WHAT CAN I DO?
I’M A UNION MEMBER
Changing your local’s bargaining strategy and contract expiration is no small job. Build support in your local, starting now. Meet with stewards and bargaining team members you know to get their thoughts on how it could happen. If your union leaders don’t like the idea, build grassroots support. Bring a resolution (here’s a sample) to a membership meeting. If there’s a rank-and-file caucus in your local, raise the idea there. A big member petition in support of alignment could go a long way to changing your leaders’ minds. You can share this example of how teachers got organized to line up contracts.
I’m in a union that already has a contract lasting beyond May Day 2028
Whether or not your contract lines up, your local can throw power behind the May Day coalition. Look at our map to find out if other unions in your area are lining up their contracts for 2028. The May Day Strong network of unions has been calling “Workers Over Billionaires” marches and actions around the country that you can join and help grow.
WHAT IF I’M NOT IN A UNION?
What if I’m not in a union? Organize a union at your workplace, then join for May Day! Counseling and resources on building a new union are available from the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee. Learn more about organizing tactics for winning a union here.
You can also get a union job. Becoming a union member can make for a great career. Public schools, UPS, and hospitals have unionized jobs available in many parts of the country. The Rank & File Project helps activists find union jobs in multiple sectors. Pre-apprenticeships programs help you find and try out union jobs in construction.
I’M A UNION OFFICER
Hold membership meetings to consider aligning your next contract with May Day 2028. Before that date, bring members from your union and others together to plan coalition actions in your area, turning up the heat on CEOs and their allies. The United Auto Workers is helping connect leaders across unions who want to align their contract. Reach out to them through this form.
i want to do more!
Are you part of a community organization or tenant union? Share about May Day 2028 with your group. Reach out to local unions with expiring contracts to ask how you can support them. If unions in your area are building a May Day coalition and planning actions, ask how members from your organization can join the fight.
To build a strong coalition from the bottom up, consider organizing a Fightback School, a new effort Labor Notes is helping support around the country. A Fightback School is a meeting of members from local unions, and community groups they invite, to make a plan to fight billionaires and their allies in their area. Participants find common issues, pick some local bad guys, and plan creative actions at work and in the streets to make them sweat. Let us know if you have a group of members from a few unions interested in organizing a Fightback School.