Editor’s note: This story by Matt Alley was originally published in BlueCollarWriter Labor Media.
“When working people unite across industries, the story of labor changes—not just for a contract cycle, but for the nation’s economic and political direction. That’s the labor movement we can build, if we choose solidarity over division, and strategy over resignation.”
For the first time in decades, the language and strategy of the American labor movement are shifting in a way that recalls the bold, unapologetic voices of earlier eras—not in nostalgia, but out of necessity. As contracts across multiple industries approach key bargaining moments, voices like Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), and Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), are not merely talking about winning better terms at the bargaining table. They’re inviting an open, serious discussion about mass action, cross-industry power, and even the prospect of a general strike—a strategy that hasn’t been seriously contemplated in the U.S. in generations.
Some readers may recall we covered early ripples of this broader labor conversation here at BlueCollarWriter Labor Media. But with major contracts now coming up across trucking, autos, airlines, healthcare, and public sectors, it’s time to distill what labor leadership is actually saying—not as rhetorical flourish, but as strategic vision in a moment of real opportunity and real threat.
Shawn Fain: Organizing the Working Class, Not Just One Union
What distinguishes Fain’s leadership is not simply his rejection of business-as-usual unionism, but the way he frames labor’s fight as one inseparable from broader working-class power. Fresh off historic negotiating victories with the Big Three automakers and the alignment of their contracts to expire on May 1, 2028—International Workers’ Day—Fain publicly encouraged other unions to consider coordinating their contract expirations, too. That’s not merely a tactical suggestion; it’s an invitation to build leverage through collective timing and solidarity.
In speeches and interviews, Fain has been clear that this is not a gimmick or slogan: “If we’re truly going to take on the billionaire class and rebuild the economy so that it starts to work for the many and not the few, then it’s important that we not only strike, but that we strike together.”
For Fain, the idea is grounded in real-world organizing: coordinated expirations would enable workers across sectors to create shared leverage—multiple industries rising in unison, rather than workers fighting in isolation. It’s a vision that moves beyond single-industry wins toward collective disruption that employers and policymakers must take seriously.
He also speaks candidly about the time and infrastructure required to make a general strike credible. “As much as I’d love to just have a general strike next week,” Fain said, “we have to have time to plan this, to build it. And to get people aligned with it and get working-class people aligned with it, if we’re going to effect real change.”
This is not the idle talk of “starry-eyed dreamers.” Fain acknowledges that a strike on this scale cannot be spontaneous or symbolic. It requires labor coordination, training, planning, rank-and-file engagement, and a shared political and economic narrative that resonates far beyond union halls.
Fain’s leadership so far has also emphasized solidarity in action: he and Sara Nelson stood shoulder-to-shoulder with academic and building trades workers on the picket line in Boston, a vivid example that solidarity isn’t just talk but practiced across industries when workers are in active struggle.
Sara Nelson: Solidarity Is the Answer — “If We’re Divided, We Lose”
If Fain is talking about the mechanics of labor coordination and timing, Sara Nelson is talking about the moral and strategic necessity of solidarity itself.
Nelson has long been a bold voice in the U.S. labor movement. She was one of the few union leaders to call for a general strike during the 2018-19 government shutdown, arguing that with hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed or forced to work without pay, labor had moral and strategic impetus to take collective action.
In a wide-ranging interview on labor solidarity, Nelson grounded her outlook in simple, yet powerful, logic:
“If one group is under attack, we’re next. So we have to rush to each other’s sides.”
This is not abstract idealism. It is a strategic imperative. Nelson’s message underscores that in systems where labor is fragmented—by sector, by location, by legal regimes—workers lose power. To counter that, she argues, unions and workers must recognize that their interests overlap and strengthen one another’s struggles.
Nelson also reminds us that historic general and multi-industry strike waves were not accidental; they emerged when workers realized they could define the agenda instead of reacting to crises. “This is a moment,” she said, “where we can actually set the agenda and make things better.”
For Nelson, the threat of collective action itself is power: the credible possibility of large-scale walkouts, coordinated stoppages, and mutual support raises the cost of inaction for employers and political elites. The power of the threat should not be discounted—it’s what got concessions during shutdown threats in the past.
Beyond Words: What This Means Right Now
Let’s be clear about what’s actually being proposed—not in platitudes, but in concrete strategic terms:
- Coordinated Contract Alignment
Rather than isolated bargaining cycles, unions are being encouraged to sync contract expiration dates where possible so that negotiating leverage is amplified across sectors. That’s a multi-year project that needs serious organizing infrastructure.
- Cross-Sector Coalition Building
Fain and Nelson each, in their own ways, are pushing for collaboration between unions, community groups, and worker centers. Solidarity is not performative—it’s relational work that builds trust, joint planning, and shared strategy.
- Power Mapping and Threat Strategy
Nelson emphasizes the importance of understanding where leverage lies in the modern economy—whether at a major airline hub, auto assembly line, or logistics corridor. Workers with strategic positional power have more to offer the movement, and understanding that is part of building leverage.
- Cultural Narrative Shift
Both leaders speak a language that frames labor as a central driver of economic justice—not just negotiators for a wage increase, but architects of systemic change. That resonates with a public that polls show is increasingly sympathetic to organized labor’s goals.
What a General Strike Would Mean
When labor historians look back at moments like 1934 or the mass strike waves of the early 20th century, they point not merely to the strikes themselves but to the sense of collective identity and shared purpose that made them possible. Today, the very idea of a general strike sparks skepticism, precisely because for decades labor has been fragmented, constrained by legal strictures, and isolated in individual sectors.
But leaders like Fain and Nelson are articulating a pathway—however long, difficult, and complex—to something far beyond individual contract wins: a movement capable of exerting power across the economy and society, anchored in working-class interests and solidarity.
It’s not utopia. It’s strategy. And in a moment where workers are striking in multiple industries—not as anomalies, but as part of a broader wave—it’s a conversation worth having at every picket line, every bargaining table, and every union hall.
Conclusion: The Struggle Ahead Is Shared
As contracts in critical sectors come up in the next several months and years, the labor movement faces a choice: continue in tactical silos, or build toward mutual aid, scheduled collective power, and shared disruption.
Shawn Fain and Sara Nelson are not alone in these conversations—but they are among the most prominent leaders giving them voice in 2025. Their calls for solidarity and collective strategic planning are not about theatrical slogans; they are about situating labor power where it has the greatest leverage—together.
When working people unite across industries, the story of labor changes—not just for a contract cycle, but for the nation’s economic and political direction. That’s the labor movement we can build, if we choose solidarity over division, and strategy over resignation.
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