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Dear Progressive Reader,

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I joined an animated group of activists, members of Starbucks Workers United, as they gathered in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, outside a coffeeshop run by that multi-billion dollar ([link removed]) corporation. The workers had arrived at 7:30 a.m. to make that store did not open for the day. At 10:00 a.m., as other workers and their supporters from SEIU, IBEW, and other local unions arrived in solidarity. We held large signs reading “No Contract, No Coffee” and marched in a large oval around the front of the store, occasionally being cheered on by honks from passing delivery trucks. The first Starbucks store to win a vote to unionize ([link removed]) was on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, New York, in December 2021. Today, more than 650 stores (representing ([link removed]) more than 14,000 workers in forty-five states
and Washington, D.C.) have cast such votes, and yet, four years later, the company still has not ([link removed]) negotiated a contract.

On December 10 and 11, The Progressive, together with the South Central Federation of Labor, will be hosting the Midwest premiere of a new documentary film about the struggle of these workers for representation. The film, Baristas vs. Billionaires ([link removed]) , will screen at the Barrymore Theatre ([link removed]) in Madison, Wisconsin, at 7:00 p.m. on both days and will include a panel discussion on each night with several Starbucks union members and the film’s co-producer, Glenn Silber ([link removed]) (who also co-produced the award-winning film The War At Home ([link removed]) —which tells the story of Madison’s anti-war movement in the 1960s and 1970s). In October, our associate editor Michaela Brant went to the film-festival premiere of the movie in its home city of Buffalo, she provided this review
([link removed]) of the documentary which tells the story of one of the most important labor organizing stories of recent years.

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On Thursday night, in what can only be termed an unhinged outburst, President Donald Trump posted a 513-word message on his social media platform, and on his official account on X. In the rambling screed, he blamed ([link removed]) “all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being ‘Politically Correct,’ and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration.” The President went on to threaten to end all immigration from “Third World Countries” and to terminate the status of those who were admitted during the Biden Administration—things that he does not have ([link removed]) sole legal authority to do. But it is uncertain how many policy shifts (rather than changes to
actual law) he will be able to implement, and whether those will be upheld or struck down in the courts (both of which happened at various times ([link removed]) with his “Muslim ban” in 2017-2018). Trump’s tweet also included an ableist slur ([link removed]) against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (who has been advocating for his state’s Somali community in the wake of earlier Trump threats) and a defamatory statement against Minnesota Congressmember Ilhan Omar for her wearing ([link removed]) of a hijab. Trump’s mean-spirited tweet concluded with a sarcastic threat, stating: “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for—You won’t be here
for long!”

This week on our website, Ed Rampell remembers ([link removed]) the eightieth anniversary of the Nuremberg tribunal which held Nazi leaders to account for their criminal actions in the 1930s and 1940s. “Eight decades later, history and humanity are rendering their judgment on how the lessons of Nuremberg are remembered by some—and forgotten by others,” he posits, referencing the way Trump has been targeting and threatening the former military and intelligence officials who, earlier this month, called on ([link removed]) members of the military to remember their duty to disobey potential illegal orders from deranged Commander in Chief.

Also this week, Mike Ervin provides ([link removed]) one more reason why people might want to boycott Amazon; Eleanor Bader looks at ([link removed]) the organizations still providing reproductive care in the years since the end of Roe v. Wade; Ed Rampell interviews ([link removed]) socialist independent candidate Kshama Sawant; and Hassan Herzallah reports on ([link removed]) the harsh conditions for people living in tents in Gaza as winter arrives. Plus, Jim Carrier raises the alarm ([link removed]) about Trump’s plans to resume nuclear testing; Sam Streuli pens an op-ed
([link removed]) on the effects of new government policies on people with disabilities; Saru Jayaraman opines ([link removed]) on the food crisis facing American workers; and Brianna Nargiso Newton writes about ([link removed]) the role of schools in filling the food gap following funding delays to the SNAP program.

Finally, next Tuesday is “Giving Tuesday”—an international movement ([link removed]) of “radical generosity”—launched ([link removed]) in 2012 as a collaboration between the 92nd Street Y in New York City and the United Nations Foundation as a counterpoint ([link removed]) to all the commercialism of “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday.” This year The Progressive is asking for your support in helping to keep this voice of independent journalism alive in a time where honest and responsible news reporting is more important than ever. Please consider making a gift on December 2 at /progressive.org/?form=PGIVTU25>.

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher

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P.P.S. – The NEW December/January issue is just off the press and will be arriving in mailboxes and on newsstands soon. If you don’t already subscribe to The Progressive in print or digital form, please consider doing so today ([link removed]) . Also, if you have a friend or relative who you feel should hear from the many voices for progressive change within our pages, please consider giving a gift subscription ([link removed]) .

P.P.P.S. – Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated to support The Progressive! We need you now more than ever. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to support hard-hitting, independent reporting on issues that matter to you. Your donation today will keep us on solid ground and will help us continue to grow in the coming years. You can use the wallet envelope in the current issue of the magazine, or click on the “Donate” button below to join your fellow progressives in sustaining The Progressive as a voice for peace, social justice, and the common good.
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