If you’d like to plan better picket lines or rallies, this workshop is for you! We’ll talk about how to create songs and chants that capture current issues, but also dig into the practical: developing an event plan that manages logistics for success.
Group singing has always been a key ingredient to sustain labor and civil rights struggles in the U.S., because it lifts our spirits, reminds us of our values, and helps us find the unity and energy to stick it out one day longer. What makes a good song for a rally or march, and how can you get people singing along? Learn the basics of song-leading, plus some powerful "Singing Resistance" anthems from Minnesota and other easy-to-learn songs you can adapt to any fight.
Our labor movement is brimming with creativity and artistry. Come share a song, hip-hop piece, story, poem, dance, drag piece, joke, poster, puppet, banner, spoken word piece, costume, chant, photo, picket sign, or whatever you've got... Or just come to listen. You’ll be moved and amazed at what your fellow workers bring to the table.
Bring your burning organizing questions and labor knowledge to the first-ever live episode of The Labor Notes Podcast, our weekly show on rank-and-file news and organizing tactics! With special guests: two casino dealers who helped lead a remarkable recognition strike at the Horseshoe Indianapolis Casino last fall.
Get strategic in using media coverage to amplify your campaign—learn where to place your story, understand what makes a pitch compelling to editors, and discuss steps you can take, beyond drafting press releases, to make sure your story gets across your message. Hear from journalists from The Real News Network, Workday Magazine, In These Times, and a retired reporter from the Minnesota Star Tribune.
"Partners," a short documentary on Starbucks baristas’ crusade to bring a coffee behemoth to heel, charts the seemingly unlikely trajectory ignited by workers in Buffalo, New York, who organized the first Starbucks location in 2021 and helped grow a highly energetic movement—one that has emerged as a symbol of persistence against vicious union-busting and brought hope for renewed militancy. The showing will be followed by a panel discussion with Starbucks workers.
En este taller exploraremos el teatro campesino, también conocido como teatro del oprimido. En este espacio, el arte se convierte en acción: aprenderás a utilizar la creatividad para visibilizar injusticias y generar diálogo en torno a las problemáticas que afectan a nuestras comunidades.
This workshop will explore farmworkers theater, also known as theater of the oppressed. In this space, art becomes action: you'll learn to harness creativity to bring injustices to light and start dialogue on the issues affecting our communities.
Meet others who are bringing creativity and heart to labor struggles: the chant writer, the photographer, the singer, the one who makes great signs, draws comics, wears a hilarious costume, or gets everyone dancing on the picket line.
A good picket sign helps distill the core message of your campaign into a clear demand with a specific targets. It's also an opportunity for creativity and wit, with the ultimate goal of bringing supporters in and keeping members out one day longer. We'll be making signs in this workshop!
Authoritarianism and corporate power converge through the system of courts and prisons to keep wages low, undermine organizing, and make profit. A clip from the award-winning documentary "The Alabama Solution" opens this session, spotlighting incarcerated organizers who are leading work stoppages against brutal repression inside Alabama prisons. Panelists will discuss the continuum from prison labor on the inside to sub-minimum wage temp work on the outside. Hear why organizing criminalized workers—in and after prison—is essential to building working-class power.
Culture is how movements build identity, sustain energy, and make change imaginable. An upsurge of new alliances—fusing politics and culture—is transforming organizing, labor, and community activism. Drawing on historical and contemporary campaigns, artists and activists on the front lines will share the cultural strategies they deploy to build power, win campaigns, and resist authoritarianism.
Surprise, creativity, and humor can be the keys to rank-and-file engagement. Whether you’re facing a contract campaign, a privatization battle, or a dormant membership, these tools can be scaled to fit your situation. Discover the talents among your members for song, humor, creative props, and theatrics. Learn the principles of creative organizing, share examples, and develop tactics you can take home. Solidarity and laughter make a potent mix!
Audiophiles of the world, unite! Strikers in the 20th century sometimes made vinyl records to raise funds and get their message out. These artifacts offer a lively glimpse of grassroots worker culture in different times and places. Enjoy the music, browse the album art, and hear the history behind a few of these fascinating records collected in the new book Strike While the Needle Is Hot (Common Notions Press, 2025).
Is your union newsletter or flyer a wall of words? Drawing cartoons is a great way to make ideas clearer and materials more appealing. Hear how workplace activists are putting their artistic talents to use—and try your hand at making your own union comics!
Ever wanted to write for Labor Notes magazine or website? When you discover a good tactic, uncover a problem, or win a righteous fight, we want to help you share the news. If it’s the first time you’ve written a published article, no problem! Come learn do’s and don’ts, what editors look for in a story, and how to get started.
Tune in for a screening of "We Build Power," a short film about how United Teachers Los Angeles has been building coalitions with students, parents, the community and other unions for the past decade to increase their collective leverage. After the film, there will be a panel discussion with educators building power in their communities to fight for better public education from California to Canada.
Surprise, creativity, and humor can be the keys to rank-and-file engagement. Whether you’re facing a contract campaign, a privatization battle, or a dormant membership, these tools can be scaled to fit your situation. Discover the talents among your members for song, humor, creative props, and theatrics. Learn the principles of creative organizing, share examples, and develop tactics you can take home. Solidarity and laughter make a potent mix!
Songs are at the heart of powerful social movements, and some of the songs that have changed the world have been written by ordinary working people. Two accomplished labor songwriters will share some songs from their wide-ranging catalogs and discuss the roles different kinds of songs can play in movement-building. But this isn’t just a performance, it’s also a hands-on workshop. You’ll learn some tools of the trade and get started writing a song!
Learn to make vertical videos that can help your campaign stand out within seconds on a social media feed—the brutal grace period before it disappears into the doomscroll archives. Learn basic video formats, nail down your script and narrative voice, and get familiar with simple editing techniques.
