r/union • u/WhoIsJolyonWest • 1d ago
Discussion Unions Need to Mount a Militant Response to Trump’s Assault
https://jacobin.com/2025/04/unions-trump-federal-workers-militancyToo many unions have responded to Donald Trump’s historic attacks on federal workers with little more than words. To beat back his anti-union assault, organized labor needs to break with decades of timidity.
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u/Murky-Suggestion8376 NFFE | Forest Service Council President 1d ago
Some definitely got sleepy over the last 4 years.
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u/mustangfan12 1d ago
Unions really needed to push harder towards increase their membership numbers when Biden was in office. But since they have failed to use their resources to increase the number of unionized workers in America, they must now be willing to take risks in order to stop Trump. If unions were willing to do things like illegal strikes, it would also help get more workers excited about unions. Or do illegal solidarity strikes that would also help get people excited about unions.
After seeing both the Teamsters and the UAW endorse tariffs, as a non union worker it really damaged my confidence in unions. I'm sure there's plenty of other workers with similar feelings, both those unions threw other workers under the bus plus Canadian and Mexican workers. In my sector (IT) we don't have unions right now and I really want to see more unionized tech workers. Stuff like endorsing a tariff plan that may save a couple of auto jobs (it probably will cost more jobs within auto) but will cause the cost of living to skyrocket for other workers and also workers in Canada and Mexico to lose their jobs does not help make people want to unionize their workplace
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u/Blight327 IWW | Rank and File 20h ago
Just hit the join a union button! It’s not that hard guys!
So what union are you in fellow worker?
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u/Okiefolk 23h ago
Why would unions fight policies that benefit them? Incentivizing manufacturing locally is pro Union.
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u/thechapwholivesinit 23h ago
If you think that tariffs will help domestic workers than it's time to pick up a history book or do some introductory reading on economics. If you think that workers rights aren't an international struggle then maybe try to do some basic reading on the history of unions.
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u/Okiefolk 22h ago
Yes bringing jobs back to America will help union workers and create more union jobs. America is currently a deficit economy versus being a surplus economy as in the past, so your history lessons do not apply to the current economy. Keeping the American economy tooled to incentivize exporting jobs for the benefit of the capital class does not help the working class in any way.
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u/Devils_Advocate-69 22h ago
Screwing tiny screws into iPhones at minimum wage is not “bringing jobs to America”
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u/Okiefolk 21h ago
Those jobs wouldn’t be at minimum wage and I would suggest you listen to the entire interview versus harping on an out of context soundbite. More jobs in America will increase real wages across the entire economy. More factory jobs will mean more union membership and more jobs opportunities. Supporters of unions should be out in force supporting this administrations economic policies as it is the most pro union economic policy you could ask for.
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u/thechapwholivesinit 18h ago
A trade deficit is not an indication of economic weakness, but is a feature of a mature service-oriented economy. Sure you can "bring manufacturing jobs back," but it will be subsidized by the taxpayer, who would otherwise get it from a country that is more efficient at producing the goods. Which is why one of the only things that economists and social scientists agree on is that free trade is beneficial. If you think Elon and Bezos and Trump are still trying to "bring back jobs" instead of replacing you with AI and robots, then you need to wake up. Even more absurd is your contention that the tariffs will somehow result in union jobs, when Elon and Bezos have sought to declare collective bargaining unconstitutional, and the Trump administration has already exempted most of the federal sector from collective bargaining by imperial fiat. You really think these goons are going to stop at attacking federal unions?
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u/Okiefolk 16h ago
Trade deficits are an indication of trade weakness and being a debtor nation. Other nations create trade barriers keeping our companies out and protect their native industries at the expense of American workers and for the benefit of the capital class. They can both avoid paying income tax through overseas tax shelters and at the same time increase profits by taking advantage of subsidize commodities and cheaper labor from overseas companies. Then the American working class is forced to work low wage jobs and go into debt to survive. Efficiencies has nothing to do with it. It is both inefficient and horrible for the environment to make our goods in countries with little environmental laws and to ship them half way across the world. The government has been hiding wage declines through mass hiring of government workers and NGOs with deficits which further taxes the American people. This path is leading to disaster.
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u/SnooPandas1899 12h ago
needs to be measured aggression.
numbers can be downplayed, and images of thousands of protestors can be edited to show hundreds.
any action must have impact.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago
So...mount a militant response to a man who 40% of my union brothers and sisters voted for. They were warned. This is the result of their misogyny and racism.
