 Happy Labor Day, friends. Rather than talking about something that's super newsworthy, I just wanted to take a moment to pump your brains with a little bit of much-needed helpium, because Labor is on the rise in the United States, and Labor activists are not taking Labor Day off. So Amazon Labor Union leader Christian Smalls led the Amazon Labor Union and Starbucks Workers United in a march up 6th Avenue towards Times Square, and they're making it known that Labor is not slowing down anytime soon. Take a look. Now my favorite part about this march, for obvious reasons, is what happened when they made it to Times Square. Look at the chant that Christian Smalls led. Fuck Jeff Bezos! Love that. Now just to be 100% clear here, they're not just being edgy for the sake of being edgy. There's actual meaning behind this message. It's a meaning and a message to oligarchs that workers are no longer afraid, because understand at these large multinational corporations, they created this culture of fear toward discussing unions, and even worker rights was taboo. Like I remember when I worked at Walmart on my very first day at orientation, they showed us an anti-union propaganda video, and after being appalled by that, I talked to other workers, and they didn't even really know what unions were, what the points were, so they kind of just took that anti-union propaganda video at face value, and that's an anecdote, but I'm sure that that's the case for a lot of workers. But now workers are learning how powerful unions are, and they're no longer afraid, like yes, Howard Schultz, Jeff Bezos, they're going to try to retaliate if you organize, but these workers are saying, in spite of the repercussions, we're not backing down, we're not being quiet. So to say fuck Jeff Bezos, they're not just trying to be edgy. It's a clear message that these oligarchs don't have the power that they used to, and there's a lot of value in that statement there. I want to share a tweet from Bernie Sanders, who's basically the most pro-labor lawmaker in America, who puts things into perspective. He says, this Labor Day thanked unions for weekends, eight-hour work days, a minimum wage, paid overtime, breaks during work, the right to strike, child labor laws, workplace safety standards. Now let us grow the trade union movement and win more for workers. Now he's absolutely right. If you're wondering why we have weekends and why there are child safety standards, no more child laborers, it's because of unions. Now, thanks to propaganda, misinformation, mostly by the right, but also by a lot of neoliberal Democrats, well, support for unions went down over time. But now because of the rise of labor in the United States, well, support for labor is the highest it's been since 1965, as Gallup points out. And now 71% of Americans approve of unions. And this is giant. I need you to understand that to have 71% of Americans support unions, despite the intimidation of workers who try to form unions, despite the propagandistic lies and the right-wing attacks on unions, to have 71% of Americans say we support unions, that is huge. Now I want to talk about some more labor activity on Labor Day because there's things that you can do today to support workers. As in these times reports, Starbucks workers are hosting pro-union sippings where they're encouraging customers to order low-cost items or just the water and then leave a really big tip for the employees. And then they're also offering conversations about union organization and worker rights and exploitation. And I absolutely love this idea. But if you don't have a Starbucks near you that's hosting this, look, do this, go order a water and leave them a really big tip. Just let them know that you support them. I think that the best thing that you can do is to perhaps boycott these companies that are making their workers work on Labor Day. But if you want to go there and show support and leave them a nice tip, I guarantee you it's going to make their day. They're going to be really appreciative of that. Now, let's look at this tweet from a more perfect union. They write, All the workers that at Taco Bell in Kansas City, Missouri, walked off the job on strike today as community members cheer them on. They're protesting unsafe working conditions, low pay and no paid sick days. Now, the video here, it's relatively short. It's like 45 seconds. I have to share this with you because this video put a giant smile on my face. And I'm sure the same is going to be true for you as well. That right there is what solidarity looks like. And that was so encouraging to see, to have the entire community come out and show support for these workers. Again, 10 years ago, even five years ago, that type of thing was not possible. And think about one of these workers in the position that they're in, right? They're treated terribly, they're exploited, but yet if they try to speak up, then they could be replaced by another worker. Like they view these employees as expendable, as robots. But they're learning that when you bind together and when you have the community support, well, what are you going to do? If everybody is binding together, if everyone in the store is leaving on strike, nobody's there to run the store. You're taking your leverage back. And these multinational corporations hate to see it. Now, another victory for labor happened just a couple of days ago. This is from Common Dreams. The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday completely rejected Amazon's attempt to dispute and overturn a historic union victory in New York earlier this year, paving the way for the JFK 8 warehouse in Staten Island to become the company's first ever certified union shop in the United States. In a new filing, the NLRB officer who presided over weeks of ritual hearings on Amazon's election objections concluded that the corporation's protests against the union's landmark victory should be overruled in their entirety. Amazon, which used aggressive union-busting tactics and its failed attempt to fend off the JFK 8 organizing drive, said it strongly disagrees with the NLRB's decision and plans to appeal, claiming that the NLRB and the ALU improperly influenced the outcome of the election. However, Amazon has two weeks to file its objections. If the company's last-ditch effort fails, it will be required by federal law to begin contract negotiations with the union, which could take months or years. And make no mistake about it, they're going to drag their feet. But just understand what's happening here. This is comparable to Trump claiming that the election was stolen from him in 2020. These companies are doing everything, including lying and sowing doubt about this democratized vote. And it's pathetic, but thankfully they are losing. Now, here's what Christian Small said about this victory. Today is a great day for labor. Amazon labor has officially won our objections hearing against Amazon. The hearing officer of Region 28 has officially declared that all objections are dismissed and recommended certification. Once again, we've proven that our campaign was power. Absolutely. But that's not all, because as Vice News reports, the National Labor Relations Board is demanding that Howard Schultz issue a personal apology to workers for engaging in aggressive union-busting tactics. And he has to explain in said video to all of his employees what their rights are. This comes after the National Labor Relations Board found in a complaint filed on Wednesday that the company is unlawfully withholding benefits from employees in unionized or unionizing stores. It alleges that Schultz, who is worth roughly $4 billion, threatened employees and told them it would be futile to side with the union on several occasions, including during a video call to all U.S. employees in a corporate weekly update and in a quarter-two earnings call, according to a statement from the NLRB. It also alleges that the company set up a benefits program that would be exclusive to non-unionized workers that would include higher pay, faster sick-time accrual, increased training opportunities, and more. Now, he focused a lot on Amazon and Starbucks, but I just want to stress here that this is a mass movement taking place at numerous corporations across the country. And in the event a CEO hasn't seen any stores organize in their company, well, it's only a matter of time. And currently they're shitting their pants because they know that if stores successfully organize at Starbucks, if warehouses successfully continue to organize at Amazon, well, it's only a matter of time before their workers see that and are galvanized by said labor activity and they form unions there as well. And I mean, it's already been a pretty difficult journey for people like Howard Schultz, who's trying everything that he possibly can to stop Starbucks stores from organizing. But the problem is that since they formed their first union late last year, more than 100 Starbucks locations have organized. So you see the desperation growing and sure, they're union-busting and they're pulling out every trick in the book. But even though that's terrible, it's a sign that these workers are winning. They wouldn't be doing this if they weren't terrified right now. So today on Labor Day, do what you can to support workers. That means that if you have a store that's trying to form a union, support those workers, stand in solidarity with them and don't shop at that location. In the events, those workers are getting penalized. Never cross the picket line. And in the event, you go to a store today, a Starbucks or a restaurant, tip those workers extra well because they deserve it. Workers make this country, workers built this country, and it's about time that they take the power back and have leverage for once and all, once and for all over their employers. So that's what I want to leave you with on Labor Day. Not some sad story about how we're all screwed, but a little bit of hope, because this is the one sign that gives me hope for the future of this country. Workers across this country standing up and demanding rights.