Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Lorenzo Thompson, an illegal immigrant from Jamaica working as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, last week at the Nashville International Airport.
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/2080391076532166771?s=20">told Fox</a> News that Thompson came to the United States on a six-month visa under Biden in 2021, but refused to leave when the visa expired.
&#8220;Against our nation’s laws, [Lorenzo Thompson] overstayed his visa and failed to depart. He will remain in ICE custody pending his immigration proceedings,&#8221; an ICE representative <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/ice-arrests-southwest-airlines-flight-attendant-nashville-overstaying-visa-2021">told</a> Fox News.
The agency added that illegal immigrants like Thompson who self-deport are given $2,600 cash stipend, a free flight home, and the opportunity to return to the United States legally.
&#8220;We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream,&#8221; the agency said. &#8220;If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.&#8221;
Thompson’s local union chapter, TWU Local 556, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/twulocal556/p/DbHTnc3js81/">said</a> it is in communication with Thompson’s family and is working with its legal counsel on how to address the situation.
“Our priority is, and always will be, standing with and supporting our Members,” it said in a statement. “Every Member deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we are committed to ensuring this Member and their family know they are not alone during this difficult time.”
The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LCLAA/photos/justice-for-lorenzo-justice-for-johan-justice-for-all-ice-outjoin-or-host-a-nati/1503261605171408/">Labor Council for Latin American Advancement</a> and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/afacwa/posts/we-stand-with-twu-local-556-and-flight-attendant-lorenzo-wrongfully-detained-by-/1454153386748089/">Association of Flight Attendants</a> (AFA) both shared a statement of solidarity with Lorenzo.
“Today, we stand with our brother Enzo and his union family. Together, we reaffirm our commitment to standing by workers and their families through every challenge,” the AFA said.
A <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-lorenzo-thompson-fight-ice-detention">GoFundMe</a> for Thompson started by his friend Kristin Foster has raised $43,018 of its $45,000 target as of Thursday afternoon.
“Lorenzo came to the United States legally from Jamaica in 2021, seeking safety from life-threatening abuse,” Foster stated. “Since arriving, he has worked tirelessly to build a stable life, following every legal step toward citizenship. He has no criminal record. No parking tickets. He holds a valid work permit, has a pending case with US immigration and is a dedicated Flight Attendant for a beloved airline.”

Airplanes Docked at Palm Beach Airport

One Southwest Employee’s Final Boarding Call Came From ICE

illegal alien

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Jamaica

Nashville

Tennessee

Unions

Democrats are betting a slate of union-backed House candidates can help the party reconnect with working-class voters and donors as it heads into the 2026 midterms facing mounting financial challenges.
Five Democratic congressional candidates announced Tuesday the launch of the &#8220;Blue Collar Brigade,&#8221; a joint fundraising effort aimed at boosting their campaigns while promoting a populist platform centered on lowering costs, strengthening organized labor, and combating government corruption.
The coalition includes Bob Brooks, a firefighter union chief challenging Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA); Randy Villegas, a teacher and union member taking on Rep. David Valadao (R-CA); ironworker Brian Poindexter, who is running against Rep. Max Miller (R-OH); former smokejumper and union leader Sam Forstag, competing in Montana&#8217;s open western district; and Minnesota state Rep. Kaela Berg, a flight attendant and former union leader seeking an open House seat.
The candidates say they are pooling resources because they lack the wealthy donor networks often available to more traditional political candidates.
&#8220;As a union ironworker, my network of folks is very small,&#8221; Poindexter told <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/30/union-democrats-house-fundraising-00980980" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico</a>. &#8220;My very first call time, I called one of my fellow ironworkers and asked for $50, and he was laid off at the time.&#8221;
&#8220;That&#8217;s when I had the understanding of what we&#8217;re really up against when campaigns like my opponent can spend millions of dollars and here I am trying to represent workers in Washington and scraping together $50 bills.&#8221;
The fundraising alliance arrives as Democrats continue searching for ways to rebuild support among blue-collar voters after President Donald Trump expanded his coalition with working-class Americans during the 2024 election.
It also comes as the Democratic Party struggles with fundraising.
The RNC currently <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5863917-nrcc-rnc-fec-2026-midterm-elections/">reports</a> roughly $116 million cash on hand, while the DNC <a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00010603/1968914/">has</a> approximately $13.8 million and carries more than $18 million in debt.
Those financial struggles have fueled growing frustration among Democratic donors, many of whom remain dissatisfied with how the party spent its record-breaking fundraising haul during Kamala Harris&#8217; unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign.
Several longtime Democratic donors have publicly criticized DNC Chairman Ken Martin for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-harris-demands-dnc-release-2024-autopsy-as-she-plots-a-comeback">slow-walking the release</a> of the full post-election <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-finally-admit-what-went-wrong-in-2024">autopsy</a> he promised after taking office. The frustration has reportedly pushed some major donors away from the national party altogether.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t see Ken as a leader,&#8221; one longtime Democratic donor told <a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/democratic-donors-frustrated-dnc-chair-ken-martin-amid/story?id=132286127">ABC News</a>. &#8220;The DNC reached out to me probably six months ago, and I told them to take me off their list.&#8221;
Against that backdrop, the Blue Collar Brigade represents an attempt to build a different kind of Democratic fundraising operation. Tuesday evening&#8217;s virtual fundraiser is being co-hosted by current and former leaders of several major unions, including the AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America, Association of Flight Attendants, Iron Workers, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. 
Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), and Val Hoyle (D-OR), all of whom maintain close ties to organized labor, are serving as honorary chairs.
&#8220;When you&#8217;re a Democratic challenger and you&#8217;re someone who comes from the labor movement &#8230; you don&#8217;t have the same Rolodex as someone who can self-fund millions for their campaign,&#8221; Deluzio said. &#8220;These folks are going to do the hard work to win their races, but they&#8217;ve got to raise money.&#8221;
The coalition is also attempting to reshape the Democratic Party&#8217;s image after years of criticism that it has become disconnected from working-class voters. Villegas argued Democrats can no longer rely solely on opposition to Republicans.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important to actually center working-class candidates and invest in them and make sure that we are prioritizing working families&#8217; issues,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These victories across the country are showing that we can&#8217;t just offer people &#8216;not Trump&#8217; or &#8216;not the Republican incumbent.&#8217; We have to be willing to offer people a vision for something more.&#8221;
That message reflects soul-searching within the Democratic Party after Trump&#8217;s gains among union households and non-college voters accelerated trends that have reshaped American politics over the past decade.
At the same time, the Blue Collar Brigade highlights an irony facing Democrats. While the candidates present themselves as outsiders battling the political establishment, they remain deeply tied to one of the Democratic Party&#8217;s most influential institutional allies: organized labor.

