These large facilities now occupy three percent of total county land and a full forty percent of the county budget but while the industry has been booming, local residents have suffered. Wholesale electricity costs have been driven up more than two-hundred and fifty percent in the last five years alone.

In a 2025 report from Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review it has been revealed that in the previous year, the state of Virginia lost more than a billion dollars to its sales and use tax exemptions for data centers, compared to all other state incentive programs which cost the state a combined two hundred and thirty five million dollars. Meanwhile, as of 2024, data center tax breaks make up more than eighty one percent of of all Virginia state incentive costs.

In the areas surrounding the newly constructed data centers the constant humming of the giant computer systems has become loud enough to scare away the local wildlife. In a statement to the BBC, Loudoun resident Greg Pirio laments “There are no birds around here anymore.”

The Virginia House and Senate passed a bill this year intended to regulate private sector AI use and development but it was vetoed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, leaving Loudoun residents vulnerable and without redress. As one Loudoun resident said to the BBC “I never thought that a data center would be built across the street from my house. I would not have bought this house if I had known what was going in across the street.”

The post Rapid Data Center Construction Results in Electricity Price Increase first appeared on Labor Today.

The post Rapid Data Center Construction Results in Electricity Price Increase appeared first on Labor Today.

On January 23, 2026, in negative temperatures, thousands of Minnesotans turned out in Minneapolis for a strike to protest the current administration’s policies. Multiple businesses across the city and state were also shut down in solidarity with the protests. At the same time of the protests downtown, another protest broke out at the Minneapolis-St Paul (MSP) airport as airport workers and clergy shut down the airport for a time to protest in solidarity. Over 100 clergy members were arrested.

On January 15, 2026, the Minnesota Regional Labor Council endorsed the action, calling it, “A Day of Truth and Freedom”. This was significant as the Minnesota Regional Labor Federal is composed of over 175 unions with 80,000+ members. The Minnesota AFL-CIO followed suit in endorsement. Many local unions did not call this action a “strike” though citing contracts that forbid striking. Many on the street called it a general strike and brought up parallels to the 1934 General Strike in Minneapolis.

The buildup to this was long time in coming. Since last year, federal agents had been conducting raids and harassing workers. On January 17, 2026, agents shot legal observer Renee Good as she was driving away. Federal agents had begun targeting ethnic communities around the country. As of writing of this article, on January 24, 2026, federal agents have shot another legal observer on the street that was being held down by multiple agents.

Other cities followed suit to the strike on Friday, with solidarity strikes and protests in Philadelphia, New York, Oakland, and other cities. The strikes appear to have the form of a pre-democratic labor front that is necessary to combat fascism and monopoly capitalism.

Even with the overwhelming support for the strike, some business union leaders pushed against it. There were reports of a local Teamsters union distributing flyers stating anyone who joined in the strike would be in breach of contract. Large businesses that have contracts and cooperate with the federal government, like Target, 3M, Best Buy, and Delta Airlines have stated nothing on the strike. The silence of the corporations echoes more loudly with Target stores being used as staging ground for ICE raids even as one Target made national news on January 13, 2026, when ICE kidnapped two workers from a Roseville, MN Target store.

LUEL is closing following this developing situation. LUEL calls on labor to unite with progressive groups and other civic groups to build an anti-monopoly coalition. Only then can labor develop into a fighting force that can combat the rising fascism brought on monopoly capitalism.

The post Minnesota Labor Walks Out in Mass Strike! first appeared on Labor Today.

The post Minnesota Labor Walks Out in Mass Strike! appeared first on Labor Today.

We remember with horror US President James Monroe’s doctrine which declared that South America was the domain of the United States. The US government’s decision was done without the consent of any other South American government. Recently, President Trump’s America has repeatedly used this doctrine to justify foreign invasions, coups, piracy, and assassinations across the western hemisphere. The US has toppled democratic left governments in Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, and installed puppet right wing dictators. As during the period of the Monroe Doctrine these installed dictators served the interest of US multi-national corporations; crushing unions, restricting labor laws, and denying basic human rights to their people.

