On November 20, 210 union members and allies showed up for a Troublemakers School in Detroit, eager to learn how to build power in their workplaces. On December 11 similar numbers did the same in Philadelphia.
In Detroit workers heard from special education teacher Linda Perales from the Chicago Teachers Union, famous for striking against Mayor Rahm Emanuel and for their blend of social justice unionism and militancy. Nolan Tabb reported from the just-concluded and victorious John Deere strike. When Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD, a movement of reformers) and Bernie Sanders raised $150,000 to support the strikers, the UAW International turned the money down. Tabb led the effort to get the money to strikers anyway. Eric Truss of nearby UAW Local 600 assured participants that UAWD was about to win auto workers the right to vote for their top officers. (He was right.)