Andrew Cuomo Campaigns For Mayor Ahead Of New York Primary

Union-Backed Democrats Launch ‘Blue Collar Brigade’ To Woo The Working Class

Democrats

Elections

House Democrats

Politics

The head of New York’s casino union is living like a high roller while his lieutenants allegedly raked in luxury goods.
New York Hotel Gaming and Trades Council President Rich Maroko made $923,053 in 2024, according to publicly available financial disclosures reviewed by the <a href="https://richierichmaroko.com/meet-richie-rich-maroko/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center For Union Facts. </a>That near-million-dollar salary includes $313,386 in base salary, $380,108 things like retirement benefits, and $229,559 from other organizations.
Under Maroko’s leadership, union higher ups have been accused of rampant corruption. A group of New York City hotel owners last month retained a private investigator to probe a whistleblower’s claim that the union was shot through with “corruption, misconduct and malfeasance.”
“The whistleblower alleges union officials received free gifts of liquor, gourmet food and electronics including an Xbox and PlayStation from hotel-industry executives,” Crain’s New York Business <a href="https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/commercial/cny-hotel-owners-investigate-whistblower-claims-20260521/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. “The letter further alleges that union officials defrauded UNITE HERE Local 6, a Midtown-based chapter of the union, out of nearly $3 million by paying below-market rent for Eighth Avenue office space it owned.”
The New York Hotel Gaming and Trades Council is the latest union to come under fire for profligate spending and alleged corruption. In 2024, the International Longshoremen’s Association was slammed for a strike that shut down ports up and down the East Coast. Association president Harold Daggett emerged as a villain in that saga, thanks to his million-dollar salary, luxury yacht, contributions to Democrats, and alleged mafia ties, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dock-workers-sound-off-as-they-hit-picket-lines-in-massive-strike?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Dock+Workers+Sound+Off+As+They+Hit+Picket+Lines+In+Massive+Strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time.
The Center For Union Facts is calling attention to Maroko’s pay raise as unions across the country use the World Cup to hike labor costs. That includes hotel workers in <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/seattle-hotel-workers-authorize-strike-ahead-of-the-fifa-world-cup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seattle</a> and <a href="https://peoplesworld.org/article/union-uses-world-cup-as-leverage-vs-ice-and-for-strike-votes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philadelphia</a>, as well as stadium workers in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/08/nx-s1-5849249/sofi-stadium-workers-could-go-on-strike-ahead-of-first-world-cup-match-in-los-angeles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles.</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-world-cup-is-supposed-to-boost-the-economy-the-reality-looks-different" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MI X DW: BIGGEST EVENT ON EARTH COMES WITH A $150 GUT PUNCH</a>
“Hotel workers may believe they’re receiving a World Cup windfall,” said Charlyce Bozzello, the group’s communications director. “But from where we sit, Maroko is the one hitting the jackpot,”
“Union members deserve transparency about the lucrative compensation package they’re being asked to fund.”
The union recently enjoyed some positive press following its announcement of a massive new pay package for members. But even with that jump, members still fall far behind the brass. Workers made $38.87 per hour on average in 2024, about 570% less than Maroko.