As international trade unionists we remember the example of the 1954 US military intervention in Guatemala where the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown in a CIA coup to protect the interests of the United Fruit Company of America.

Today it is Venezuela who faces the guns of the US Empire, if we do not unite in international solidarity, it may be us tomorrow. An injury to one is an injury to all.

In conclusion, Labor United Educational League calls upon all trade unions, progressive organizations, and peace-loving people across the globe to stand unequivocally in solidarity with the Venezuelan people. Our solidarity must be active and material: we demand the immediate and unconditional release of President Nicolas Maduro, an end to the economic sanctions against Venezuela and the return of all confiscated oil tankers to the Bolivarian government of Venezuela. No more coups, no more invasions, no more kidnappings, no blood for oil for US corporations. Hands Off Venezuela!

The post Labor United Educational League Denounces the Kidnapping of Maduro first appeared on Labor Today.

The post Labor United Educational League Denounces the Kidnapping of Maduro appeared first on Labor Today.

We earnestly request that all organizations worldwide—political, social, labor, governmental, and the general public—publicly and categorically reject the military aggression we suffered in the early hours of today, January 3, 2026, at the hands of the United States. We remain steadfast in our struggle; we will not rest until we overcome this abhorrent threat of foreign invasion. The people of Bolívar and Chávez remain steadfast in their struggle; we will not surrender or give in.

This attack only confirms what we have been denouncing to the world: this is not a fight against drug trafficking or terrorism; it is the most pestilent greed of a decadent empire desperately seeking to maintain its dying hegemony, its fangs drooling as it tries to deliver the final blow by seizing our strategic natural and energy resources, which we will defend with our very lives if necessary. At this hour (11:30 am) on January 3, 2026, our homeland is calm; however, we are organizing and preparing to face any event of this nature that may occur in the coming hours, days, weeks, etc. We expect your solidarity, mobilization, and international support so that, with renewed determination, we can continue fighting the most genocidal empire in the history of humankind.

Remember, today it is us, tomorrow it could be any other nation on the planet. In light of the foregoing, we categorically and unequivocally reiterate our support for the Revolutionary Socialist Government, led by the Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Worker Commander, Nicolás Maduro Moros.

UNITED WE WILL WIN.
ONWARD TO VICTORY, ALWAYS.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOLIVARIAN NATIONAL UNION OF POSTAL WORKERS OF VENEZUELA (SINBTRAPOSTAL-VENEZUELA).

The post Statement from the Bolivarian National Union of Postal Workers of Venezuela on US Attacks on Venezuelan Sovereignty first appeared on Labor Today.

The post Statement from the Bolivarian National Union of Postal Workers of Venezuela on US Attacks on Venezuelan Sovereignty appeared first on Labor Today.

In solidarity,
Labor United Educational League

The post LUEL Becomes An Associate Of The FISE/WFTU first appeared on Labor Today.

The post LUEL Becomes An Associate Of The FISE/WFTU appeared first on Labor Today.

In September, SMART-TD, the largest rail union, reversed its opposition to the merger after a job protection agreement was reached with Union Pacific that promised job security for all its members working in train and yardmaster service for their entire careers if the merger goes through. This is the first time a union has supported a major Class I merger of this size.

RWU’s response mentioned that SMART-TD in an earlier statement warned: “We approach this development with measured skepticism rooted in the real-world impact such consolidation could have on rail workers, safety, service quality, and the long-term health of the freight rail industry.”

Their later statement, which reversed its opposition, did not mention how these promises would be enforced. This is a concern of not only RWU but many railroad workers, as past mergers have shown, corporations – including rail companies – often make empty promises to justify and build support for illegal mergers.

Rail consolidation results in job loss, diminishing labor power in negotiating better working conditions and pay, resulting in staffing shortages that lead to burn out and increased safety risks for workers and the public. And in general, consolidation results in stagnant and reduced wages for workers, as there are fewer buyers for labor and greater leverage for the consolidated companies.

