unions

February 10, 2023 - While public support for labor unions in the U.S. is at its highest level in a half-century, the portion of Southern workers in unions did not grow last year, even though unions added new members. But strikes and other workplace protests in the region jumped by over 20%, showing growing labor activism.

September 29, 2022 - Workers at dozens of Starbucks locations in Southern states have unionized despite the region's harsh anti-union laws and the coffee chain's intimidating tactics, which have included terminations, surveillance, and mandatory anti-union meetings. This week the company announced it would begin bargaining with Starbucks Workers United in October.   

August 25, 2022 - Taiwanna Milligan, who helped organize a recent strike at the Dollar General store where she works in South Carolina, participated in a series of Worker Power Trainings held by Raise Up members in several Southern communities this summer. She shares what she heard from some of the workers who participated.

February 11, 2022 - Public support for labor unions in the U.S. is at an all-time high, but the latest federal data on union membership shows the share of workers belonging to unions declined in 2021. The downturn, which was especially dramatic in the South, appears to be driven by several factors.

August 27, 2021 - This Labor Day weekend, people will gather in West Virginia to mark the centennial of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. We look at what led to the bloody battle — when 10,000 Black, white, and immigrant coal miners joined together to fight for union rights against coal companies allied with corrupt law enforcement — and how it's being commemorated.

April 16, 2021 - Virginia-based Valley Proteins is one of the largest U.S. rendering companies, turning slaughterhouse waste like blood and bones into profits. Buoyed by the unionizing efforts of Amazon workers in Alabama, the company's drivers are organizing in North Carolina — and they've already won concessions.

January 29, 2021 - Biden has pledged to be the country's "most pro-union president." But will he and congressional Democrats succeed in passing sweeping reforms that could dismantle the barriers to labor organizing in the South?