President of HTC Rich Maroko attends rally with mayor Eric

New York Casino Union Leaders Hit The Jackpot While Workers Bust

gambling

New York City

World Cup

Thousands of Long Island Rail Road workers walked off the job Saturday morning, marking the end to failed negotiations and the start of a strike that could derail the nation&#8217;s busiest commuter rail system.
Five unions representing half the LIRR&#8217;s workforce — about 3,500 people in all — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/nyregion/lirr-strike.html">began the strike</a> at midnight, the first in 32 years. The walkout comes after three years of failed negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that controls commuter rail lines and the New York City subway system.
As of Saturday morning, the LIRR — which serves around 300,000 passengers a day — is <a href="https://www.mta.info/article/lirr-strike-may-2026">shut down.</a> The MTA&#8217;s website encourages riders to work from home, noting that the strike &#8220;will cause severe congestion and delays&#8221; and &#8220;have a devastating impact&#8221; on riders, many of whom use the railroad to commute to work in Manhattan.
Unions and the MTA failed to come to an agreement on annual raises and healthcare premiums for workers. The unions requested a retroactive 9.5% pay increase to cover the past three years, on top of a 5% increase for 2026. MTA chief Janno Lieber told the New York Times that the agency was willing to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/nyregion/lirr-strike.html">increase pay</a> for LIRR workers, but that union leaders refused its offer, pushing instead for concessions Lieber says would &#8220;implode&#8221; the agency&#8217;s budget.
Union leaders say that LIRR workers have not received a raise since 2022 and are grossly underpaid. But these union members made $136,000 on average in 2025, making them some of the highest-paid rail workers in the country.
<div id="attachment_1096597" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1096597" class="size-large wp-image-1096597" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275969310-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275969310-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275969310-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275969310-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275969310.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
The Trump administration reportedly attempted to broker an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lirr-new-york-commuter-rail-strike-union-a9b20b5de53a944c9da4263d289a845f">11th-hour compromise</a>, to no avail. The Department of Labor has been without a leader for around a month following <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-exits-after-misconduct-probe">scandal-ridden</a> Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer&#8217;s departure.
The Labor Department has yet to comment on the strike. Union leaders, meanwhile, are trumpeting the strike with characteristic bravado.
“The LIRR owns this strike,&#8221; Teamsters President Sean O&#8217;Brien said in a statement. &#8220;Union workers have sacrificed so much for the railroad for years while consistently bargaining in good faith for a fair contract.&#8221;
&#8220;Hundreds of thousands of commuters rely on our members’ labor every day,&#8221; O&#8217;Brien added. &#8220;The LIRR is stranding passengers while denying wages, benefits, and respect to &#8230; hardworking union members.&#8221;
“This strike would not have happened if the MTA and LIRR offered our members the reasonable terms the government recommended multiple times. But management refused,” Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen President Mark Wallace said Saturday. “We hope LIRR gets serious soon to avoid further unnecessary disruptions for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. They know where to find us when they’re ready: on the streets.”
“The L.I.R.R. is more stable now than it has been for generations,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “The decision by some unions to strike over demands that would threaten that progress is reckless.”
Hochul&#8217;s bête noire, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, posted on X late Friday that he was &#8220;continuing to closely monitor the ongoing contract negotiations involving the LIRR.&#8221;
The MTA will begin operating free shuttle buses to make up for the strike on Monday, though the agency warns that the buses are not enough to make up for the railroad. The New York Yankees are set to face the New York Mets at Citi Field on Saturday, an event that would ordinarily generate heavy railroad traffic.
On Friday, the New York State Comptroller&#8217;s Office said that the shutdown could cost the New York metro area <a href="https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/05/dinapoli-estimates-lirr-strike-could-cost-61-million-daily-lost-economic-activity">$61 million a day</a> in lost economic activity. That number could increase if the strike stretches into Memorial Day weekend.

Long Island Rail Workers Strike In First Walkout Since 1994

Thousands Stranded As Union Strike Shuts Down Nation’s Busiest Railroad

Kathy Hochul

New York

Railroads

Zohran Mamdani

Leftist special interest groups ran an ad that was supposed to make former MTV reality TV star-turned-Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt look bad, and they appear to have stepped in it.
The ad, sponsored by L.A. Unions Opposed to Spencer Pratt for Mayor 2026 and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, lays out a number of things that Pratt has either supported or opposed — and accidentally paints him as an entirely reasonable person with an agenda that veers dangerously close to the dictionary definition of &#8220;common sense.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The LA County Federation of Labor has a new committee lined up to go after Spencer Pratt, and they are dropping an initial $221k on this video &amp; an additional digital ad. <a href="https://t.co/vJnHCDunPb">pic.twitter.com/vJnHCDunPb</a>
— Unrig LA (@UnrigLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/UnrigLA/status/2053217879722713478?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Republican Spencer Pratt is the last thing Los Angeles needs for mayor,&#8221; the voiceover began. &#8220;Pratt opposes using taxpayer money to build brand new houses for our unhoused neighbors, saying it&#8217;s time for the homeless to get help or get out. Pratt thinks L.A. needs thousands more police officers rather than more social workers.&#8221;
&#8220;And Republican Spencer Pratt thinks public employee unions should have less power, not more,&#8221; the ad continued. &#8220;L.A. is on the right track and needs to stay the course. Vote no on Republican Spencer Pratt.&#8221;
Pratt <a href="https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2053535640277709257">responded</a> to the ad, saying, &#8220;Wait. Unions are mad that I want firefighters and city workers to get better pay and safer working conditions? What are they actually … for?&#8221;
The majority of those responding commented on the fact that the unions, in attempting to paint Pratt as an extreme Republican, had only helped him to outline his positions in ways that would sound entirely reasonable — even good — to the average person.
RedState&#8217;s Jennifer Van Laar had a <a href="https://x.com/jenvanlaar/status/2053492048922296546">similar reaction</a>, saying of the ad, &#8220;Do these people know nothing of branding and sales? I get that the point of it is to make sure everyone knows that Spencer is Republican (since it&#8217;s a nonpartisan race that isn&#8217;t on the ballot) but damn. Saying his name so many times can really backfire. And they&#8217;re associating him with getting rid of homeless encampments and adding cops. Oh, the horror!&#8221;