This agreement may end up like those in the past which often forced workers to move to different regions of the country or felt unfulfilled by their new duties.There is nothing to protect jobs from being moved – particularly if this deal leads to even further consolidation.

Union Pacific’s History of Lying to Their Workers

The United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers endorsed

The 1996 merger of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific to protect 2,500 workers. However, this agreement did not prevent job losses, as the company ultimately laid off or moved thousands of employees across the country the same month the merger was finalized.

Any job guarantee from Union Pacific in particular rings hollow, as Union Pacific began rapidly laying off or furloughing workers in 2023, once again choosing to “prioritize cost-cutting measures over ensuring safe operations, jeopardizing the well-being of both [Union Pacific’s] workers and the public,” alone among the Class I companies. At the same time, the company returned money to investors, paying over $3 billion in dividends and stock buybacks of over $700 million.

What are other Railroad Unions Saying?

Because of these harms, several major labor unions oppose the merger. The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), which represents many Norfolk Southern employees, has come out strongly against the merger, citing Union Pacific’s troubling record with skirting safety standards and record of cost-cutting layoffs, even relative to other railroads.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED), which represents workers who build and maintain tracks, bridges, buildings, and other infrastructure on railroads, also opposes this merger. BMWED rejected a proposed agreement with Union Pacific to support the merger, as the proposed deal did not do enough to protect workers. President Tony Cardwell stated that the union would “vehemently deny [the merger]” and work with the White House to block it.

Railroad Workers United on UP-NS Merger

RWU continues to lead the fight against the merger joining railroad and non-railroad trade unions, shippers, customers, environmental advocacy groups, and other railroads. RWU opposes “this merger as well as any and all takeovers, mergers, or other combinations of the remaining Class One railroads…” as rail mergers result in service disruption, inefficiencies, staffing shortages and exhausted workers.

They pointed to the negative effects of past Class I rail mergers. Class I railroads are the largest, with yearly revenue over $1 billion. The U.S. rail industry has been consolidating for decades. In 1980, there were more than 30 Class I freight rail carriers, but now there are only six.

“It will not in any way help mitigate safety concerns,” Alex Nantell, a signal maintenance worker for Union Pacific in Portland and a member of Railroad Workers United. “It will not in any way help out with workforce retention, or having ‘good American jobs.’ And it’ll give the railroads, which already have an inordinate amount of power, significantly more power.”

RWU in their statement said that if rail unions had “developed a joint position opposing a merger that offers no clear benefits to workers” in a coordinated bargaining agreement that all unions, including SMART-TD, would come out in a better position. “The union [SMART-TD] did not poll its membership, disclose the agreement, or provide any mechanism for members to approve or reject it. A merger of this scale, with profound implications for workers, demands democratic oversight. Rank-and-file members deserve a vote, just as they would on any major contract.”

This Merger Would Hurt ALL Workers

Since deregulation of the industry and the mergers that followed, monopoly power has made the industry difficult for railroad workers given its concern with financial performance and metrics rather than operational reliability and sustainable working conditions. With competition gutted, other industries will face new consequences from a newly formed UP/NS railroad making shipping costs for farmers, manufacturers, and energy producers higher.

Labor Today endorses RWU and their efforts to prevent the UP/NS merger. If you work in a railroad consider joining RWU. If you are like Labor Today and concerned with the corporate takeover over the railroads consider supporting them as a solidarity member. We need a rail system that delivers for all Americans under one union that represents all the workers of the railroad industry.

Sources

RWU Responds to Latest Fratricide in Rail Labor 11-24-2025

https://www.economicliberties.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-09-30-AELP-Railroad-Brief.pdf

https://www.railroadworkersunited.org/oppose-rail-mega-mergers

The post RWU Lambasts Biggest Railroad Union on its Support for Merger first appeared on Labor Today.

The post RWU Lambasts Biggest Railroad Union on its Support for Merger appeared first on Labor Today.

