest statewide minimum wage: $20/hour. This organizing victory gave us the economic power to pay rent, put food on the table, and strengthen our communities.
Airport Workers Soar to New Heights: From baggage handlers to cabin cleaners, we took bold action at airports nationwide in 2024. At Los Angeles International Airport, we secured a $30 minimum wage by 2028, while in New Jersey and New York we won $25 minimum wage by 2032. These victories came alongside crucial safety protections, including heat exposure regulations that protect our health.
Many More Students Join Movement: 20,000 of us at California State University formed the nation’s largest undergraduate student union, proving that our power spans generations. We understood that our labor has value and demanded respect for our contributions to education.
UAW’s Stand Against the Big Three: In September 2023, United Auto Workers launched their “stand up strike” against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the Big Three– striking simultaneously, for the first time ever. After years of giving concessions since the 2008 financial crisis, we demanded our fair share of the record profits these companies have been making, and we won key victories including the end of two-tier wages and increased bargaining power.
The Road Ahead
These victories don’t exist in isolation. When we at Waffle House in the South secure pay increases and tenure bonuses, when we as rideshare drivers in Massachusetts gain collective bargaining rights, when we at 500 Starbucks stores nationwide vote to organize, each win strengthens the movement for all of us.
Yes, we face challenges. A 2025 executive order rolled back the $15 minimum wage for federal contractors, affecting nearly 400,000 of us. But these setbacks only strengthen our resolve. We know that when we organize, we win– and we’re not going back.
This Labor Day, we celebrate not just where we’ve been, but where we’re going. We’re building a movement that's inclusive, strategic, and unstoppable. From fast food kitchens to university classrooms, from airport tarmacs to hospital corridors, we’re standing up and building a better future for all.
The labor movement today looks different than it did decades ago, but its heart remains the same: we're taking care of each other by demanding dignity, respect, and a voice on the job. And when we stand together, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.
The fight continues, and so do we.