FOX’s “Celebrity Weakest Link” – Season One

SEE IT: Leftist Ad Tries To Make Spencer Pratt Look Bad, Fails Miserably

Los Angeles

Reality TV

Spencer Pratt

Unions love nothing more than blaming problems on non-union operations.
So it was no surprise last weekend when the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, best known as IATSE, blamed the lack of union representation on the set of The Daily Wire’s new action film when movie star Jonathan Majors <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/jonathan-majors-falls-through-window-crew-strike-daily-wire-1236773038/">fell through a prop window</a> and <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2041273088428413189">“nearly died.”</a>
Well, not exactly. Majors only fell a few feet. He’s totally fine. In the video of the “accident” posted by Deadline you can hear Majors immediately asking, “Did we shoot it? Use it!”
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-1-hollywood-union-0-production-wraps-on-jonathan-majors-action-movie">Daily Wire 1, Hollywood Union 0: Production Wraps On Jonathan Majors Action Movie</a>
Still, IATSE, the self-proclaimed “union behind entertainment,” wants people to believe that if they were there, nobody could have possibly gotten hurt.
Except, here’s the thing: IATSE is full of it. It’s all a game to twist producer Dallas Sonnier’s arm into entering a collective bargaining agreement with the union. And it’s a game <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-1-hollywood-union-0-production-wraps-on-jonathan-majors-action-movie?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Daily+Wire+1%2C+Hollywood+Union+0%3A+Production+Wraps+On+Jonathan+Majors+Action+Movie">the union lost</a>, because Sonnier “doesn’t negotiate with communists.”
But let’s go back to the issue of the unions and safety. 
Forget for a moment that a Screen Actors Guild representative was present on set the entire time and had no safety concerns. Forget, again, that Majors only took a small tumble and was totally fine. Let’s pretend Sonnier had caved to the union’s demands and given them everything they wanted. That would have prevented even this minor injury, right?
Well, sure. Nobody ever gets hurt on union-run Hollywood sets — at least if you don’t count the “Mission: Impossible” where Tom Cruise broke his ankle jumping off a building.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIO8OLlyG-c/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
&nbsp;
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIO8OLlyG-c/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Mission: Impossible (@missionimpossible)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
Yes, IATSE was on set for that. It’s on set for every Hollywood movie. It’s unclear whether anyone walked off after that accident, which was so bad that they even included it in the film’s promo. Shout out to Cruise, who had the same reaction as Majors and immediately told the director to use the footage. He kept going after he knew he snapped his ankle, because he knew it was the perfect shot. 
IATSE was also probably on the set of “Django Unchained” when Leonardo DiCaprio slammed a table so hard that he smashed a prop glass and bled all over his co-star, Kerry Washington.
It’s unlikely that anyone walked off that set. In fact, it’s said the crew broke out into applause after director Quentin Tarantino called “cut.” And Tarantino put DiCaprio and his blood-soaked hand into the final cut of the movie.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPRHyajiVFk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
&nbsp;
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPRHyajiVFk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Film Enthusiast (@thefilmthusiasts)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js" async=""></script>
On the set of “Cast Away,” Tom Hanks ignored a small cut on his leg and developed an infection that nearly killed him. He was rushed to the hospital, and production was shut down for weeks as Hanks recovered. Again, it’s unclear whether any crew left the set in Fiji in protest.
George Clooney was so badly injured performing a stunt on the set of 2005’s “Syriana” that he considered suicide. It was during a torture scene, and Clooney flipped the chair he was tied to and cracked open his skull. He leaked spinal fluid out of his brain.
He won the Oscar for best actor, back when an Oscar really meant something. There were no reports of a union worker mutiny for an unsafe set.
<div id="attachment_629217" style="width: 820px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-629217" class="size-large wp-image-629217" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-810x576.jpg" alt="Tom Hanks" width="810" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-810x576.jpg 810w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-300x213.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-768x546.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-1536x1093.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-2048x1457.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px" />Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images</div>
Sylvester Stallone got slammed so hard by wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin in “The Expendables” — an awesome movie which he directed himself — that he broke his neck and dislocated both of his shoulders. He needed seven surgeries and ended up having a metal plate inserted into his neck.
Jackie Chan gets injured in almost every movie he does: cracked skull from a jump off a tree, legs crushed between two cars, and even one time where he almost lost an eye to a roundhouse kick. 
We can imagine that an IATSE production assistant advised Jackie Chan to take a few plays off, but I assure you that didn’t happen.
As Sonnier told Deadline, sometimes the people making action movies are just “too busy being bad asses, blowing sh*t up, flying helicopters, and killing movie terrorists to concern ourselves” with attention-seeking union assholes. 
So, no, unions don’t make film sets any safer. If anything, injuries on union-run sets are so common at this point that it’s almost malpractice to involve them.

Untitled design (1)

Hollywood Debunked: No, Unions Don’t Make Movie Sets Safer

Hollywood

Jonathan Majors

After a long weekend of union agitator-fueled rumors about The Daily Wire&#8217;s new action film, production has wrapped after five weeks, as planned, and the union reps didn’t get their way.
It all started with Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/jonathan-majors-falls-through-window-crew-strike-daily-wire-1236773038/">publishing</a> an exclusive story about actor Jonathan Majors falling through a window while on set of the production in progress, which, according to their sources, led to a union strike and other allegations of safety concerns on set.
Faithful Daily Wire fans won&#8217;t be surprised to learn that there’s more to the story. Film producer Dallas Sonnier provided a short, yet direct, statement to Deadline, saying simply: “The entire industry is in freefall due to strikes, and now that their members are out of work, they’re trying to sabotage the few people who are still producing. We don’t negotiate with communists.”
So what really went down?
During the fourth week of filming, an executive from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, best known as IATSE, reached out to Sonnier claiming that she “represented the majority of the crew,” which consisted of both local hires in South Carolina and returning staff from previous projects. The IATSE rep “demanded” that they immediately be recognized and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement to cover staff wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.
Before the deadline she proposed even arrived, a small handful of picketers were out creating a nuisance. It was that same day that Majors and actor JC Kiljoyne fell through a window filming a scene. Deadline posted video of the incident, and reported it was a six foot drop — though pictures posted show it was barely four feet off the ground.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The height of the window btw <a href="https://t.co/Lr1KlckW9c">https://t.co/Lr1KlckW9c</a> <a href="https://t.co/sAZF0UYiLb">pic.twitter.com/sAZF0UYiLb</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2041249651840454989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That stunt with the window was part of production&#8217;s plans for later that day, and Sonnier says it was far from an emergency.
&#8220;Everyone handled it quickly and successfully. We always have licensed medics on our sets, and this day, we had two,&#8221; Sonnier said. &#8220;The production was immediately halted to ensure safety sign-offs by both medics before moving forward.&#8221;
He also says the clip leaked to Deadline is definitely going to make it into the final cut.
The actors&#8217; comments are fully aligned. Kiljoyne’s rep told Deadline in the aftermath that he &#8220;did not feel unsafe on set and continues to have a positive experience working on the project.&#8221;
Majors made similar <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/04/jonathan-majors-says-hes-fine-after-falling-through-window-on-set/">comments</a> to TMZ. &#8220;I&#8217;m ok. I was happy to be on set and help tell the story. I am grateful for whoever is checking on me, the cast and crew for regarding our safety. It&#8217;s going to be a great movie and I am looking forward to fans seeing it!&#8221;
While IATSE came out of left field, there was a SAG rep on set many days who confirmed that the actors “should show up and finish the movie as planned” following the accident. It was noted that the SAG rep had “zero safety concerns” for the movie.
“We had a licensed armorer every single day,” Sonnier said. “We had a safety meeting at the top of each day, and prior to any special effect or stunt. The reason we don’t have a ‘RUST’ situation is because we take this stuff so seriously,” he added, referring to Alec Baldwin’s firearm discharging while filming and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
During the fourth week of filming, 15% of the crew decided to leave. Based on conversations Sonnier had with the whole crew, this was the result of IATSE pressure and not because of any safety concerns, he said. All the staff who left were replaced by the next morning.
Crucially, those who left did not appear to be part of the picketing. “The ‘strikers’ were just angry union rep protestors,” Sonnier said, noting that by day two, their numbers were reduced to about seven people total.
The picketers caused minor annoyances, such as yelling at actors, encouraging cars to honk to disrupt filming, pressuring vendors to pull gear, sending threatening letters, and yelling “CUT!” and “ACTION!” as a way of confusing the actors on set. But in the end, production rolled on.
The Deadline article was released after all these efforts failed, especially after Sonnier refused to engage with their demands.
Sonnier said IATSE reps never called him or contacted him beyond the first email &#8220;because they are total cowards and whiny busybodies.&#8221; The producer says this was an illegitimate strike. 
Does IATSE have any response to this? IATSE, of course, did not respond to questions from The Daily Wire.