Allina Health care and the Doctors Council SEIU had been engaged in contract negotiations for 20 months. The Doctors Council SEIU Union represents 600 physicians, physician assistants, and Nurse Practitioners. Allina operates 12 hospital campuses, over 60 primary clinics and 20 urgent care centers and employs 27,865 care team members. 

“Unionizing gives me and my colleagues a voice in our workplace, control over our lives, and the ability to advocate for our patients. The future of medicine depends on doctors working together in unions to stand up for ourselves and to advocate for our patients.” Said Dr. Matt Hoffman, of Vadnais Heights, MN.  

The union, formed in October 2023, has been negotiated for a contract with Allina ever since it’s certification. The United Doctor’s Council and Allina were unable to agree on standards for safe staffing at clinics and staff compensation, which the workers consider “basic contract items like healthcare, retirement and sick leave” Allina Health representatives claim the dispute centers on “significant compensation increases and extreme benefits proposals”.  

The Minnesota Reformer’s Allyssa Chen reports that pediatrician Arnold London, 77, “never imagined he would be on a picket line until recently”, thanks to worsening conditions in lab services and staffing levels. 

Chen reported that Allina Health responded to the strike by saying “it would be irresponsible for either party to agree to a contract that adds significant new expenses that will undermine access and increase costs to those who pay for care,”. Chen cites Allina Health representatives who justified leaving the bargaining table over increased costs and anticipated funding cuts. The next bargaining session is scheduled for early December. 

Labor Today will follow up for more information in the future.

The post Largest Strike of Union Doctors first appeared on Labor Today.

The post Largest Strike of Union Doctors appeared first on Labor Today.

Safety, dignity and equality for all women”

On 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) renews its struggle for a world free from violence, exploitation and war, recalling that in 2025 we will also celebrate 80 years of international trade union commitment alongside workers around the world.

Violence against women is never an individual or private matter. It is rooted in the power structures of capitalism, economic and social inequalities, patriarchal culture and the militarisation of territories. Wars, occupations and armed conflicts disproportionately affect women, increasing poverty, instability and insecurity. Similarly, economic exploitation, low wages, precarious work, lack of rights and the reduction of public services fuel violence and discrimination.

The WFTU fights for a world where women’s dignity and safety are top priorities, where work is safe and fairly paid, where every woman can live free from violence and fear. On this day, we remember in particular the situation in Palestine, where women today are suffering genocide and have been suffering the consequences of war, occupation and Israel’s policies of oppression for 77 years.

Trade union organisations affiliated to the WFTU have always maintained that the fight against violence against women is closely linked to the fight for workers’ rights, decent wages, safe housing, public education, healthcare and accessible social services. No woman can be free without access to economic resources, social protection and freedom from war and systemic violence.

On this day, the WFTU reaffirms:

• The need for effective legislation against all forms of violence, discrimination and exploitation;
• The right of women to safe work, decent wages and equal opportunities;
• The fight against imperialist wars and all forms of occupation;
• The right to education, contraception, social spaces and free public services, which are fundamental tools for women’s autonomy and protection;
• The need to combat patriarchy and the culture of violence, including through trade union campaigns, information campaigns and concrete actions on the ground.

The WFTU and its affiliates call on all trade unions and workers to mobilise, build international solidarity and support concrete actions against violence against women, predatory capitalism, exploitation and wars. Only collective struggle and the participation of workers can create a world where safety, dignity, equality and freedom are a reality for all women.

80 years of international trade union struggle.

Stop violence against women. Stop exploitation and war. Freedom and justice for Palestine.    Safety, dignity and equality for all women!

The post WFTU Statement on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women first appeared on Labor Today.

The post WFTU Statement on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women appeared first on Labor Today.

On November 20, 1975, 730 workers at the General Electric turbine plant just outside Charleston, South Carolina voted to join UE, forming Local 1202. It was the second large electrical manufacturing plant in the South to organize with UE in the 1970s, following the Tampa Westinghouse plant, where workers formed UE Local 1201 in 1972.

