Solidarity Works

For years, workers were told they had to choose between good union jobs and a healthy planet. Twenty years ago, the BlueGreen Alliance helped prove that wasn't true. In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we sit down with Executive Director Jason Walsh to discuss the Alliance's origins, its evolution over two decades, and why labor and environmental advocates must continue working together to...

In 1941, a young priest in Spain helped spark a movement that would transform worker ownership forever. Today, that spirit is crossing the Atlantic. In our latest episode, we explore the emerging "Union Co-op" model—a powerful hybrid that combines the democratic ownership of a cooperative with the protective strength of a union. We speak with Ellen Vera, Director of Co-Op Cincy, about the "how-to"...

Every day, millions of workers around the world go to work knowing their job is hard. But no one should go to work knowing it might slowly take their breath away. Across the United States and Canada, USW members are on the front lines of the fight against silica dust exposure, pushing for stronger protections, enforcement of safety rules, and justice for workers who've already been harmed. We're t...

From the Twin Cities to Georgia, ICE enforcement has hit working-class communities hard. In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, two labor leaders—Minnesota USW staff representative Justin Recla and USW Civil and Human Rights Director Alex Perkins—share how they've responded, what tools are available to every local, and why this fight belongs to all of us. Music in today's episode by Ketsa and...

Pete Seeger treated music as a communal act—a circle, not a spotlight. In our newest episode, we explore how Pete braided together labor organizing, civil rights, environmental justice, and peace through song. From congressional blacklisting to union halls and river clean-ups, his legacy isn't frozen in time—it's instructional. Thank you to the Seeger family for sharing Pete's music with us for th...

Artificial intelligence is changing how we work, how we communicate, and how we live — but who's making sure workers aren't left behind? In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we sit down with Ed Wytkind, Interim Executive Director of the AFL-CIO Technology Institute, to talk about the federation's new Workers First Initiative on AI. The initiative lays out a bold plan to make sure technology...

In 1909, a 23-year-old immigrant named Clara Lemlich stood up in New York's Cooper Union and said, "I have no more patience for talk—I move that we go on a general strike." The next morning, 20,000 garment workers —mostly young immigrant women—walked off the job. Their courage changed labor history forever. Tune into our latest episode to hear how their fight reshaped workers' rights for generatio...

In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we expose the Trump administration's sweeping cuts to public education and research funding—from K-12 schools to university labs. Educators, union leaders, and graduate researchers reveal how these attacks threaten working families, marginalized students, and the future of innovation itself. Tune in to learn firsthand how communities are being forced to f...

Long before World War II officially kicked off in 1939, trade unionists were already sounding the alarm. They saw fascism for what it was—racism, anti-Semitism, militarism, authoritarianism. Union workers and leaders resisted—they distributed leaflets, hid their Jewish neighbors and co-workers, sabotaged Nazi logistics, and even joined armed struggle. In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we...

As ICE raids ramp up and communities across the nation are gripped by fear, we're looking back to a powerful legacy of worker resistance in the latest episode of Solidarity Works. The Legacy of Delano tells the story of how Filipino and Latino farmworkers united in 1965 to ignite a labor movement that changed history. Today, organizers like Local 675's Xochityl Cobarruvias carry that spirit forwar...

John Stevens has been a member of USW Local 341 in Newark, Ohio, for six years and works at an aluminum factory. On Thurs., June 5, he and fellow union members walked the halls of Congress to remind lawmakers about the promise the government made to veterans like him.  This fight to preserve benefits and services for America's defenders is personal to John in many ways. He lost his older brother,...

Kim Kelly began her writing career in the heavy metal world – she even adopted a moniker known as Grim Kim – but it wasn't long before her family's labor roots caught hold. She joined a union when writing for Vice, a digital publishing platform, and soon her stories took a turn toward more fervent working-class issues. Now, Kim is an author and public speaker with two books on the shelves focused...

On Friday, April 25, thousands of labor activists, including USW members, marched and chanted through the streets of Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, as part of an annual event commemorating the murders of two Los Mineros union members who were killed while on strike in 2006. In today's episode, we recount the mine explosion and consequential strike that led Los Mineros President Napoleon Gomez to live in...

From the 1800s to yesterday afternoon, women and girls across the United States have led historic organizing campaigns, and today we're honoring one of these powerful yet lesser known activists whose story deserves to be told. Emma Tenayuca was only 18 when she began organizing workers for the first time in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1930s, but even then she understood what a good wage could mean...

This episode kicks off the first in a series we hope to continue featuring SOAR (Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees) activists offering us their words of wisdom as the labor movement enters a time of great change and upheaval. Today we speak with Nellie Caraballo,   a former USW staff rep and public sector worker who is now a proud SOAR member, about the early challenges she endured on t...

California musician and activist Jonny Miller Jr. is continuing his ancestors' legacy by making his mark on the labor movement. He sings on picket lines, writes songs about the working class, and teaches the next generation about the importance of labor history. In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we talk with Jonny about his career, his love of labor, and the traditional connection between...

From salt and copper to soda ash and iron ore, members of the USW mine the many crucial resources needed to keep the U.S, Canada, and the world moving. It's an industry that goes back 150 years, and it's an industry that has seen exponential change over the past several decades. In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we're speaking with USW Vice President of Administration Emil Ramirez about a...

Most people who are familiar with Karen Silkwood likely learned of the chemical technician through the 1983 film Silkwood starring Meryl Streep and Cher. But the movie is no mere Hollywood drama; it is based on the true story of a young woman and union member who fought to expose her employer for deliberately misleading workers and exposing them to harmful chemicals.  This battle ended in Karen Si...

Last month, members of the United Steelworkers union from across the U.S. traveled to the nation's capital in Washington, D.C., to talk to their elected officials about the importance of reauthorizing Trade Adjustment Assistance. This program, which expired in 2022, provides training and educational opportunities for workers who lost their jobs due to foreign countries like China circumventing tra...

The USW partners with labor organizations around the world to connect workers with common employers and help them build power. In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we talk with Local 12075 President Kent Holsing and USW retiree Mike Zielinski about some of these partnerships, including a years-long alliance with rubber workers in Liberia, and why this solidarity is vital for union members ev...

the podium at the state house in Lansing, Michigan, to give powerful testimony about his experience as a veteran.  He and other activists were there to voice their support for Bill 5736, which would require employers to display a poster that outlines resources available for veterans and their families.  This is just one of many pieces of legislation USW members are fighting to pass for workers and...

In 1975, the United States was a leader in global shipbuilding. The industry employed 180,000 workers who built more than 70 commercial ships in American shipyards. In the early 1980s, that changed as federal spending on domestic manufacturing was slashed and foreign competitors like China employed predatory practices to dominate the industry. Of course, the USW isn't letting this go without a fig...

More than 80 years ago, U.S. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins identified silica dust as a deadly hazard. Finally, this past April 16, MSHA, through the Department of Labor, issued a final rule reducing silica dust exposure to better protect America's miners. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA, also clarified a rule in another major victory for workers this month to ens...

The USW's Next Gen program saw its humble yet historic beginnings in a resolution at the International union's Constitutional Convention in 2011. It endorsed the training and development of younger Steelworker activists to take on increasingly greater roles in their local unions, their governments and their communities. Since then, young and newer members of the USW across the United States and Ca...

When late International President Tom Conway took the helm of the USW in July 2019, he made a promise that his administration would work to reduce or eliminate tiered wage and benefit systems in union contracts. Many USW locals have heeded late President Conway's call and made great strides in eliminating these tiered systems in recent years. Today we're talking with USW Vice president Luis Mendoz...