photo-output_720

Daily Wire 1, Hollywood Union 0: Production Wraps On Jonathan Majors Action Movie

Daily Wire

Entertainment

Movies

The Daily Wire

U.S.

A major nurses union is holding secretive training sessions for union members to learn how to &#8220;fight&#8221; federal immigration enforcement in their hospitals.
An email reviewed by The Daily Wire reveals that the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) is promoting training sessions for nurses to resist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in hospitals.
ONA, which represents around 15,000 nurses, is the largest nurses union in Oregon. As an affiliate of National Nurses United—the largest nurses union in the United States—ONA also wields influence at the national level.
Notably, the email says that the sessions will not be recorded or posted publicly, adding a secretive element to the training sessions.
The email addresses &#8220;ONA members&#8221; with the subject line, &#8220;Trainings: Accountability for ICE&#8221; and reads as follows:
&#8220;As frontline healthcare workers, we are entrusted with a fundamental responsibility: to preserve life, reduce harm, and provide care with dignity to everyone who comes through our doors,&#8221; the email continues. &#8220;As ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) activity increases across Oregon, that responsibility is in jeopardy. Intimidation and the use of force create fear that keeps immigrant communities from seeking care and until conditions become life-threatening. This fear directly interferes with our ethical, professional, and legal duties and endangers lives rather than protecting public safety.&#8221;
The training sessions were promoted as being run by ONA’s &#8220;Legal and Government Relations teams,&#8221; advancing &#8220;critical training and opportunity to join the fight against ICE and CBP in our hospitals.&#8221;
ONA offered two sessions, one early Wednesday, and one Thursday morning.
&#8220;The trainings will provide essential context on our role in this fight, practical guidance for frontline staff, and updates on our collective advocacy efforts,&#8221; nurses are told.
<div id="attachment_1035131" style="width: 958px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1035131" class="wp-image-1035131 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-7.29.24-PM-948x576.png" alt="" width="948" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-7.29.24-PM-948x576.png 948w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-7.29.24-PM-300x182.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-7.29.24-PM-768x466.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-7.29.24-PM.png 1248w" sizes=" (max-width: 948px) 100vw, 948px" />Credit: The Daily Wire</div>
Specifically, the training promised to cover nurses&#8217; &#8220;legal rights and obligations as a healthcare worker if ICE or CBP enter your facility,&#8221; &#8220;ONA’s efforts to hold ICE accountable,&#8221; and &#8220;Opportunities to engage in ONA’s upcoming legislative fight to ensure hospitals remain places of healing.&#8221;
&#8220;Please note: Trainings will not be recorded or posted online. All attendees must register in advance. Anyone represented by ONA may attend,&#8221; the email added.
A registered nurse who received the email and attended one of the training sessions told The Daily Wire they found it odd that the sessions would not be posted publicly. &#8220;My question is WHY? Are they afraid that what they are &#8216;training&#8217; is possibly against the law?&#8221; the nurse posed.
The RN said the training session, in part, talked about legislation restricting ICE near hospitals, churches, and community centers.
<div>
<div>&#8220;They tried to remain vague when talking about how to directly address ICE in facilities,&#8221; the source told The Daily Wire, &#8220;And I did appreciate that their lawyers who spoke said that you &#8216;can’t physically obstruct ICE.'&#8221;</div>
Recently, an ICU nurse named Alex Pretti was killed during a scuffle with Border Patrol agents. Pretti was armed—though it remains unclear whether he ever brandished his weapon—and inserted himself into an encounter as agents were dealing with an agitator during an operation. Video from weeks before the incident shows Pretti <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-pretti-attacked-immigration-enforcement-days-before-fatal-shooting-video-shows">spitting</a> at federal immigration officers and kicking out a vehicle’s taillight. The circumstances surrounding Pretti’s death remain under investigation.
Separately, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-nurse-urges-medical-professionals-to-inject-ice-agents-with-paralyzing-drug?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Virginia+Nurse+Urges+Medical+Professionals+To+Inject+ICE+Agents+With+Paralyzing+Drug">The Daily Wire</a>, a Virginia hospital fired a nurse after she encouraged other medical professionals to inject ICE officers with succinylcholine—a drug that temporarily paralyzes muscles—in order to “sabotage” them.
The nurse, who used the TikTok handle Redheadredemption, urged doctors and nurses to “grab some syringes with needles on the end” and “have them full of saline or succinylcholine, you know, whatever. Whatever.” She added, “That will probably be a deterrent. Be safe.”
</div>
<div>
<div>
The Daily Wire reached out to ONA about the training sessions and asked why they are explicitly being kept from the public.
An email from ONA Director of Communications Peter Starzynski defended the training sessions, accusing &#8220;unaccountable immigration enforcement&#8221; of &#8220;increasingly overstepping its authority and treading on the rights of local communities in Oregon—including patients, hospitals, and healthcare providers.&#8221;
&#8220;This places nurses in an extraordinarily difficult position of providing care to patients in a manner that is consistent with their professional obligations,&#8221; Starzynski said.
