“They Actually Had a List”: #ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark #LaborRights Case

“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly #ProUnion worker leaders,” said a union official about a raid in western New York.

Noah Hurowitz
May 5 2025

"An immigration raid in western #NewYork on Friday targeted a group of immigrants involved in a landmark statewide effort by #FarmWorkers to #unionize.

"On Friday morning at around 9:30 a.m., federal agents in unmarked cars and bearing no agency insignia pulled over a bus in Albion, New York, about 35 miles west of Rochester, and took 14 people of Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms into custody. All of the detainees, who hailed from Mexico and Guatemala, were year-round employees of Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms, a family-owned business in nearby Kent, New York, which has been locked in a multiyear battle to prevent workers from unionizing.

"The company is one of five agricultural businesses that, together with a state growers’ association, have tried for years to overturn or chip away at New York’s 2019 #FarmLaborLaw. The law enshrined protections for the right of #farmworkers — whether seasonal or year-round — to seek union representation.

" 'This was strange because they actually had a list of most of the workers on the bus.'

"Several of the workers taken into custody on Friday have been active in efforts to unionize year-round employees, including at least one who has spoken publicly in favor of joining the United Farm Workers of America, according to Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns for #UFW, the storied labor union.

" 'We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,' said Strater.

"Most of the workers detained on Friday hail from #Mexico or #Guatemala.

"The raid did not appear to be a broad sweep but rather a targeted enforcement aimed at specific people, according to sources who have been in contact with the families and spoke to The Intercept on condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive legal situation."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/05/05/ice-raid-farm-labor-union-new-york-ufw/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/xLMYr

#mayday #protest in #washingtondc followed by joining the #picketline in #solidarity with #workers against #unionbusting by The Occidental

Happy #mayday !! I’ve been working on this assortment of images as part of my #draweveryday efforts, for the SF Bay Area #iww chapter. #sabocats reject the bullshit that is killing us all! #sabotage now! Reach out to your local #industrialworkersoftheworld chapter today and #organize ! Now is the time! #fightfascism #oligarchy #union #unionbusting #cat #blackcat #billionaires #fascism #amazon #prisonlabor

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Buffalo Is a Union Town — But for Hotel Workers, Union-Busting Runs Rampant

Buffalo hotel workers are facing off with a Trump-aligned developer in their battle to unionize.

https://voices.murica.website/derek-seidman/buffalo-is-a-union-town-but-for-hotel-workers-union-busting-runs-rampant/

"The Trump administration is ending work authorizations for two hundred union members who assemble dishwashers, refrigerators, washers, and dryers for GE Appliances-Haier at Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky. It also revoked the visas of several members of the Graduate Workers Coalition at the University of Indiana. The union frequently strikes and pickets for better wages for student teachers."

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/04/trump-deportations-are-not-about-strengthening-american-labor-but-part-of-the-effort-to-decimate-it.html

Today in Labor History April 21, 1834: 30,000 workers marched for the freedom of six trade unionists who were transported to Australia from Tolpuddle, Britain. The Tolpuddle struggle, which began in 1832, marked the beginning of British trade unionism. The workers were fighting for the repeal of the “Combination Laws,” which outlawed the formation of unions. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were pardoned in 1836, thanks to the popular protests.

Know Your Enemy: Organizations Attacking Unions in U.S.
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/04/15/know-your-enemy-the-organizations-attacking-unions-in-the-states

Usual suspects:
ALEC: American Legislative Exchange Council
Freedom Foundation
Foundation for Government Accountability
Americans for Prosperity
Center for Independent Employees
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

#Christofascism #transgenocide #billionaires #Koch #Musk #antiUnion #UnionBusting #corporations #libertarianism
#NLRB #unionize #solidarity #socialism #ecosocialism
https://persagen.org/wpi/docs/social_democracy.pdf

Today in Labor History April 12, 1924: Curtis Turner was born on this day in Floyd, Va. Turner, along with Fireball Roberts and Tim Flock, tried to organize the NASCAR drivers into a union in 1961 (the Federation of Professional Athletes). Their goals were bigger purses, a share in broadcasting rights, and retirement benefits for the drivers. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr banned all the union drivers. Eventually, every union driver except for Turner and Flock, quit the union so they could race again. Turner sued to be reinstated, but lost his lawsuit. The court said he was an individual contractor, not an employee of NASCAR or any track. But he was reinstated four years later.

As a racer, he won 360 races, including 22 in the NASCAR Convertible Division in 1956, alone, as well as 17 in the NASCAR Grand National Series. He got his start in driving as a bootlegger for the illegal whiskey his dad made. He never got caught running booze. However, he almost got caught with a 500 lb bag of stolen sugar (for making alcohol) in the days after WWII when sugar was still being rationed. However, after fighting a gun battle with the law, he managed to successfully evade a dragnet, as he drove 300 miles on backroads to get back home, where the cops were waiting for him. Then, during his trial, he convinced the jury that the sugar was for making apple butter. The judge sentenced him to $1,000 and a 2-year suspended sentence.

Today in Labor History April 10, 1947: FBI agents visited Ronald Reagan (then president of the Screen Actors Guild) and his wife Jane Wyman, accusing them of belonging to a communist front group. To prove his loyalty, Reagan agreed to become a secret informer and went on to have a long and illustrious career as an anti-communist, union-busting, trickle-down asshole.

Today in Labor History March 29, 1965: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the defendant in Textile Workers Union v. Darlington Manufacturing Company. In a 7-0 ruling they ruled that a company could close a recently unionized factory, even if it was done specifically to bust the union.

https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/03/trump-order-aims-outlaw-most-government-unions-national-security-grounds/404113/

With another executive order, Trump has ended collective bargaining rights for >1 million federal workers.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/28/nx-s1-5343474/trump-collective-bargaining-unions-federal-employees

Union busting is coming to TSA. Noem plans to break the DHS contract with union. Claims it will somehow make wait times in airport queues shorter. https://www.idahopress.com/boiseweekly/news/local-tsa-union-responds-to-dhs-announcement/article_19ca9904-fbaa-11ef-a319-47883f6fa4cd.html
#tsa
#unionbusting
#airtravel

ICYMI, the #TrumpAdministration celebrated #WomensDay with some #UnionBusting https://www.commondreams.org/news/afge-collective-bargaining-agreement

#IWD2025 This International Women's Day we are highlighting the struggles that women workers face in  the garment industry and point the the place strong, independent trade unions have in combating exploitation and gender-based violence.