The New Labor Wave
America's Strike Moment Meets Gilded Age History
Workers across industries are walking out en masse: auto lines, hospitals, janitorial staff, even luxury retail. We’re witnessing a strike resurgence unseen in decades — and it’s echoing the seismic labor movements of the 1890s.
💥 What’s Brewing in 2025?
America's workforce is rising up. Federal data shows 149 major labor actions this year — on track to exceed 345 in 2024. Health care alone has seen 33 strikes, affecting over 62,000 workers across 13 states so far this year. In Wisconsin, more than 130 medical professionals at a MercyHealth clinic in Janesville walked off in July, demanding fair pay and safer patient conditions. Meanwhile, the UAW is organizing new auto plant drives in the South, and dockworkers on the East Coast are flexing hard against automation and corporate plans.
This isn’t a blip. It’s a reboot.
🛤️ Our Labor Roots Go Deep
After decades of attacks on labor, this is a revival of the era when workers faced ruthless industrial monopolies.
Remember the Pullman Strike of 1894? It started with workers at the Pullman railroad plant near Chicago. In the midst of a recession, the Pullman Company began to slash wages while raising rents in the company town they operated. All the while, the company continued to take in millions in profits. Yes, millions — even in 1890 money. The strike spread nationally, with as many as 250,000 railroad workers joining in 27 states. The federal government called it illegal and sent in troops — at least 70 strikers were killed. It tore up the rails and showed corporate power had the government in its pocket.
That strike birthed Labor Day — President Cleveland’s attempt at soothing labor anger after federal intervention cracked skulls, not deals. But the strike showed Americans something important: labor rights aren’t handed down by corporate oligarchs, they’re fought for and won by workers.
🎯 What's Different This Time?
Bread-and-butter fights: Today’s strikes aren’t just about wages — they’re about survival. Staffing shortages, escalating workloads, and rising costs of living mean people are done being disposable.
Organized resurgence: Unions are having a comeback. Organizing leaders like Shawn Fain won historic contracts for Michigan autoworkers in 2023. Now, he’s setting his eyes on a national strike in 2028.
Public support: Labor approval sits near 70%, the highest in decades, while auto workers and nurses are staking public sympathy and moral ground in real time.
📚 What History Shows Us
The 1890s teach us that organized labor can fight back. The Pullman strike broke under government force — but it resulted in national policy shifts. It planted seeds for the New Deal’s union protections. But it also highlighted the depths of institutional opposition workers face.
Our 2025 moment could be similar — but with urgent advantages:
Broader solidarity: Strikes in one industry ripple into others.
Digital amplification: Social media lets strikers shape the narrative, not PR hacks.
Policy momentum: A resurgent labor movement now allies with progressive lawmakers campaigning for federal protections.
In a time of record setting income inequality, stagnant wages, and inflated costs of living, we need a new labor movement. Remember folks, the workers united will never be defeated.