The communications director said the training sessions focus on the following:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>
<div role="presentation">Supporting nurses and frontline healthcare professionals in providing the highest quality care to all patients—even when federal agents are present in the hospital.  </div>
</li>
<li>
<div role="presentation">Educating members on Federal and State law and how to comply with their licensing obligations while treating patients in this context. </div>
</li>
<li>
<div role="presentation">Affirming the shared ethical and legal responsibilities of hospitals, nurses, and other frontline care providers to ensure every patient receives respectful, appropriate, and high-quality care, regardless of immigration status.  </div>
</li>
<li>
<div role="presentation">Providing guidance on how to comply with professional license obligations to protect patient confidentiality and a patient’s medical autonomy in this environment.  </div>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
It remains unclear why the training sessions are not made public.
</div>
</div>
ONA also posted to its Facebook page on January 25 about its participation in a vigil for Pretti.
&#8220;We must not standby [sic]. We must stand up against injustice and human rights violations. That is exactly what Alex Pretti was doing,&#8221; the post said. &#8220;He deserves justice. We honor his legacy and call on all major healthcare systems in Oregon to stand up for nurses, publicly denounce this killing and hold ICE and similar federal agencies accountable.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1035147" style="width: 539px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1035147" class="wp-image-1035147 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-8.05.37-PM-529x576.png" alt="" width="529" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-8.05.37-PM-529x576.png 529w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-8.05.37-PM-276x300.png 276w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-8.05.37-PM-768x836.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-8.05.37-PM.png 1354w" sizes=" (max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px" />Facebook: ONA</div>
In a lengthy statement on Pretti, ONA said, &#8220;A nurse&#8217;s job is to care for their patients — but they are also ethically bound to speak out in the face of injustice and human rights violations. Provision 8.2 of the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses is clear: &#8216;Where there are human rights violations, nurses ought to and must stand up for those rights and demand accountability.&#8217; That is exactly what Alex was doing.&#8221;
Starzynski also told The Daily Wire that &#8220;hospitals can only function when everyone who enters follows the same rules&#8221; and &#8220;no federal agency should be above protocols designed to protect patients, healthcare workers, and the integrity of medical care.&#8221;
&#8220;Taxpayer dollars should not be used to undermine public health, violate basic rights, or erode trust in institutions meant to keep our communities safe,&#8221; he said. &#8220;For months, ONA has urged hospitals to support frontline caregivers by complying with state and federal patient protections. Throughout it all, ONA members have remained steadfast in their commitment to ensuring our hospitals are places of care, dignity, and healing for everyone.&#8221;

Major Nurses Union Holds Secretive Training Sessions To ‘Fight Against ICE’

Major Nurses Union Holds Secretive Training Sessions To ‘Fight Against ICE And CBP In Our Hospitals’

Healthcare

Hospitals

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Nurses

Oregon

The president of the air traffic controllers union praised Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday for his ongoing efforts to improve air travel in the United States.
“NATCA has been advocating for increased controller staffing for more than a decade,” NATCA President Nick Daniels said. &#8220;Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy recognized this concern, and implemented plans to supercharge controller hiring and modernize the air traffic control system.”
Air traffic controllers have been working without pay during the longest government shutdown in American history in what Daniels described as a &#8220;game of tug of war&#8221; involving the federal workforce. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has <a href="https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/schumer-says-every-day-gets-better-for-us/">said</a> the shutdown was politically “getting better for us” for Democrats every day.
Daniels noted that over the weekend, union members &#8220;ensured that over 7.3 million passengers arrived safely, flying over 113,000 flights. &#8230; They did this despite continuing to operate with 3800 fewer fully certified controllers than the system requires.”
“Air traffic control is one of the most mentally demanding and high-consequence professions in the entire world,” Daniels stated. “Every moment that we are at work, it requires everything we have: focus, judgment, decisiveness, perfect decision-making thousands of times a shift and what hangs in the balance is our responsibility to safety in order to prevent tragedy.”
“Air traffic control controllers must show up day in and day out fully prepared and to handle stress, pressure, and the weight of their responsibilities to the American flying public and their safety,” He continued. “For decades, air traffic controllers have held the line through staffing shortages, outdated equipment, hiring freezes, terrorist attacks on September 11, pandemics, and every crisis this country has lived through.”
“They have kept their focus their composure and their commitment to safety but now they must focus on childcare instead of traffic flows; food for their families instead of runway separation,” he declared. “This is not politics. This is not ideology. This is the erosion of the safety margin the flying public never sees, but America relies on every single day.”