Charleston GE workers first contacted UE in 1971, shortly after the plant opened, seeking seniority protections, better wages, and improved working conditions. But organizing in the South was not an easy task — as the UE NEWS noted, in the local media, “Unions are presented in the image of Satan.”

Still, workers built an in-plant organizing committee, slowly but surely, and petitioned for a National Labor Relations Board election in August 1974. They lost by 70 votes, but “a group of determined workers” remained undeterred.

They launched a plant-wide petition drive for a 75 cent wage increase. In November 1974 they presented over 700 signatures to the plant manager at a “75¢ now” demonstration of over 300 workers — and within a week the company had granted wage increases of up to 36 cents. The campaign “taught us how strong we really are when everyone sticks together,” pipe welder Willie Middleton told the UE NEWS, but as machine operator Reuben Gadsden noted, “we also learned that we had no say over who got how much.”

GE Charleston workers demonstrate for 75 cent raises, November 1974.

Layoffs in March with no respect for plant-wide seniority, and the shortcomings of a company-run grievance procedure implemented after the 1974 NLRB election, further convinced workers of the importance of real union protections.

In early June, fabrication shop welder Carnell Gathers was fired for handing a union leaflet to another worker. “I figured I was gone,” Gathers said, but as first shift worker Jack Whack related, “When Carnell got fired we didn’t sit back and take it; we organized and signed petitions and filed grievances and protested to our foremen. When Carnell got reinstated we really could see what unity can accomplish.”

Although workers won their second NLRB election in November 1975, it took 14 months to get certified. The company filed objections with the NLRB and carried out an ongoing campaign against the union. As the UE NEWS reported, during this time, “Every pay envelope had an anti-union blurb imprinted on it.” In January 1977 Local 1202 members finally came under the national UE-GE contract.

The members of Local 1202 made components for the nuclear industry, which began to collapse in the wake of the 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. On June 1, 1984 GE announced plans to close the Charleston plant the following year. Local 1202 launched an ambitious campaign to keep their facility open as an “alternative energy center,” which won high-profile support from Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Catholic Church, as well as bipartisan support from local politicians. Although the campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, the attention it brought to the issue of plant closings and layoffs helped win passage of a measure in the South Carolina legislature to allow workers to receive more generous unemployment benefits in the wake of plant closings.

Several Local 1202 leaders went on to join the UE staff, including Gadsden and Marion Washington, who worked as a Field Organizer and then International Representative in Pittsburgh and retired in 2017. Two Field Organizers who worked on the campaign later served UE as national officers: John Hovis (Director of Organization from 1984-87 and General President from 1987-2011) and Amy Newell (Secretary-Treasurer from 1985-1994).

The post UE: Fifty Years Ago, GE Workers Organized the South first appeared on Labor Today.

The post UE: Fifty Years Ago, GE Workers Organized the South appeared first on Labor Today.

Since it’s founding on October 2, 1945, the WFTU has fought against capitalism, imperialism and war, and fought for justice for workers and building class-consciousness in unions. The WFTU stands in contrast to the Yellow Union collaborationists on the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The WFTU has stood by it’s principles of class-consciousness in trade unions and fighting against capitalist exploitation and imperialist war.

The WFTU, along with the various unions both local and international, held rallies and protests on October 1 and 2nd, culminating in a meeting held at a worker’s exchange in Paris. WFTU President Michael Mzwandile Makwayiba gave a digital greeting, then speeches were given by head of the Unione Sindicale di Base, Cynzia Della Porta, the prior General Secretary and Honorary President of the WFTU, George Mavrikos, and a speech was given by a representative of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Then WFTU General Secretary Pambis Kyritis gave a speech on the struggles and victories of the past 80 years and gave optimism to the future of the WFTU.

LUEL salutes the WFTU for 80 years of class struggle against exploitation by monopoly capitalism and will work with the WFTU to build presence and class-consciousness here in the United States. Long live the WFTU!

The post WFTU Celebrates 80th Anniversary in Paris first appeared on Labor Today.

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