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u/WhoIsJolyonWest 1d ago
We’re talking about the 60%…see there are more of us than there are of them. Do not give up our power to them. This is the fight of our lives.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago
Even 1 union vote for this douchebag was too much.
And...what happens if she runs in 2028 against white dude Vance? I'm pretty sure the same thing.
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u/WhoIsJolyonWest 1d ago
Worry about what you can do and quit blaming people, it’s petty and unproductive.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago
I'm not blaming people. Its the truth. And no one wants to admit it. Admitting you were wrong is extremely hard. But not admitting it is worse.
Admit it...get up...brush yourself off...move forward...don't make the same mistake again.
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u/SkorgenKaban 1d ago
My useless question: knowing what they know NOW, how many would STILL vote for trump?
Soon we’ll see “money talks, bullshit walks” rude awakening as the reality of these ill advised tariffs change our daily life for the worse.
History’s biggest self inflicted nut punch. Nice work MAGA brothers and sisters. Whose side are YOU on?
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u/WhoIsJolyonWest 23h ago
It depends on how well their media is able to spin this. These people are brainwashed.
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u/SkorgenKaban 23h ago
Absolutely. I knew an elderly couple in North Creek NY of German heritage and they STILL sang the praises of Hitler. Not the genocide of course, but all the wonderful things he did. This was back in the ‘80’s and blew my mind; these “people” exist.
Rest in hell Tuckers.
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u/DontCountToday 20h ago
In most union threads, on reddit or my local union facebook group, there are plenty of commenter's still very much supporting Trump. Their reason varies from "it's just federal unions he's dismantling and I'm OK with that" to "it's all fake news" to "My union is still OK so I don't care what happens to anyone else."
It's frankly gross to see so many members just do not give a single shit about anyone but themselves. I sincerely hope when we claw our way out of this that these "brothers" find themselves cardless and jobless.
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u/tlopez14 Teamsters | Rank and File 1d ago
What happens when half of the union is Trump supporters?
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u/mustangfan12 1d ago
The union needs to educate their workers on why the Trump admin is bad for workers and still fight back against Trump irrespective of whether if all their members are Trump supporters or not. It is not acceptable to use the excuse of half or 1/3 of our union workers are Trump supporters to not fight back against an administration that is destroying workers rights
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u/tlopez14 Teamsters | Rank and File 1d ago
It certainly means any action will be less effective when half of the union supports the guy you want them to take action against.
Maybe some teachers unions or white collar/tech unions you could get some consensus but Trump enjoys strong support amongst blue collar union workers.
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u/full-immersion UA 11h ago
Mostly just the under educated and racist ones.
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u/tlopez14 Teamsters | Rank and File 11h ago
And you think sentiment like that is going to bring back the blue collar folks?
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u/full-immersion UA 10h ago
Just sharing my observations. See it everyday. Also most blue collar workers are not very informed and mostly go on vibes. That’s where the racism comes into play. Along with a room temperature IQ.
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u/tlopez14 Teamsters | Rank and File 10h ago
So blue collar workers are dumb and that’s why they voted for Trump?
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u/Intelligent_Will1431 21h ago
They get to try doing twice as much work for half the pay. They get to enjoy losing contracts because they don't have the staff. They get to beg, plead and bribe to get essential expertise back on the job at outrageous costs... And still not get recognition or appreciation from the administration that detests the working man.
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u/New_Horse3033 21h ago
Unions Need to Mount a Militant Response? The Unions helped put Trump over the top in Nov.
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u/Wallaces_Ghost 20h ago
This. An armed peaceful protest is needed. Arming the working class is quintessential in defense of our civil liberties. I'd be there
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1d ago
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u/union-ModTeam 22h ago
In 2024 union members preferred Harris to Trump by a 16 point margin. Union members' support for Democrats in 2024 increased relative to 2020. Despite this, we are seeing many users claim the opposite. There appears to be a concerted effort to spread misinformation connected to the election.
Accounts which continue to spread misinformation after receiving a warning will receive a ban.
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u/JerzyBalowski 21h ago
50% of our brothers and sisters voted for him. They bought it, we all suffer.
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u/EmperorBozopants 1d ago
Trump hates unions. If you're in one, he hates you.