Duffy Warns Of Worsening US Flight Delays As Paychecks Run Out

Air Traffic Controllers Union President Praises Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy

Air and Space

air traffic controllers

Chuck Schumer

Government Shutdown

Four staffers who recorded themselves confronting the head of Human Resources at Condé Nast over recent layoffs at Teen Vogue have been fired.
The clips were filmed on Wednesday outside HR exec Stan Duncan’s office at One World Trade Center in New York City. In the awkward clip, a crowd of employees stand outside Duncan’s office and badger him about the layoffs, prompting him to repeatedly tell them to “go back to the workplace.”
Four of those employees were later fired for &#8220;extreme misconduct,” per <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/11/conde-nast-fires-staffers-teen-vogue-1236609695/">Deadline</a>.
Those individuals included Jasper Lo from the New Yorker, Jake Lahut from Wired, Alma Avalle from Bon Appétit, and Ben Dewey from Condé Nast Entertainment.
In the video, Duncan can be heard telling employees to refrain from “congregating” outside his office.
“What counts as congregating?” Lahut said. “What’s your definition of congregating?”
“We’d appreciate if you would go back to the workplace, to your workplace assignments,” Duncan responded.
“Is there a place that you’d be able to speak to us?” Avalle said to Duncan. “Do you think we’re not worth speaking to, Stan?”
“Those are your words, not mine,” Duncan said.
“But they might be your beliefs!” Avalle replied.
“They’re not my beliefs,” Duncan can be heard saying.
“Well, we have some quick questions. If you answered them, we’d be happy to go back to our desks,” Avalle tried again.
“Are you running away from us?” Avalle said incredulously as Duncan started leading the group away from his office.
“We’re concerned about our colleagues,” a person off-camera said.
 “We’d like you to answer questions,” Avalle said. “We’d love to move forward.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The most brutally awkward thing you&#8217;ll see today: Condé Nast staffers confront head of HR Stan Duncan over layoffs outside his 34th-floor office.
Four of the employees featured in this exclusive video from the confrontation were then fired for &#8220;extreme misconduct.&#8221;
The whole… <a href="https://t.co/Ze6Vmyz0iI">pic.twitter.com/Ze6Vmyz0iI</a>
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheWrap/status/1986555099469230496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a statement, Condé Nast said that “extreme misconduct is unacceptable in any professional setting. This includes aggressive, disruptive and threatening behavior of any kind.”
“We remain committed to working constructively with the union and all of our employees.”
The media giant also said they have filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the News Guild of New York “for their repeated and egregious disregard of our collective bargaining agreement.”
Meanwhile, the guild took the side of the fired employees, <a href="https://www.nyguild.org/post/statement-from-the-newsguild-of-new-york-and-conde-united-on-illegal-firing-of-four-union-leaders-who-demanded-answers-about-thi">writing</a>, “These terminations are a flagrant breach of the Just Cause terms of our contract and an unprecedented violation of their federally protected rights as union members to participate in collective action.”
Avalle, a transgender-identifying employee who was one of those participating in the incident, wrote about it on X.
“I love my job, I love my coworkers, and I love my union. I’m devastated the company made this move. There are so few trans women in media at all — particularly ones who aren’t confined to ‘Queer Media’ — and I was incredibly proud of what my position at Bon Appétit meant at large,” the post <a href="https://x.com/GoodbyeAlma/status/1986505896068063351">said</a>.
“More important to me than my identity, I am also the Vice President of the NewsGuild of New York, and targeting me with a blatantly retaliatory termination like this feels like an egregious shot against our union and against media workers as a whole.”

Conde Nast building

Condé Nast Fires Four Employees For Confronting HR Exec Outside His Office

Condé Nast Fired Four Employees For Confronting HR Exec Outside His Office

Journalism

layoffs

magazine

Media

While the vast majority of Americans who dwell outside the ivory tower may roll their eyes at the crazed, fanatical politics that have festered at many college campuses across the country, this extremism hits much closer to home for level-headed college students and faculty. Recently, the Trump Administration has been using its control over federal education grants to push back against campus radicalism at some of America’s most elite universities.
Yet still untouched is the massive power that the Obama and Biden Administrations granted to campus union bosses who are frequently at the center of the most extreme and sometimes even violent so-called “activism” taking place at universities. It is time that Trump appointees go to work to fix it.
You see, currently, union bosses on dozens of campuses across the country are exercising government-granted powers that require unwilling graduate students to associate with (and often subsidize) campus unions. College administrators are also forced to “negotiate” with these union officials over campus policies, including discipline for violent campus agitators.
Those unfamiliar with labor law might wonder how union officials obtained such clout on college campuses in the first place – aren’t graduate students students, and not workers on a production line?
It all traces back to controversial rulings by the Obama and Biden National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which handed union bosses the power to obtain monopoly “representation” power over graduate and doctoral students. In states that lack Right to Work protections, that power includes forcing students to pay union dues.
This means union bosses can upend graduate students’ academic careers if they refuse to fund a group whose ideology they find abhorrent, which threatens both academic freedom and religious freedom on campus.
<div id="attachment_967075" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-967075" class="size-large wp-image-967075" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-864x576.jpg" alt="ITHACA, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 3: People walk through the Cornell University campus on November 3, 2023 in Ithaca, New York. The university canceled classes after one of its students is accused of making violent antisemitic threats. (Photo by Matt Burkhartt/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-1762566453.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Matt Burkhartt/Getty Images</div>
Take the case of David Rubinstein, a Ph.D. student in history at Cornell University whose research concerns the postwar Jewish diaspora in Europe. David, who is Jewish, wants as little as possible to do with the Cornell Graduate Student Union (CGSU-UE, an affiliate of the United Electrical union), knowing union officials’ virulent opposition to Israel and affinity for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
But when David exercised his right under federal law and demanded an accommodation to union dues payment based on his religious beliefs, union officials refused. They harassed Rubinstein and other religious objectors with unnecessary and illegal “questionnaires” that demanded they divulge particulars about their religious practice, their faith organizations, and faith leaders. As a result, with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, David is pursuing a federal civil rights case challenging CGSU-UE’s illegal tactics.
Numerous graduate students at other campuses have similarly needed to take legal action just to get campus union bosses to respect their legal rights. Yet graduate students shouldn’t need to jump through union-created hoops and tangle with union lawyers just to pursue a graduate degree in the first place.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">End of Summer Sale &#8211; Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Fortunately, a more comprehensive solution is on the horizon. Russell Burgett, another Ph.D. student from Cornell, recently launched a groundbreaking NLRB case to strike at the heart of union bosses’ monopoly bargaining powers on campuses. A victory for him would free any dissenting graduate student – whether their opposition is political, religious, financial, or otherwise – from having their academic fates dictated by union apparatchiks.
His Foundation-backed case argues that Obama and Biden NLRB appointees were wrong to “reinterpret” federal law to allow union officials to collectivize graduate students. Nothing in the statute’s plain text suggests that students, whose primary reason for being on campus is to pursue a degree, should be included in the National Labor Relations Act’s definition of “employees.”
If he wins, militant campus union bosses would be stripped of their government-granted powers that let them dragoon unwilling students into their ranks, while also freeing administrators of their current obligation to “negotiate” with union boss radicals over the conditions of all graduate students.
President Trump is currently staffing up his NLRB. He should ensure his appointees get to work quickly on ending the monopoly “representation” and forced-dues powers that previous administrations improperly handed to campus extremists.
* * *
Mark Mix is president of the National Right to Work Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Cornell University, College Town, Ithaca, NY, stone entrance sign with red Geraniums

