Photo by Ben Slowey
Milwaukee Troublemakers School opening session
Union members and labor organizers gathered for a long, productive day of panels, workshops and solidarity building at Milwaukee Troublemakers School on Saturday, Oct. 4. Sponsored by national project Labor Notes, the event held at Steamfitters Local 601 involved more than 175 attendees representing various unions and workers’ rights organizations including IAM Local 66, WFNHP Local 5000, Teamsters Local 344, Racine Educators United and others.
Milwaukee Area Labor Council (MALC), Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) and LIUNA Local 113 served as the event’s local sponsors. MALC President Pam Fendt says that MALC was enthusiastic about working with Labor Notes after buying books from them for steward training last year. “We have been wanting to do more education around the value unions play in the U.S. economy. Right now, the economy has really tipped in favor of the top 1%, and the middle class is suffering.”
Labor Notes puts on a biannual conference in Chicago, organizing Troublemakers Schools in different cities in the interim. “We try to make them regionally accessible to lots of people around the country,” Staff Organizer Kari Thompson says about the schools. “We hadn’t done one in Milwaukee before, and we knew of some good folks here.”
Beating Apathy, Power Mapping
Topics discussed throughout the day ranged from beating apathy in the workplace to power mapping to build strength to turning an issue into a union campaign to labor history and immigrant rights—all being important components to consider in building a powerhouse labor movement. Emphasis was placed on how union contracts do not solely concern wages—they encompass working conditions, safety and due process.
“Any union is not just the elected officers—it’s only as strong as the membership,” Teamsters Local 344 President Kas Schwerdtfeger adds. “This event helps teach union members to stand up for themselves and become actively engaged, and to organize their coworkers to do exactly that.”
During the Troublemakers School opening session, Schwerdtfeger spoke at length about victories his union won with a 2023 UPS contract. “Rank-and-file members engaged to create a credible strike threat to demand that UPS pay up and deliver on its dream of having a solid life for its employees,” he elaborates. “That culminated in some big wins, including close to fifty dollars an hour for drivers, fully paid health insurance, pension and air conditioning for trucks.”
Collective Bargaining
Fendt points to how many young Americans have given up on the American Dream, especially in Wisconsin, where Act 10 has gutted collective bargaining rights. “We deserve more of what we help produce,” she affirms. “People locally are talking about fights that they’ve undertaken and won, sharing tricks of the trade that other unions might employ in their own efforts like negotiating a better contract or getting ready for a strike.”
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Thompson notes that programs such as Troublemakers Schools can help a despondent working class by identifying elements of disorganization in the workplace. “Bosses disorganize us through division and confusion and fear and helplessness. It’s hard to find hope when you’ve got elected government officials who don’t want things to work. But when I was looking around in the “Beating Apathy” workshop just now, the “fear” corner had the fewest people in it, which was really interesting.”
As Trump’s anti-union efforts affect hundreds of thousands of federal workers, as well as ongoing threats from billionaires and corporations on worker protections, Senate Democrats have introduced H.R.2550, known as the Protect America’s Workforce Act, to nullify as much of these efforts as possible. Act 10 was in fact partially struck down in December 2024 when a Dane County judge ruled it unconstitutional. Especially with Judge Susan Crawford now in office, Act 10 could be fully overturned as early as next year.
In the meantime, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council invites folks interested in forming a union at their workplace to get in touch. “We’d love to talk with you and connect you with somebody who can work with you on it,” Fendt mentions.
“This moment is extremely important for workers to speak to their coworkers and say they’re not okay with what’s happening,” Thompson concludes. “We’re saying those quiet things out loud to a room full of people who are ready to hear it and know what to do next.”
