Pickets & Power: May Day Movement Coming; Labor Secretary Ousted in Scandal; NYC Transit Workers Move Toward Strike
May Day organizing surges toward nationwide day of disruption
With May 1 just days away, organizers across the country are preparing for what could be one of the largest May Day mobilizations in U.S. history. The May Day Strong coalition – bringing together unions, community organizations, and social movements – is projecting over 3,000 actions nationwide, from rallies and marches to walkouts and economic disruption.
The call is simple and ambitious: “no work, no school, no shopping.” Organizers are aiming to demonstrate the collective power of working people by disrupting business as usual across sectors and regions. Mobilizing under a broad coalition, organizers are fighting back against the billionaire agenda pushed by the Trump administration – from ICE terror to cuts to healthcare to attacks on public education to endless wars.
With national unions like the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union, National Nurses United, United Auto Workers, and United Electrical Workers all tied into organizing efforts, May Day is becoming a step towards building the kind of national strike power organizers are saying will be needed to stop the Trump administration in their tracks.
Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer resigns amid scandal and anti-worker record
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned this week following a series of scandals, including allegations of mistreatment of staff and misconduct in office. While the resignation is being framed as a personal and ethical failure, it also brings renewed attention to her tenure and its impact on workers.
Chavez-DeRemer entered office with backing from some labor leaders who pointed to her previous support for pro-labor legislation while in Congress. Her time in the Trump administration quickly showed she would be no friend to workers. Under her leadership, the Department of Labor oversaw the rollback of key worker protections, including rules affecting wages and safety standards in sectors like domestic work and construction.
Her tenure reflected a broader pattern within the administration: using regulatory power to weaken labor standards while peddling lies that these same policies would benefit working people. The scandals that led to her resignation do not represent a break from that agenda, but rather the collapse of one figure within it.
The administration has consistently prioritized deregulation, corporate flexibility, and cost-cutting over worker protections. Her departure is unlikely to change that trajectory – only who carries it forward.
NYC transit workers move toward strike that could shut down the region
In New York City, a growing strike threat across the transit system is raising the stakes for one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure in the country. Contracts covering tens of thousands of workers are set to expire in mid-May, and negotiations are intensifying.
Transport Workers Union Local 100, representing more than 40,000 subway and bus workers, has begun bargaining with the MTA over wages, working conditions, and the rising cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. At the same time, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen under the Teamsters are preparing for a possible strike on the Long Island Rail Road, one of the busiest commuter systems in the country.
Union leaders have made it clear that without a contract that keeps pace with inflation and rising costs, they are prepared to shut the system down. That threat carries enormous weight. New York’s transit network is the most heavily used in the United States, with millions of riders depending on it every day to get to work.
A strike would not just disrupt commutes – it would ripple through the entire regional economy.
BONUS ROUND
Bring it to the shop!
The Pickets & Power Bulletin covers the biggest stories impacting all working people today. Share these stories with your union siblings, coworkers, friends, and family. Read it together, discuss, and take lessons to strengthen your own fights. When we fight, we win – and when we fight, we learn. Tell us in the comments about campaigns you think we should include in our next bulletin!
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