For Grad Students, Labor Day Needs To Be Liberation Day From Radical Campus Union Bosses

American Universities

Anti-Semitism

Boycott Divest Sanction

Labor Unions

Leftists

Obama Administration

Opinion

President Trump

In 2023, the Teamsters signed a massive deal with UPS to guarantee a fleet of air-conditioned trucks.
“Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS. This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien <a href="https://teamster.org/2023/08/teamsters-ratify-historic-ups-contract/">boasted</a> at the time. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry.&#8221;
He may have started celebrating too early.
As temperatures climbed last month, the Teamsters sent a furious letter to UPS demanding information on the whereabouts of the air-conditioned vehicles.
“How does UPS expect to actually deliver 20,000 or more air-conditioned package cars and vans over the next two years, when the delivery giant is already so far behind?&#8221; O&#8217;Brien <a href="https://teamster.org/2025/06/teamsters-request-ups-data-on-heat-protections-overtime-violations-staffing/">demanded</a>. “The summer heat beating down on our members is no joke. UPS is playing a dangerous game with the lives of thousands of essential American workers.&#8221;
UPS, meanwhile, seems to have different concerns.
For years, the company has been focused on <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/ups-sustainability-and-social-impact-report/delivering-for-our-planet.html">replacing</a> its fleet with so-called green vehicles. A few years ago, UPS <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/sustainability/sustainable-services/electric-vehicles---about-ups.html">pledged</a> to make 40% of its vehicles use &#8220;alternative fuel&#8221; by 2025. So far, UPS <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/ups-sustainability-and-social-impact-report/delivering-for-our-planet.html">says</a> it uses more than 1,000 electric or hybrid vehicles.
Drivers blasting their air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat probably doesn&#8217;t help the shipping giant&#8217;s goal of reaching &#8220;carbon neutrality by 2050.&#8221;
But that doesn&#8217;t matter to the Teamsters.
The 2023 deal pledges at least 28,000 package vans and cars with air conditioning, prioritizing workers in the country&#8217;s blisteringly hot areas. The Teamsters&#8217; contract covers nearly 340,000 of the union&#8217;s 1.3 million workers.
&#8220;With oppressive summer heat already affecting major parts of the country, exceeding 100 degrees as far north as New York, Zone 1 workers in the hottest southern states like Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are still waiting for UPS to honor its legal and contractual obligations on heat protections,&#8221; the union <a href="https://teamster.org/2025/06/teamsters-request-ups-data-on-heat-protections-overtime-violations-staffing/">said</a> in a press release last week.
This is not the first time unions have found themselves at odds with green energy policies. The United Auto Workers — another major labor union — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/18/epa-electric-vehicles-car-rules/">opposed</a> President Joe Biden&#8217;s electric vehicle mandate, saying a rapid shift to electric vehicles would cost union jobs. At the time, UAW President Shawn Fain withheld the union&#8217;s endorsement from Biden until it could extract concessions from the administration.
Now, a major Democratic policy has once again alienated one of the party&#8217;s biggest constituent groups.
The Teamsters are demanding &#8220;all available data&#8221; on the status of the new air-conditioned vehicles. So far, UPS has only delivered 10%, the union claims.
The deal also promised 22,500 full-time jobs, another pain point for the Teamsters. Yet another issue is UPS&#8217;s slow response to grievances about overtime violations, according to the union.
“We are halfway into our union’s national contract and the Teamsters are gravely concerned that UPS is not living up to its end of the deal,” O’Brien said.
“In so many ways — from the painfully slow delivery of air-conditioned vehicles to overworking our rank-and-file and failing to provide up-to-date information on new job opportunities — UPS has a lot of catching up to do to honor this agreement,&#8221; the union boss said. &#8220;The weather is getting worse, but still our members show up every single day to ensure this company remains the best in the business. The Teamsters’ patience with UPS mismanagement is wearing thin.”
Quite a different tone than two years ago. Best of luck to the sweaty drivers stuck between their woke company and blustering union!

UPS Workers On Verge Of Strike

UPS Push For Electric Trucks Leaves Drivers Sweating — And Unions Furious

Climate Change

Menu